Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Balls

On New Year's Eve, in between a delicious dinner out and watching the Ridley Scott commentary on the newest director's cut of Blade Runner, I whipped up this pentagon ball.  Par-tay!

There is only one pentagon (five-sided polygon) pattern in all my books, and it's too lacy to hold in stuffing, so I made this pattern up.  It still has too many holes, but it works as a proof-of-concept.

This would be an awesome kid's toy, or even a cat toy.  I'll see if I can come up with a better small pentagon granny square.  But the goal was to do a practice run for This Monster Ball (via Crafty Pod, scroll down).

The best part?  If you have a hole-free pentagon, then you don't have to weave in any ends.  I'll repeat: you don't have to weave in any ends!!!  You can just let them swim around on the inside.

Oh, crocheted pentagon ball, you might be the most perfect project ever ... (sigh)
26 Comments leave a comment


plaidshoes said ...
What a cool ball! Oh, how I wish I could crochet!
1/2/2008 5:57 PM

Sara said ...
Haha... this does indeed look like a tricky task! I haven't yet tackled granny squares... good luck finding a hole-free stuff-able version! This is a very cute prototype, though. I love your color choices! It looks like such a fun toy!
1/2/2008 6:07 PM

Carrie S. said ...
Wow - that is so sweet!
1/2/2008 6:28 PM

Javajem said ...
Oh My God!! The link to the monster ball is tooo funny and perfect!! I love it!

Your little ball is fab too!
1/2/2008 7:52 PM

Ellie said ...
You could put magnets in the balls so they would stick or stack together. Kids love that stuff! Or atleast mine would.
1/2/2008 9:19 PM

marcisenders said ...
The Monster Ball is amazing! I sighed outloud at its amazingness! Maybe if you used a thicker yarn with a smaller hook. It won't eliminate the holes but they would fill in a little more.
When you are finished with the monster ball I'm coming to Phili to play!
1/2/2008 10:02 PM

Kim said ...
Ooooooh, I love this! you should sell these... they'd make wonderful gifts for babies. Not to mention Christmas ornaments...
1/3/2008 8:38 AM

Fliss said ...
Weaving in the ends on crochet doesn't bother me too much. But knitting is another matter; just the thought of it makes me swear like a sailor!
1/3/2008 8:44 AM

Nic said ...
I'd leave it hole-y for a cat toy that way you can put cat nip in it so that it can fall out as the kitty plays with it.

Mew mew mew happy kitty ;)
1/3/2008 10:55 AM

Anonymous said ...
Thanks for the link to the monster ball! Amazing. I like the colors of the one you made. Here's a link for a ball made with triangles.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/we2/triangleball.html
1/3/2008 11:39 AM

Inger C said ...
Happy new year Alice! I did a flea market 70's book-find on my Christmas vacation up north. It had an image of a big ball in patch work technique. Instatly the urge to make one to sit on arrived :-) Greate to see that you have a textile large-ball project going to! I look forward to see the result - you always amazes me with your colors and greate "hook-work". Kind regards Inger.
1/3/2008 5:15 PM

SisterDG said ...
I've always felt you were a crafter with balls.... :-)
1/3/2008 7:17 PM

Junie Moon said ...
It's a cute ball and ever so clever a design. One of these days I'll have to learn to crochet.
1/4/2008 4:05 AM

macati said ...
hi!
I wish you a great 2008 full of good surprises!
:)
1/4/2008 4:56 AM

Sonya said ...
So Mr. Knitsonya is a geek of the highest order and when I showed him your ultra cool creation he said "Dodecahedron." I guess the man has done enough extreme origami. I love the monster ball and have a great appreciation for NOT weaving in!
1/4/2008 7:56 AM

Vickie said ...
Cute ball!
1/4/2008 3:50 PM

cocuklacocuk said ...
It's so cute, please look at ours.

Here is the link.
http://www.cocuklacocuk.com/index.php/orgu-top/

Though it's a Turkish site, you can understand by looking at the pics.
1/4/2008 5:54 PM

Sherpa said ...
I'm a little in love. that ball is awesome!
1/4/2008 7:03 PM

Rebecca said ...
Fantastic!! Man, I wish I'd paid more attention when my Grandma tried to teach me crochet.
1/5/2008 5:44 PM

Incredible project! I love this, and as you said, is perfect for kids, Im not so sure that is good for cats (they can destroy it!).
The link to the huge ball... amazing! I´ll start now to make pentagons.
Bye!
3/16/2008 5:55 PM

Kady said ...
I love the pentagon ball and have been looking for a similar pattern for a long time. I used to make bigger ones for baby gifts but I lost the pattern. This site says the pattern is here but I don't see it. Am I missing it? Thanks.

Kady
6/23/2008 4:58 PM

futuregirl said ...
I honestly don't remember what I did, but from the picture it looks like I did 10 single crochet in a magic circle. Next row [ 2 sc 2 ch ] around. Next row each edge should be 4 sc (1 in the ch sp, 2 in the sc, and one in the ch sp) with a 2 ch space at the corners.

To join, I laid the pentagons wrong sides together and single crocheted along the edge.

I hope that helps.
6/23/2008 5:12 PM

Smithy said ...
Oh my God, I've been looking for a pattern like this for years. I have a ball almost exactly like that, I call it Bally. Bally and I will be 32 years old in December and, laugh all you want, I can't sleep without him. He's getting very worn and threadbare in places and although I've done several amateur repairs, I think I'll have to replace a patch or two someday only until now, I never had an idea how to do it. Thank you. You have no idea what this post means to me...another 32 years of sleep!
10/15/2008 1:54 PM

Kim said ...
Work a "magic ring" in the center of the motif and draw it closed. Voila! No hole! Stuff until your heart is content. :D
2/25/2010 2:13 PM

futuregirl replied ...
Kim ... I do love the magic ring. The biggest holes are the chain-bits at the corners, though. I think I'd need to not do the three-chain corners for a stuffed ball like this.
3/7/2010 5:49 AM
 
molly z. said ...
I have done a dodecahedron spikey ball with each pentagon in sc.
The trick is to work inc's at the corners, always working them over each other and mayber do a plain row between sometimes.
otherwise stuff the foot of pantyhose or kneehighs, then tie that off and then put that in the ball - instant lining!
Good luck on this - molly z.
3/29/2010 3:03 AM

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