As it's soon to be my nieces first Christmas, I wanted to make her some toys that she can play with, but that she can also learn with, have bright colours, and most importantly; be safe. I was racking my brain for ages trying to think about what I could make, when I realised that a small ring and some little balls would be perfect. They would be washable, have no small parts, and be small enough for her little hands.
I tried to find a pattern online, but nothing was quite what I was looking for. So I decided to make it up myself! I started with the toy balls. I chose a bright, colourful yarn - Robin Paintbox DK, and set to work! I'd never crocheted a sphere before, so it was a bit of a learning curve, but it didn't have to be perfectly round, so it was fine!
I worked in Amigurumi style, again something that I hadn't really experimented with before, but I love a challenge! It turned out to be a breeze! I kept taking it into work, to work on in my breaks, so that I knew I would have enough time to finish everything before the big day!
I was so pleased with the end result! I love how this yarn works up too, its so bright, and really is just like a paintbox full of colours! I decided that I wanted to make three balls altogether, as a little set, but for them all to be different. The next ball that I chose to do was in three colours.
As I wasn't really planning out how many rows to crochet, I found it rather difficult to make the stripes of colour even! I think that the fuchsia definitely dominates this ball, but I quite like it!
Another successful toy ball made! I realised after that I must've somehow changed my crochet technique, because the first colour change has a straight line, but the second one is all jagged. I'm not too sure how I managed to do it, but I wasn't aiming for perfection, and I kind of like little mistakes, it makes the item unique!
The third toy ball I decided to make was in two colours, and I wanted to try to make a smaller stripey effect. This one went a little bit better than the first one, but some stripes were still bigger than others! If I was writing this pattern down, I would keep more of a track on how many rows were being worked between the increases and decreases.
I still think that it turned out rather well though! After making the three toy balls, I decided to try to make a toy ring. My niece has one on her play gym that she loves to grab, and I wanted to make one that was nice and squishy, and that could be moved around too.
I started to crochet a long rectangle, and thought that I would be able to sew it together whilst stuffing it at the same time. I was a bit nervous at how this would turn out, but I wasn't to sure of how to make increases/decreases, and where they would be located to make it turn into a circle.
This is how it turned out! I think that crocheting a rectangle worked rather well, it's not a perfect circle, but there was no increasing or decreasing required, making it perfect for taking to work!
Overall, I'm so pleased with how these all turned out, and I know that my niece will love playing with them.
***If you are thinking of making toys for a baby or child to play with, please make sure that they are supervised at all times. To prevent from any accidents from happening, don't leave a toy in their cots/beds overnight. If you are planning on creating your own toys, please look into safety guidelines for each age range.***
