April is National Stress Awareness month, and the Craft Yarn Council asked me to help them write a crochet pattern for a stress ball, so that people can not only stitch away their stress, but then also squeeze away their stress!
I threw some ideas at them, and they chose my idea for a lemon stress ball, in the spirit of “when life gives you lemons….”
If you crochet a lot, this will be a quick & dirty pattern for you! If you are a beginner, it should still be very doable and good practice for working in the round. All month long, the Craft Yarn Council will be posting giveaways, project ideas, and helpful info about how knitting and crocheting can help reduce stress. Vogue Knitting also helped create a knit version of the lemon, so that knitters won’t feel left out!
(That’s my current table cloth. I thought it would evoke PICNIC, but it really evokes WELCOME TO GIUSEPPI’S PIZZERIA MAY I OFFER YOU THE CHIANTI.)
Here is the YouTube tutorial for the crochet version!
I’ll have the pattern written out down below as well. Hope you guys make lots of fun stuff this month to #StitchAwayStress :).
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“When Life Gives You Lemons” Lemon Stress Ball Crochet Pattern
by Twinkie Chan
Materials
- Green worsted weight yarn, like Red Heart Super Saver in Spring Green – approx. 1 yard
- Yellow worsted weight yarn, like Red Heart Super Saver in Bright Yellow – approx. 26 yards
- H8/5.0mm crochet hook
- scissors
- tapestry needle
- Polyfil stuffing
Finished Size
Approx. 4.5 inches long and 2.5 inches wide
Gauge
15 sc x 18 rows = 4 in. x 4 in.
Abbreviations
ch(s) : chain(s)
dec: decrease
FLO: front loop only
hdc: half double crochet
rnd(s): round(s)
sc: single crochet
sc2tog: single crochet two together
sl st: slip stitch
st(s): stitch(es)
YO: yarn over
( ): work everything inside the parentheses into the next stitch
[ ]: repeat everything in the brackets the number of times indicated
Notes
– When decreasing in this pattern, I would suggest the invisible decrease. With the Right Side of your work on the outside of the Lemon, insert hook into FLO of next st, then insert hook into FLO of following st, [YO and pull through 2 loops] 2 times.
– This pattern calls for Polyfil to stuff the lemon, but you can use some other stress-relieving options such as:
1) Cut the leg off a pair of pantyhose. Insert the toe into your nearly completed Lemon at around Rnd 18 and use a funnel to fill the pantyhose with Poly beads until your are happy with the feel of the Lemon. Tie off the pantyhose to close the opening and trim any extra pantyhose. Finishing crocheting the Lemon.
2) Blow up a water balloon to stretch it out. Then insert it into your nearly completed Lemon at around Rnd 18 and use a funnel to fill the balloon with sand or corn starch. Tie off the balloon when you are happy with the feel of the Lemon and finish crocheting the Lemon.
(Okay, if you watch the video, you’ll discover that I couldn’t really figure out the poly bead solution, but that doesn’t mean that you still can’t!)
Lemon
With Green, make magic ring, or ch 3 and sl st to 1st ch to form ring.
Rnd 1: Ch 1, work 6 sc into ring. Don’t join rnds and continue to work in a spiral. (6)
– Break off Green. Join Yellow.
Rnd 2: 1 sc in each sc. (6)
Rnd 3: [(2 sc), 1 sc] 3 times. (9)
Rnd 4: 1 sc in each sc. (9)
Rnd 5: (2 sc) in each st. (18)
Rnd 6: [(2 sc), 2 sc] 6 times. (24)
Rnd 7: 1 sc in each sc. (24)
Rnd 8: [(2 sc), 5 sc] 4 times. (28)
Rnd 9 – 15: 1 sc in each sc. (28)
Rnd 16: [dec, 5 sc] 4 times. (24)
Rnd 17: 1 sc in each sc. (24)
Rnd 18: [dec, 2 sc] 6 times. (18)
– Begin stuffing the Lemon firmly and continue to stuff a little more as you finish the rest of the pattern.
Rnd 19: dec 9 times. (9)
Rnd 20: 1 sc in each sc. (9)
Rnd 21: [dec, 1 sc] 3 times. (6)
Rnd 22: 1 sc each in the next 4 sts. Sl st into next st and leave last st unworked. (6)
– Break off and weave yarn tail through remaining 6 sts and pull to close. Tie off and weave in end.
