Did I wake up one day, smack dab in the middle of a wide variety of crises, both deeply personal and more general in nature, and find myself absolutely possessed with the inescapable urge to knit a pile of snowballs? Why yes, yes I did.

Did I take myself directly to the store, bright and early that very morning, to purchase a variety of spheres and set to work satiating this urge? Also yes. With absolutely record speed.

Was I surprised when it turned out that quite a few of you also felt the need make a selection of your own projectiles to mitigate whatever personal horrors are plaguing you at the moment? I mean honestly, at this point, no.

For you see, at this point I trust that a fair number of you are either feeling the same rage I am or dealing with the same heartbreaks or just needing the same distractions. I knew many of you would love them, and some of you would find comfort and beauty in them, and maybe just maybe a few of you would throw them just as hard as you could against the nearest wall when you needed to vent a little steam. Or you could just hang them on your christmas tree. That’s totally ok too!

Whatever you decide to do with them, I hope they bring your hands and your heart and your head a little moment of calm and remind you that you can make beautiful things, even when the world feels like it’s on fire.

General information

This 40-page pattern is tremendously detailed and holds your hand every step of the way. There are pages and pages of step-by-step photos to show you exactly what to expect as you work. It walks you through everything from cast on to checking your sizing to blocking to embroidering your work.

The pattern is almost absurdly detailed, but it really does mean you can totally make these, even if you’ve never knit a project like this before!

Skills & scope

This is almost all stockinette worked in the round (with just a few decreases to close things up at the ends). If you’ve ever knit a hat, you absolutely have the skills to do this. And you can totally have one finished in just a couple of hours.

There are detailed embroidery instructions (12 pages of general embroidery info, plus 8 pages of specific instructions for 4 different embroidery options), so you can totally do this, even if embroidery feels a bit daunting.

The pattern uses charts (though it’s just one tiny one, don’t worry), so you will need to know how to follow a knitting chart.

Yarn, gauge & sizing

The pattern comes in just one size, the finished size will be determined by the size of the ball or ornament you put in your knitting.

I made mine in fingering, sport, dk, and worsted-weight yarns to cover balls between 2.5 and 4 inches in diameter, but you can make them in any weight of yarn, and the finished size will change depending on what yarn you use. You don’t need to match any particular gauge, but you do need to knit tightly enough to make a firm fabric so your stitching doesn’t show through the fabric. I’ll have you check your knitting against your innards early on, so you don’t need to stress over gauge.

The pieces in the pictures each took less than 75 yards of the main color and less than 10 yards of the embroidery color.

You can absolutely use scrap yarn for this.

Tools & supplies

You’ll need needles that let you work in the round (circulars or DPNs) in whatever size lets you get a fabric you like with your chosen yarn plus the general knitting tools you need for most projects (scissors to cut your yarn, a darning needle to weave in ends, the occasional stitch marker or bit of scrap yarn to hold stitches).

You’ll also want something to stuff your project with. I use styrofoam balls and clear plastic Christmas ornaments. You could use soft stuffing if you wanted to make a soft ball, but I like the firmness and perfect roundness I got with the firmer filling.