Easy Peasy Woolly Football #NettieandherNeedles

After I’d made lanyards before the end of school term, T asked if I could knit him something.  Choices were rather limited as he finds wearing wool too itchy and I knew he wouldn’t “play” with any knitted football figures (and probably find them a bit too young for him too).

What does T live and breathe? Football!  I found a woolly football pattern online, obviously it wouldn’t be bouncy or weatherproof, but it would be soft (always a bonus with SN children) and it could be kicked/thrown indoors.

  
 
That’s the finished ball, want to know how I made it? (pattern from knitting-and.com)
You will need:

Oddments of wool, either in various colours or one ball

Knitting Needles – I used size 4.5

Darning Needle

Scissors

Toy stuffing 

Row counter 
Stitch used throughout: garter stitch (knit every row)

Method:

1.  It didn’t specify needle size, so I used the same size as for the lanyards.

2.  Cast on 11 stitches and knit into the back of the stitches in the first row.  Knit 3 further rows, then increase by 1 stitch at each end of the next row and every following 5th row until you have 17 stitches.

3.  Knit 6 rows without shaping.

4.  Decrease by knitting 2 stitches together at each end of every alternate row until you have 5 stitches left on the needle.  Knit 2 stitches at each end of the next row, you’ll now have 3 stitches remaining, knit those together and fasten off (drawing the wool through the remaining stitch and pull tight)

You’ll end up with one of these:

5.  Now make 11 more, using the same instructions.  I made two of each colour.

6.  Press the 12 individual pieces lightly and then decide how you’ll want the finished ball to look.   6 sections per half ball.

7.  Stitch 5 of the sections around your central section, lining up the edges and then stitching the side edges that would be touching each other.

8.  You’ll end up with something like this:

And here it is from the other side, the side that will be the outside of the ball:

  
(The original patten said to use buttonhole stitch and secure on the outside of the ball, but I preferred to stitch on the inside)

9.  Now stitch the other 6 sections in the same way, reversing the colours (if you’ve used different colours) so that corresponding colours are opposite each other.

10.  Now join the two halves together, making sure that the right and wrong sides match.  Stitch it all together bar 1 section.

11.  Now turn the ball inside out and get ready for stuffing!  I used toy stuffing but you could always use cut up tights or odd socks.

12.  Stuff the ball, making sure that it reaches the corners and mould it into a circle shape as you do so, it will look a bit flower-ish to start with!  Then join the remaining section in one of the colours of the sections.

  
And there you go! One washable, soft ball.  It’s been tested out and it definitely doesn’t bounce but it was a relatively quick and fun thing to do.

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