Yip Yips Crochet: How to Make the Most Beloved Sesame Street Characters in Yarn

If you grew up watching Sesame Street, the Yip Yips hold a special place in your heart. Those wide-eyed, floppy-mouthed Martians who landed on Earth and tried to make sense of telephones, books, and radios with their signature “Yip yip yip yip yip… uh-huh uh-huh” are among the most iconic Muppet characters ever created. Now imagine bringing those ridiculous, lovable aliens to life in crochet form. Whether you’re making them for a child, a nostalgic adult, a Halloween costume, or just because you love the craft, Yip Yips crochet projects are endlessly fun, surprisingly beginner-friendly once you understand the construction, and wildly impressive to anyone who sees the finished result.

This guide walks you through everything you need to know about crocheting Yip Yips, from understanding their design and choosing your materials to working through the key construction techniques that make these characters so recognizable. Along the way you’ll find tips for customizing your Yip Yips, ideas for how to use them once they’re finished, and some encouragement for those moments when the googly eyes don’t want to cooperate.

What Are the Yip Yips, Exactly?

Before you pick up a hook, it helps to really study your subject. The Yip Yips — officially called Martians on Sesame Street — first appeared in 1971 and were performed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. They’re essentially large mouths with eyes, built around a design that allows the puppeteer’s entire arm to operate the mouth opening and closing. The original puppets come in two colors, typically one pink or lavender and one orange, and they have that distinctive shaggy, furry texture you’ll want to capture in yarn.

Their design elements, broken down for crochet purposes, are fairly simple: a large, wide body that is essentially a mouth-shaped form, big round eyes that sit on top, long floppy eyelids or “hair” pieces that droop down over the eyes, and that textured, fluffy surface. Some versions also have small antennae on top. The humor of the Yip Yips comes entirely from their expressions and their mouths, which means your crochet version lives or dies on how well you capture those eyes and that gaping, expressive mouth.

Choosing Your Yarn: Texture Is Everything

The single most important material decision you’ll make for a Yip Yips crochet project is your yarn texture. The original Muppet puppets are built with long, shaggy fur fabric, and the closest yarn equivalent is a loop yarn, fur yarn, or eyelash yarn. These specialty yarns create a fluffy, textured surface that reads immediately as “Muppet” when someone looks at your finished piece.

Loop yarn (sometimes sold under brand names like Loops & Threads Cozy) is one of the easiest options for beginners because you don’t actually insert a hook through the yarn the same way — you work with the loops themselves. However, it can be harder to count stitches in, which makes it tricky for shaped pieces. A better approach for most crocheters is to use a standard worsted weight yarn as your base and then use a fur or eyelash yarn held together with it, or to add a brushed texture after the fact using a pet slicker brush on finished pieces worked in mohair-blend or brushed acrylic yarn.

For the classic Yip Yips, you’ll want one large skein each of two contrasting colors. The traditional pair is pink/lavender and orange, but you have creative freedom here. Many crocheters have made green Yip Yips, blue ones, rainbow ones, and even color-blocked versions. Pick colors that make you happy, because you’re going to be staring at them for several hours.

For the mouth lining and inner surface of the mouth, a contrasting color in a smooth, non-textured yarn works best. Most people use black or dark gray for the interior of the mouth, which gives it that dark void look that makes the eyes and expression pop.

You’ll also need safety eyes, which come in sizes from about 12mm to 40mm depending on how large your Yip Yips are. For an amigurumi-sized Yip Yip (palm-sized), 18mm to 24mm safety eyes work beautifully. For a larger puppet-style version, go as large as you can find. Alternatively, you can crochet the eyes separately and stuff them for a more dimensional look, which also allows you to make them comically large without being limited by safety eye sizing.

Tools You’ll Need

Beyond yarn, your tool list is fairly standard for amigurumi or soft sculpture crochet. A 4.0mm to 5.0mm hook works well for worsted weight yarn at a tight gauge that keeps stuffing from showing through. If you’re using a bulkier yarn, size up accordingly. You’ll need polyester fiberfill for stuffing, stitch markers (especially if you’re working in continuous rounds, which is standard for amigurumi), a yarn needle for seaming and weaving in ends, scissors, and wire or plastic craft eyes as mentioned above.

If you want your Yip Yip to function as an actual puppet, you’ll need to think about the mouth construction more carefully. A piece of stiff felt or thin craft foam cut to the shape of the mouth and covered in fabric or yarn can form a rigid mouth plate that makes the puppet feel more like the real thing. Some crafters use a folded piece of cardboard or even a dollar store picture frame cut to size. The mouth plate sits inside the head, and you slip your hand in from below to operate it.

Understanding the Construction

Yip Yips can be made in several different formats. The most common among crocheters are amigurumi-style stuffed figures (non-functional, purely decorative), hand puppet versions, and flat appliqué or plushie versions for things like pillow covers or patches.

For the amigurumi or puppet version, the body is essentially one large, somewhat flattened oval shape with a wide horizontal opening that forms the mouth. Think of it less as a round ball and more as a wide, somewhat flat disc when viewed from the side — the vertical height is less than the horizontal width, because the mouth takes up so much of the front face.

The most popular construction method starts with the top and bottom of the mouth as two separate flat ovals, worked in rows rather than rounds to keep a flat shape. You then join these two pieces along the back (the “hinge” of the mouth), stuff them appropriately, and either seam or slip stitch them together around the edges, leaving the front open to form the mouth opening. The mouth lining — that dark inner surface — can be crocheted as a separate flat piece and slip stitched inside the mouth opening, or you can carry a contrasting color along as you work the mouth edges.

The eyes are typically made as separate pieces and attached on top. For the classic Yip Yip look, the eyes sit on slight stalks or mounds on top of the head, and they have heavy, droopy eyelids. The eyelids are often just a semicircle of the main body color stitched over the top half of each eye, or they’re made as floppy crocheted pieces that drape dramatically over the eye. Getting the eyelid droop right is one of the most characterful details you can nail — it gives your Yip Yip that quizzical, bewildered expression that’s so perfect.

A Basic Body Pattern Overview

While a full line-by-line pattern is beyond the scope of this post (many excellent free and paid patterns exist on Ravelry, Etsy, and independent crochet blogs — more on that below), here’s a structural overview of how most successful Yip Yip patterns are built.

Start with the top half of the head/body. Work a magic ring and increase in rounds to create a flat oval or rounded rectangle shape. This is roughly the size of your hand if you’re making a puppet, or the size of your palm for an amigurumi. Work in the fuzzy yarn throughout. Once you’ve reached your desired size, work a few rows without increases to form the sides.

For the bottom half, repeat this process. The bottom can be slightly smaller or the same size as the top, depending on how wide you want the mouth opening.

Work the mouth lining separately in smooth dark yarn, sized to fit inside the mouth opening when the two halves are held together.

Join the back of the top and bottom halves with a seam or a row of slip stitches in a matching color. At this stage, you can insert your mouth plate (if making a puppet) or begin stuffing (if making an amigurumi). The front opening is your Yip Yip’s mouth — leave it open and unworked, or edge it with a round of single crochet in a contrasting color to define the lips.

Make eyes as separate stuffed spheres or use safety eyes on crocheted mounds, and make the floppy eyelids as separate flat semicircular pieces. Attach everything to the top of the head.

Optionally, add antennae using pipe cleaners wrapped in yarn or tiny crocheted tubes, or add small arms if you want your Yip Yip to hold things (a classic pose is the Yip Yip holding a telephone while looking absolutely baffled by it).

Tips for Getting That Iconic Muppet Look

The gap between a Yip Yip that looks like a Yip Yip and one that looks like a generic blob with eyes comes down to a few key details.

First, proportions matter enormously. The mouth should be wide — almost as wide as the entire body. If you look at the original Muppets, the mouth is the dominant feature of the face, not a small detail. Many first-time Yip Yip makers make the mistake of making the mouth too small. Go bigger than you think is necessary.

Second, the eyes need height. They shouldn’t sit flush with the top of the head; they should sit up on little mounds or stalks that give them that cartoon-alien quality. Even a few extra stitches of raised surface under each eye makes a big difference.

Third, the eyelids should droop. This is non-negotiable for capturing the personality. A Yip Yip without droopy eyelids looks vaguely alarmed rather than perpetually bewildered and curious. Work your eyelids in the same fuzzy yarn as the body and let them be floppy and soft rather than stiff.

Fourth, brush your finished piece if you used a brushed acrylic or mohair-blend yarn. A few swipes with a pet slicker brush after the piece is fully assembled raises the fiber and creates a fuzzy halo that looks remarkably close to the original puppet fur texture. This one step can transform a nice crochet project into something that looks almost professionally made.

Finding Patterns

If you want to work from an existing pattern rather than drafting your own, you’re in luck — Yip Yips have inspired a devoted corner of the crochet community. Ravelry is your first stop, where searching “Yip Yip” or “Sesame Street Martian” turns up dozens of projects with notes from makers who’ve already worked out the tricky parts. Many of these are free patterns or patterns available for just a few dollars.

Etsy has a healthy selection of PDF patterns from independent designers, and the quality tends to be high because makers with strong reviews are easy to find. Look for patterns that include photos of finished objects from multiple angles, as this helps you evaluate whether the proportions and details match what you’re going for.

YouTube is also a genuinely useful resource for this particular project, especially for understanding the puppet construction. Searching for “crochet Muppet puppet tutorial” or “crochet Yip Yips” turns up video walkthroughs that can clarify construction steps that are hard to follow from written instructions alone.

Ideas for What to Do With Your Finished Yip Yips

Once you’ve made your Yip Yips, you have more options than you might think for what to do with them. As puppets, they’re extraordinary at kids’ birthday parties and are conversation starters at any age. A pair of Yip Yip puppets on your hands, doing the “yip yip yip uh-huh uh-huh” routine, produces genuine delight in almost anyone who grew up with Sesame Street — which is to say, most adults you’ll ever meet.

As amigurumi, they make wonderful shelf decorations, particularly if you pose them with a tiny crocheted telephone or book for them to be confused by. This kind of scene-setting photo also does exceptionally well on social media if you’re sharing your makes.

Yip Yips make heartfelt handmade gifts for teachers (especially teachers who loved Sesame Street), for new parents setting up nurseries with a retro theme, or for anyone going through a hard time who could use something genuinely joyful. There’s something about these particular characters — their wide-eyed wonder, their willingness to approach the completely unfamiliar with pure enthusiasm — that feels like a small act of optimism to give to someone.

For Halloween, a pair of people in Yip Yip costumes made from oversized crocheted or fabric versions of these characters is a beloved, recognizable costume that photographs beautifully. Some ambitious crocheters have made wearable Yip Yip costumes worked in giant-scale yarn that function almost like walking puppets.

A Note on Difficulty Level and Patience

If you’re relatively new to crochet, a Yip Yip amigurumi is achievable but will teach you some new skills. The key techniques you’ll use are the magic ring, increasing and decreasing in rounds, working flat ovals in rows, seaming pieces together, and attaching embellishments. None of these are advanced techniques, but you’ll likely need to refer to tutorials for any you haven’t tried before. Budget more time than you think you need for your first one, understand that the first Yip Yip you make will probably not look exactly the way you envisioned, and know that the second one will be dramatically better.

Crochet, like most skills, lives in the hands. The first Yip Yip teaches you where the tricky spots are. The second one is where you apply that knowledge. And the tenth one — if you get that far — is the one you’ll want to photograph and frame.

The Yip Yips themselves, after all, didn’t figure out the telephone on their first try either. They kept yipping at it, approached it with enthusiastic curiosity, and eventually got where they needed to go. That’s not a bad model for picking up a new crochet technique.

Final Thoughts

Yip Yips crochet is one of those niche creative pursuits that sits at the intersection of nostalgia, craft skill, and pure silliness in the best possible way. The finished objects make people genuinely happy in a way that more straightforward amigurumi sometimes don’t, because there’s a layer of recognition and memory layered on top of the craftsmanship. When someone sees your crocheted Yip Yips and breaks into a smile and starts doing the voice, you’ll understand exactly why this project is worth every stitch.

Gather your fuzzy yarn, find a pattern that speaks to you, and start yipping.