Butterfly Finger Puppet Knitting Pattern

When I was designing Metamorphesis part II: the Butterfly, I realized that the body of this insect would be the perfect size for a finger. I therefore have modified that pattern to be a finger puppet! If you have already knit the stuffed butterfly plushie, then the wing patterns will look familiar. Enjoy!

Materials

• Knitting Needles: 4 dpn Size 1, (2.5 mm)
• Crochet Hook (for Antennae): B/1 - 2.25 mm
• Yarn: Remnants of KnitPicks Palette Yarn (Fingering weight) hand dyed in a blue-green colorway (Wings) and Black (Body)
• Misc: Toy stuffing, yarn needle.
• Finished Size: 4" wingspan. (The entire creature is smaller than 4"x4" square)

The finger puppet (right) and the stuffed butterfly toy (left) that inspired this design.

Body
Row 1: Cast on 6 sts in the body color , join and knit 1 row (This is the tip of the head)
Row 2: kfb across - 12 sts
Row 3: K across
Row 4: Kfb across - 24 sts
Rows 5-8: K across
Row 9: *K2, K2tog* across - 18 sts
Row 10: K across
Row 11: K2tog across - 9 sts
Row 12: K across
At this point you should stuff the head of the butterfly. This is the only point in the entire project where you need some kind of polyfill stuffing.
Row 13: Kfb across - 18 sts
Row 14: K across
Row 15: *K2, Kfb* across - 24 sts
Rows 16 -19 : K across Rows 20-42 : *K2, P2* across. (23 rows of ribbing, or enough for the puppet to fit comfortably on your finger. )
Bind off loosely, sticking to the ribbing pattern. . Weave in loose ends.

I have small hands (size 6 ring finger), and this fits loosely on my finger. After row 19, you can check the fit of the puppet to evaluate whether you want to make it tighter or not. You can achieve a smaller finger case by increasing to a smaller number of stitches after stuffing the head. (This may result in needing to change the ribbing pattern.)

With the weight that the wings have, I do not want the puppet to fly off of my finger as I'm "Flying" the butterfly.

Antennae:
(See the Butterfly Plushie Pattern for construction images.) Cut a 12 inch piece of yarn (same as body color). With the yarn needle, insert into the butterfly head so the ends come out where you would like the antennae to be placed. Using the B crochet hook, crochet a chain (using a knit stitch for the first loop) until you get the desired length for an antenna (approximately 0.5 inch). Draw the free end of the yarn through the last loop, pull tightly, and cut the yarn.

Lower Wings (make 2)
Since these wings have a lot of increases and decreases, I've made a schematic (see right) to help you visualize the wing construction. This scheme shows one half of the wing.

Row 1: Cast on 8 sts. Join in the round and K 1 round even.
Row 2: Kfb, K2, Kfb, Kfb, K2, Kfb (12 sts)
Row 3: K1 round even
Row 4: Kfb, K4, Kfb, Kfb, K4, Kfb (16 sts)
Row 5: K1 round even
Round 6: Kfb, K6, Kfb, Kfb, K6, Kfb (20 sts)
Row 7: kfb, K8, kfb, kfb, K8, kfb (24 sts)
Row 8: kfb, K10, kfb, kfb, K10, kfb (28 sts)
Row 9: K 1 round even
Row 10: kfb, K12, kfb, kfb, K12, kfb (32 sts)
Rows 11-13: K across
Row 14: SSk, K12, K2tog, ssk, K12, K2tog (28 sts)
Row 15-16: K across
Row 17: SSK, K10, K2tog, SSK, K10, K2tog (24 sts)
Row 18: K across
Row 19: SSK, K8, K2tog, SSK, K8, K2tog (20 sts)
Row 20: SSK, K6, K2tog, SSK, K6, K2tog (16 sts)
Divide the stitches so there are 8 sts on one needle, and 8 on the other and do a three needle bindoff. Weave in all loose ends.

Upper Wings (make 2)
Since these wings have a lot of increases and decreases, I've made a schematic (see right) to help you visualize the wing construction. This scheme shows one half of the wing.

Row 1: Cast on 8 sts. Join in the round and K 1 round even.
Row 2: Kfb, K2, Kfb, Kfb, K2, Kfb (12 sts)
Row 3: K1 round even
Row 4: Kfb, K4, Kfb, Kfb, K4, Kfb (16 sts)
Row 5: K1 round even
Round 6: Kfb, K6, Kfb, Kfb, K6, Kfb (20 sts)
Row 7: kfb, K8, kfb, kfb, K8, kfb (24 sts)
Row 8: kfb, K10, kfb, kfb, K10, kfb (28 sts)
Row 9: K 1 round even
Row 10: kfb, K12, kfb, kfb, K12, kfb (32 sts)
Row 11: K 1 round even
Row 12: K15, Kfb, Kfb, K15 (34 sts)
Row 13: k 1 round even
Row 14: SSk, K14, Kfb, kfb, K14, K2tog (34 sts)
Row 15: k 1 round even
Row 16: K16, Kfb, Kfb, K16 (36 sts)
Row 17: ssk, K32, K2tog (34 sts)
Row 18: K16, Kfb, Kfb, K16 (36 sts)
Row 19: ssk, K32, K2tog (34 sts)
Row 20: K16, Kfb, Kfb, K16 (36 sts)
Row 21: ssk, ssk, K28, K2tog, k2tog (32 sts)
Row 22: ssk, ssk, K24, k2tog, k2tog (28 sts)
Row 23: ssk, ssk, K9, kfb, kfb, K9, k2tog, k2tog. (26 sts)
Row 24: ssk, ssk, K18, k2tog, k2tog (22 sts)
Row 25: ssk, ssk, K14, k2tog, k2tog (18 sts)
Row 26: ssk, ssk, ssk, K1, K2tog, ssk, K1, K2tog, K2tog, K2tog (10 sts)
Row 27: ssk, K1, K2tog, ssk, K1, k2tog, (6 sts)
Divide the stitches so there are 3 sts on one needle, and 3 on the other and do a three needle bindoff. Weave in all loose ends.
NOTE: this wing may require slight blocking to remain in it's shape.

The unassembled pieces in the orientation that you'll sew them to the body.

Finishing
(See the Butterfly Plushie Pattern for construction images.) Arrange upper wings over lower wings until you get the wing shape you desire. Stitch the cast on tips (where the wings will be attached to the body) together and attach to the body. If the antennae are too curled for your preference, use some water to help straighten them out.

Underside of the finger puppet. Make sure you don't accidentally sew the body shut when you're attaching the wings!

Put the puppet on your finger and fly away!

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Abbreviations Used in this pattern:
Kfb - increase by knitting into the front and back of a single stitch.
K - knit
P - purl
SSK - decrease by slipping two stitches then knitting them together. Alternatively, you could slip one stitch, knit one stitch and pass slipped stitch over.
K2tog - decrease by knitting two stitches together.


This this pattern was created by ChemKnits for your personal or charity use. This pattern is not to be replicated, sold or redistributed without permission from ChemKnits. © 2010 ChemKnits