A friend pointed recommended that I try some of the patchwork puzzle balls from Jinny Beyer's book for a small project to have on hand while recovering from surgery (still a few weeks out). I was intrigued by the size and shape of the balls, and couldn't wait to try them out! I ended up putting my current project on hold for a few nights while I try some of the patterns.I was looking for ways to use scraps from previous projects already, but the appeal these patterns held for me was the mathematics behind each pattern. Not that I'm a math whiz or anything, but it was very smart for Beyer to describe how to traditional patterns are reworked so they form a sphere. I was also looking forward to using and practicing with templates, which is something I had been putting off.
The filling is pure cotton. Beyer recommends a particular brand of cotton fill, but I just used cotton balls. The filling needs to be cotton, as other material is not dense enough to hold the shape, but given that I don't really have a use for quilted cotton balls, I wasn't about to spend money on quality cotton. I did unroll and separate (almost) every cotton ball before stuffing the sphere to reduce lumpiness, but I assume a higher quality cotton wouldn't be as lumpy as my balls are.
I haven't quite figured out a use for quilted cotton balls, though. The smaller one is now a basketball for a friend, and the larger is a catnip toy for my cats. That's enough, right?
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