December 26, 2012 Made a whole bunch Christmas Balls, where I relied heavily on the crochet version of Lion Brand’s Holiday Ornament #81008AD, which was written up by KristyRecycles on her Ornament project page.

Wonderful as KristyRecycles’s Ornament pattern is, I shrunk it down a little bit so that I could get smaller balls that used up less yarn. It took some trial and error to get a colour scheme I liked. This is the pattern/colour scheme I finally settled on (which I made for my sister and my auntie, respectively):

Note: Requires 3 colours: CA, CB and CC. Worked in a sc spiral using a stitch marker and carrying it up to mark the first stitch in each round.

Foundation: With CA, make a Magic Loop (also known as an Adjustable Ring).
Rnd 1: Ch 1, sc 6 sts in magic loop (6 sc).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (12 sc).
Rnd 3: * 2 sc in next st, sc in next st; repeat from * around (18 sc).
Rnd 4: * 2 sc in next st, sc in each of next 2 sts; repeat from * around (24 sc).
Rnd 5: With CB, * 2 sc in next st, sc in each of next 3 sts; repeat from * around (30 sc).
Rnd 6: With CA, sc around (30 sc).
Rnd 7: With CC, sc around (30 sc).
Rnd 8: With CB, sc around (30 sc).
Rnd 9: Alternate CC & CA, sc around (30 sc).
Rnd 10: With CC, sc around (30 sc).
Rnd 11: With CA, sc around (30 sc).
Rnd 12: With CB, * sc2tog over next 2 sts, sc in each of next 3 sts; rep from * around (24 sc).
Rnd 13: With CA, * sc2tog over next 2 sts, sc in each of next 2 sts; rep from * around (18 sc).
Stuff ornament
Rnd 14 * sc2tog over next 2 sts, sc in next st; rep from * around (12 sc).
Rnd 15: Sc2tog over next 2 sts around (6 sc); join with a sl st to first st of current rnd.

FO leaving long tail.

Finishing Use tail to sew the last few stitches together and close up the hole. Secure tail and tuck ends into ornament. To make loop, tread a length of yarn (or cord or thread or chain stitches or whatever else you want to use) between two stitches at the top of the ornament. Knot the end and trim. Or you can attach yarn to the top, chain or i-cord it until it reaches 6” and attach end to top of ball.

♥