The Magic Ball

People ask me all the time—what’s it like having all that yarn lying around? In a word, people, it’s FUN. I could knit with multicolored sock yarn day after day, all in the name of research.

Of course, I don’t go nuts, but now and then, if I come across a color that I really love, I save it for myself to make something special.

The yarn that I really give myself permission to use, are all the bits and bobs that are lying around. I have a burning desire to see every color combination that I’ve ever dyed, knitted up! I’ve made fun socks, shortie socks, stripey socks. I’ve made booties. I’ve made dozens of squares to be sewn into a blanket.

This fall, I had the idea to make up a Magic Ball. This is not a new concept, Kaffe Fassett popularized the magic ball in the 80’s--maybe he even invented it. Here is a great description of magic ball knitting. So I made up a magic ball and made a scarf. I figured out the length of yarn so the colors worked up into blocks or squares, so it looks like patchwork. (Remember when I said that my quilting was inspiring my knitting?)
And I love this scarf so much that I’ve worn it nearly everyday for the past few weeks, and all the knitters I’ve shown it to have responded so well, that I decided to write up the pattern and make up more balls. I’ll have some Sophie’s Toes Magic Balls in the shop on Monday evening. Each one comes with the pattern for the Patchwork Scarf. This is a great pattern for knitters who want to work with fun multi-colored sock yarn, but have yet to get up the courage to knit socks!

Did I mention that I loved it so much that I made a second? This one is all reds, pinks, and burgundy, and I used a free lace pattern on the internet. It's so long, I have it wrapped around 4 times!

And I've started on a third...


There's a color for everyone!