Recipe not pattern as each one turns out differently depending on what I am thinking when I knit it
Basics:
Cast on 42 stitches. Make a tube as long as you want the puppet body to be.
I use double pointed needles and proceed as if to make a sock. The puppet can
be one color, or have a 'sweater' or whatever your yarn tells you it wants to
be. For a sweater, rib the bottom, then do stockinette for as long as you want
the 'sweater' to be, and then finish with a neck rib. Fold the neck rib out
and reach down behind to pick up your original 42 stitches. If you come up with
too many stitches they can be decreased up the center back of the head. Kind
of a nice shaping touch for the head anyway.
Take 22 of the 42 stitches and proceed to knit the back of the head. (heel flap) Then turn the head (heel 8-)) I usually start with knit 12, k2tog, k1, turn and proceed from there. If you want a bigger or flatter head change where you are going to make your decreases. This decrease makes a bit of a poofy head.
Now pick up the side of the head (sock gusset) stitches. And proceed for about two inches to make a regular sock. When you hold you hand up in a position to work the puppet the gusset should be that wide. Then leave off the decreases. Put the bottom of the head - jaw - (instep of the sock) on a separate needle. Cast on 16 stitches and proceed to work around. That will make the top part of the puppet mouth shape while you still have the stitches for the bottom part of the mouth reserved on the extra needle.
Sometimes I start decreasing right away on every other row and sometimes I make a couple of inches and then start decreasing and sometimes I wait a while and then do the decreasing suddenly. When you finish you should have more stitches on the top of the mouth than you do the inside of the mouth. When you pull a thread through the last few stitches this will make the top pouch a little and you can use a little spare yarn to make a nose. Or decrease till both are even and Kitchener stitch it together and add a pompon to make the nose. The possibilities here are endless.
Now go back and pick up the bottom jaw stitches. Pick up 14 stitches, along the cast on edge. Again this should be a few less than you have on the outside of the mouth. Proceed to knit the mouth bottom. I decrease more rapidly on the bottom jaw as that part of the puppet is worked by your thumb and doesn't need so much room. Complete as above, except that I make a central decrease on the outside edge to make the stitch count match and then weave the stitches together.
On to decorations! You can make a hat and attach that to the top of the head. You can pick up a few stitches and knit long droopy ears.
Ears
The last one like that I made I picked up 4 stitches and knit in garter
stitch for two rows.
Then I did a row of K1, K in front and back of next stitch 2x, K1.
1 row even and another increase row.
K1, K in front and back of next stitch, K2, K in front and back of
next stitch, K1.
Knit one row even.
I proceed like that until I have about 12 stitches.
Knit a few rows even.
Do another 4 increase rows, and knit even till there are 18 garter
stitch ridges.
Then increase about 4 more stitches following the same plan.
Knit 2 rows even and then decrease on the next two rows to make the
very bottom of the ear curve.
Hair
Hair can follow the same plan. I did a pageboy haircut on the last
puppet. I picked up adequate stitches to go around the head and increased
until it swung freely from the head. At the bottom of the hairline - I
decreased by k1* k2 tog around* k1. This made the bottom of the hair turn
under and then I cast off. I picked up stitches across the back of the
head and knit bangs down. I increased in the same fashion but did not decrease
to make nice floppy bangs that came down to the top of the eyes.
NOTE: It is easiest to attach the eyes when the top of the head is finished but the bottom jaw is not yet started. That way you can get at the underside of the eyes without turning the puppet inside out. I always use stitch on eyes so that I can determine that they are very firmly attached.