Birdie Ball Rattles

Birdie Ball Rattle

Designed by Dusti Rose Hendricks

Sheep Of Delight Crochet

I’ve been brainstorming stash busters to use up some of my Simply Soft yarn for January.  Luckily, we have a whole flock of new babies in my family for inspiration.  This easy project can be made with whatever colors you have on hand.  Choose Color A for the body and Color B for the wings.  Be careful to attach all the pieces as firmly as possible before giving any toy to a young child.

Skill Level-Easy

Gauge- Not important

Finished Measurements- 3” tall x 3”wide

Worsted Weight Yarn Colors-

                 Less than .5 oz each of Simply Soft Yarn in Colors A and B (Colors of your choice)

                 Less than .05 oz Simply Soft Yarn in White, Black, and either Orange or Yellow

Materials-

                 F/5 (3.75 MM) crochet hook

                 Yarn or tapestry needle

                 Scissors

                 Stitchmarkers

                 Polyester Fiberfill

                 Ping-pong ball

                 Jingle Bell

                 Tape (I used masking tape, but duct tape or washi tape would work just as well)

Special stitches-

Abbreviations-

                 Rnd…Round                                  Sc…..Single Crochet 

                 Ch….Chain                                     St(s)..Stitch(es)

                 Inc….Increase                                Dec…Decrease

                 Rep…Repeat                                 Sl St..Slip Stitch

                 Dc…..Double Crochet

To assemble rattle:  Use an X-acto knife to cut a slit in a ping-pong ball and insert a jingle bell.  (Feel free to experiment with multiple bells or bells of different sizes to get different sounds).  Tape the slit shut to finish.

Ball

Use Color A yarn.

Rnd 1: Sc 6 in magic ring OR Ch 2, Sc 6 in 2^nd ch from hook

Rnd 2: Inc 6 (12 sts)

Rnd 3: [Inc in one st, Sc in the next] rep 6 times around (18 sts)

Rnd 4: [Inc, Sc 2] rep 6 times (24 sts)

Rnd 5: [Inc, Sc 5] rep 4 times around (28 sts)

Rnd 6: [Inc, Sc 6] rep 4 times (32 sts)

Rnd 7: [Inc, Sc 7] rep 4 times (36 sts)

Rnds 8-9: Sc 36 (36 sts)

Rnd 10: [Inc, Sc 8] rep 4 times (40 sts)

Rnds 11-13: Sc 40 (40 sts)

Rnd 14: [Dec, Sc 8] rep 4 times (36 sts)

Rnds 15-16: Sc 36 (36 sts)

Rnd 17: [Dec, Sc 7] rep 4 times (32 sts)

Rnd 18: [Dec, Sc 6] rep 4 times (28 sts)

Rnd 19: [Dec, Sc 5] rep 4 times (24 sts)

Wrap the ping-pong ball in fiberfill and stuff the body with it.  Tuck more stuffing around and add more as you go as needed.

Rnd 20: [Dec, Sc 2] rep 6 times (18 sts)

Rnd 21: [Dec, Sc] rep 6 times (12 sts)

Rnd 22: Dec 6 times around (6 sts)

Finish off with a slip stitch and weave in ends.

Wings

Use Color B yarn. Make 2.

Rnd 1: Sc 8 in magic ring OR Ch 2, Sc 8 in 2^nd ch from hook

Rnd 2: Inc 8 times around (16 sts)

Rnd 3: [Inc, Sc] rep 4 times.  [Dc 3, Sc] rep 4 times. (28 sts)

Finish off with a slip stitch and weave in ends.

Eyes

Use White yarn. Make 2.

Rnd 1: Sc 8 in magic ring OR Ch 2, Sc 8 in 2^nd ch from hook

Rnd 2: Inc 8 times around (16 sts)

Rnd 3: [Inc, Sc] rep 8 times around (24 sts)

Finish off with a slip stitch and weave in ends.  Use Black yarn to make a French knot pupil in the center of each eye.

Beak

Use Orange or Yellow yarn.

Rnd 1: [Sc 2, Dc] rep 3 times in magic ring OR Ch 2, [Sc 2, Dc] rep 3 times in 2^nd ch from hook

Finish off with a slip stitch and weave in ends.

Finishing-

Sew the finished eyes to the front of the ball and the beak slightly below them.  Then sew the wings firmly to either side to finish.