Little ball pattern
One round piece that teaches increases, decreases and stuffing. Amigurumi, about 7 cm tall.
Difficulty: 2 out of 5. Easy: several techniques.
Sizes may vary with the materials you use. We suggest making a small sample first.
- Height
- 7 cm
- Gauge
- 21 stitches and 23 rows in 10 cm
- Stitches
- 708
You will need
- Worsted (4) yarn in the colours listed
- 3.5 mm crochet hook, or the size that matches your swatch
- Polyester fibre stuffing, yarn needle, stitch marker
- A: Pink
Before you start
- Size depends on how tight you crochet. Fewer stitches per 10 cm makes a larger toy.
- Make a small test piece first. If it comes out larger than the gauge, try a smaller hook. If it comes out smaller, try a larger hook.
- A number in brackets at the end of a line, such as (24), is how many stitches you should have. Count them before moving on.
- Made a mistake? Pull the yarn gently to undo the stitches back to the mistake, then carry on from there.
- Toys are worked in a spiral, so rounds are not joined. Put a stitch marker in the first stitch of each round and move it up as you go.
- Keep your stitches tight so the stuffing does not show. A smaller hook than the yarn label suggests helps with this.
- Add stuffing a little at a time, and shape it with your fingers before closing a part.
Abbreviations
| MR | magic ring. Make a loop with the yarn tail, work the first stitches into it, then pull the tail to close the hole. |
|---|---|
| sc | single crochet. Put the hook in a stitch, wrap the yarn, pull up a loop (2 loops on hook), wrap again and pull through both. |
| inc | 2 sc in the same stitch. One stitch becomes two. |
| dec | invisible decrease: sc 2 together through front loops. Two stitches become one. |
Ball
Colour A (Pink). Work in a spiral. After the last round, cut the yarn, thread it on a yarn needle, pass it through the front loops of the last stitches and pull to close the hole.
| Rnd 1 | 6 sc in MR | (6) |
|---|---|---|
| Rnd 2 | inc × 6 | (12) |
| Rnd 3 | (1 sc, inc) × 6 | (18) |
| Rnd 4 | (2 sc, inc) × 6 | (24) |
| Rnd 5 | sc around | (24) |
| Rnd 6 | (3 sc, inc) × 6 | (30) |
| Rnd 7 | 2 sc, inc, (4 sc, inc) × 5, 2 sc | (36) |
| Rnd 8 | sc around | (36) |
| Rnd 9 | 2 sc, inc, (5 sc, inc) × 5, 3 sc | (42) |
| Rnds 10–16 | sc around | (42) |
| Rnd 17 | 2 sc, dec, (5 sc, dec) × 5, 3 sc | (36) |
| Rnd 18 | sc around | (36) |
| Rnd 19 | 2 sc, dec, (4 sc, dec) × 5, 2 sc | (30) |
| Rnd 20 | (3 sc, dec) × 6 | (24) |
| Rnd 21 | sc around | (24) |
| Rnd 22 | (2 sc, dec) × 6 | (18) |
| Rnd 23 | (1 sc, dec) × 6 | (12) |
| Rnd 24 | dec × 6 | (6) |
Add stuffing before the hole gets too small, then close.
Assembly
| 1. | Stuff the ball firmly before the last rounds, shaping it with your fingers. | |
|---|---|---|
| 2. | Close the hole and pull the yarn end through the ball to hide it. |