Wow! What a gorgeous, effective pattern this is! I think I fell in love with the book (Little Crochet, by Linda Permann) because of this ball, then I discovered all the other marvellous patterns that are also in the book :-)
This pattern is beautifully written, as are all the Linda Permann patterns I have used so far :-)
I just used some leftover, acrylic yarns that I had from another project, and I only needed a small amount of each (but I didn’t weigh it before stuffing it, so I can’t tell you exactly how much of each colour I used, sorry).
I wanted it to be quite a tight tension (gauge) so that the stuffing wouldn’t escape anywhere, so i used a 3mm hook with this DK weight yarn. It almost KILLED ME! I ended up with a numb, tingly finger because it was such hard work with the acrylic yarn on such a tight tension. It probably wouldn’t have been quite so hard if I was using a nice wool yarn.
however all the hard work (and numb fingers) were worth it, because the ball is really gorgeous, and sturdy, and no stuffing is escaping :-)
before I stuffed the ball I was a bit concerned about the shape of the ball. It seemed a bit elongated, or something, not really “round”. But after I stuffed it firmly it took on the beautiful spherical shape I was hoping for :-)
The pattern suggests that you pop a bell into the centre of the ball during stuffing, but I didn’t have a bell at the time of stuffing, so I made a “rattle” instead. I found some small Easter Egg containers (similar to the plastic capsule that you find in Kinder Surprises) at Spotlight recently, and used it as my “rattle” by popping some small beads inside it, then sealing it with electrical tape, then popping it inside the ball during stuffing. It worked quite well :-)
my mum saw the finished ball and loved it. So she’s claimed it to give as a gift to a friend who is in the process of adopting a little girl :-)