When I was young we had a set of little, simple finger puppets that my mom would pull out of her purse for us to play with when we had to sit still and be quiet. You know, at the doctor's office, at church, in the car... Now that I'm a mom, I decided that I wanted to make a set. I grew increasingly frustrated, however, with the absolute lack of good finger puppet patterns available. "Come on, people!" I thought. "How hard can it be to design such a little thing?" At which point I bonked myself on the forehead and pulled out some yarn.

I was right - it was easy.

These patterns are great for using up bits and pieces of yarn that are too big to just (gasp!) throw away, but too small to use for a larger project. (Can't even get a potholder out of it? No problem.) They're also a fantastic use for all of that yucky, stiff, worsted weight yarn you bought when you started crocheting and didn't know better -- of course, if you bought a lot of it, you're going to have to make a finger puppet army, aren't you? At any rate, the crocheting in this pattern is simple -- almost all single crochet, and so suitable for the beginner who is sick of granny squares and scarves, but hopefully interesting enough to make a fun diversion for the more experienced crafter. I know it was for me!

• Yarn: No specifics here! Small amounts of various colors in 4-ply worsted weight. Clean out that closet! (I used Red Heart Super Saver.)
• US G-6 hook (4.25mm)
• A yarn needle
• A teeny amount of stuffing or fiberfill.

12 sc x 16 rows = 4”x4”

US terminology used throughout:
ch = chain
sc = single crochet
dec = decrease
hdc = half double crochet
dc = double crochet
lp = loop
rnd = round
sk = skip
sl st = slip stitch
st = stitch

All decreases in these patterns are worked by drawing up a loop from each of the next 2 stitches, yarn over and draw through all 3 loops. Join the end of each round with a slip stitch to the first st in the round.

Dragon

What could be cooler t