Post #250 - Crocheted Bean Bag Ball Pattern

I can hardly believe that this is my 250th blog post! For me, that's fairly momentous because over the last 22 months I have morphed from a casual blogger, who posted (maybe) a couple times a month, to a serious blogger that posts at least four times a week and has advertising. I've even been featured on a number of other blogs and websites. The Chilly Dog has truly become my venue to share crafting projects, tips and tutorials and lots of people are actually reading it. That makes me so happy!

In honor of my 250th post, I am going to take a moment to revisit my humble beginnings, post #2, Crocheted Hacky Sack Pattern. Somehow, it has become one of my most popular posts of all time, despite the fact that when I wrote it, I had not yet learned the benefit of labels and tagging or how Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and RSS Feeds can draw people to your blog. That's probably fine because even though my pattern was okay, my early photos were not that great.

To celebrate 250, I share with you my updated Crocheted Bean Bag Ball (Hacky Sack) Pattern with improved pictures as well as a couple improvements to the original pattern.

• 1 - 65 gram skein of Premier Yarns Serenity Garden Yarn in Gems (or other fine weight yarn)
• US size 2 crochet hook
• dried navy beans
• plastic yarn needle

Directions

Chain 4. Join with a slip stitch in the first chain to form a loop. Ch 1.

Rnd 1: 6 sc in loop

From this point it's easier to crochet in a continuous spiral. So, your next stitch will be in the first sc. Then, keep working around and around without turning your work.

Rnd 2: *2 sc in next sc* 6 times (for a total of 12 sc)
Rnd 3: *sc in next sc, 2 sc in next sc* 6 times (for a total of 18 sc)
Rnd 4: *sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc* 6 times (for a total of 24sc)
Rnd 5: *sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc* 6 times (for a total of 30sc)
Rnd 6: *sc in next 4 sc, 2 sc in next sc* 6 times (for a total of 36sc)
Rnd 7: *sc in next 5 sc, 2 sc in next sc* 6 times (for a total of 42sc)



Rnd 8-14: sc in next sc(42 sc per round or a total of 294 sc)

For the rest of the pattern, dec means you should:

Insert your hook in the next sc, draw up a loop, insert hook in next sc, draw up a loop, yarn over and draw through all three loops.



Round 15: *dec, sc in next 5 sc* 6 times (for a total of 36 stitches)
Round 16: *dec, sc in next 4 sc* 6 times (for a total of 30 stitches)
Round 17: *dec, sc in next 3 sc* 6 times (for a total of 24 stitches)

Fill your work with dried navy beans. Continue working carefully so the beans don't spill out.

Round 18: *dec, sc in next 2 sc* 6 times (for a total of 18 stitches)
Round 19: *dec, sc in next sc* 6 times (for a total of 12 stitches)
Round 20: dec 9 times so the hole at the top is closed



Finish leaving a six inch tail.








Use a plastic yarn needle to pull the tail through the bean bag ball and trim.







Here's to 250 more tutorials, tips, inspiring artist interviews, nifty and swifty projects, field trips, product reviews and fun Etsy finds.