Simple doesn’t always mean boring. Have you seen our earlier blog post, “A pile of balls”? It’s about exactly that - a handful of crocheted balls - one of our simplest patterns. But it works wonders!
In 2017, the balls were used as decorations for the Christmas table. The balls were monotone in color but spiced up with effect yarn to add a nice shine. And what a difference it made. The balls added some visual volume to the table, and it was a special feeling to be able to decorate the table with something homemade.
Now, Spring of 2021 is slowly blooming, even though it still feels like it’s taking forever. The gray landscape outside my window evokes a longing for beautiful pastels and shades of green. This longing has often resulted in me hunting for colorful decorations online. Not because I’ve forgotten that I can crochet, but because the energy to do so just isn't there. Well, most nights are spent at home in front of the TV, so I definitely have the time to do so. But I get so easily distracted, and if the projects take several days to complete, I just seem to lose interest and end up leaving them in the corner for weeks.
Ball to the rescue! One late evening, after spending hours looking at who knows how many colorful vases, cups, candlesticks, and other knickknacks online (🙈), I turned to my library of patterns. And, what do you know, I stumbled upon this old pattern. “That’s it!” It just burst out of me, and everything was a blur from there. I got so excited that I wanted to get started right away. And with a little digging, I found some amazing yarn that was perfect for the project. Because I had a handful of Rainbow Cotton 8/4 skeins lying around from previous projects.
Rainbow Cotton 8/4 is a real Hobbii classic. The yarn is made from 100% cotton and is available in an incredible 100 different colors. If you’re having a hard time choosing your colors, we’ve made some yarn packs for you that might inspire you. You can find them all here.
To make the balls extra special, I chose to use several different colors. Specifically the colors Pastel Mint (025), Baby Blue (032), Rose (044), Pink (045), Apricot (065), and Baby Purple (067).
And, wow, I was so pleased with the result!
Since the shape of the balls is so simple, both the craftsmanship and the colors really get to shine. I’ve made balls in 2 different sizes, both available in the pattern.
Here I’ve attached them to flower sticks, which makes them easy to use in vases 👇
These balls found their home in a bouquet of flowers. Well, mostly a bouquet of green branches. The flowers were beautiful and fresh in my bedroom a week ago. But yesterday they looked a little sad. So, I picked out the flowers and replaced them with these crocheted balls. They added a lot of color to the green leaves that were left in the vase. The leaves still have quite a bit of life left in them, and with the help of the lovely balls I now have a pretty and colorful bouquet a little while longer.
I’ve gone a little ball crazy, so I’ve had enough to decorate several places in my small apartment. Here I’ve attached them to a couple of yards of Rainbow Cotton 8/4 in the color Natural White (002), which I’ve hung on my very bare white wall. It really made my living room wall come alive.
Is it too early to start on summer projects? Because I was contemplating on making some more already in brighter colors to add to the wall 🌈
Are you going to crochet some cute decorative balls too?
You’ll find the pattern for free on our website. You can also find a complete shopping list to let you order everything with a single click.
Would you rather get started right away, then you can get away with it if you already have:
Filling
A polystyrene ball ensures a perfectly round ball that’ll keep its shape. They’re perfect if you want to mount the ball on a skewer/stick to decorate a vase. But if you have a little filling lying around, you can use that instead. That works really well for balls that just need to lie on a surface or hang on a string. But, as you can see from the photo a little further up, I actually managed to skewer the balls, even though they’re just filled with a normal filling. The filling doesn’t hold on to the skewer as well as polystyrene does. So, when I move the decoration or if I need to put them away for a later date, I need to be careful, otherwise, the skewer might fall out or go all the way through the ball.
REMEMBER! If you use filling, it’s important to fill it as firmly as you possibly can to ensure a firmer and rounder shape.
Wooden skewers
You can find flower sticks on our website, perfect for this pattern. But if you have some old, thin wooden skewers lying around in your kitchen drawer, then they’ll work too.
Some yarn
Yup! For this pattern, you have the opportunity to use many different types of yarn, and you don’t need a lot for each. If you have some leftover 8/4 cotton yarn, like our Rainbow Cotton 8/4, you can use that, no problem. Alternatively, you could use other yarns in any color or material you have lying around.
I have a little leftover Winter Glow that I’d like to try out - mostly to see how the pretty colors will play out when it’s used for balls like these.
Please take note, however, that the thickness of the yarn affects how big or small the balls become. If you’re using polystyrene balls, they might end up a different size. But if you use a regular filling, the size of the ball doesn’t matter. You just fill it until it’s full. So, please go ahead and use any yarn you have lying around!
Do you have any special yarn or specific colors in mind for this project? Please share them in the comments!
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