Striped ball crochet pattern

Before you start

• Worked in a spiral with the right side facing: do not join the rounds and do not turn. Put the stitch marker in the first stitch of every round, move it up as you go, and count the stitches against the number at the end of the line.
• Right side out: the side facing you as you work is the outside of the piece. A small piece often curls so that the wrong side faces out; push it through to the right side after a few rounds.
• Magic ring: wrap the yarn round two fingers, work round 1 into the loop, then pull the tail until the ring is closed. If you prefer, begin with 2 chains and work round 1 into the first of them.
• Sc2tog on a stuffed piece: put the hook under the front loop only of each of the next two stitches, then finish the stitch as one. It closes more neatly than working under both loops.
• Square brackets hold a repeat: work what is inside as many times as it says. The number in parentheses at the end of a line is the stitches that round leaves.
• Written for right-handed work. Left-handed makers work round the other way, which mirrors the lean of the stitches; every place in this pattern is given for right-handed work.
• Color changes: where a line says "With B", work the last pull-through of the stitch before it in the new color. Cut the old color leaving 4 in (10 cm), knot the two ends together inside and leave them there. In a spiral the new color starts one round higher than the old one ends, so a change shows as a small step where the round begins.
• Rounds are counted from the start of each piece: round 1 is worked into the ring.
• Every size here is about, and grows and shrinks with your gauge. For a larger toy use a thicker yarn and a larger hook, keeping the fabric tight enough that the stuffing does not show.
• It rolls: it has no base, and rests on whichever rounds are under it.