A striped pastel balloon with a woven basket hanging beneath it on gold chains, then a chunky rainbow coil trailing down to a small gold bell.
The balloon is worked in vertical panels rather than horizontal stripes, which is what makes it look like a real hot air balloon rather than a striped ball. That technique is the main thing to learn here and it transfers to anything round you want to stripe the long way.
It is a nursery piece, a window piece or a car mirror piece depending on the length you make the tail.
What you’ll need
DK cotton in six pastels, dusty pink, cream, mint, lilac, sky blue and butter yellow, plus brown for the basket.
A 2.5 mm hook, worked tight so no stuffing shows between the colour changes.
You’ll also want polyester fibrefill, two wooden beads around 12 mm, one small teal or pearl bead for inside the basket, fine gold chain or gold thread for the suspension, a small gold bell, and a tapestry needle.
Finished length is about 38 cm.
Abbreviations are US terms. ch is chain, sl st is slip stitch, sc is single crochet, hdc is half double crochet, dc is double crochet, inc is two stitches in one, dec is an invisible decrease, MR is magic ring, BLO is back loops only.
How the vertical panels work
The balloon is 36 stitches around at its widest, divided into six panels of six stitches each.
You carry all six colours with you as you work. When you reach the end of a panel, you drop the colour you are using, pick up the next, and continue. The unused strands run along the inside of the balloon behind the stitches.
Two things make this manageable. Change colour on the last pull through of the final stitch in each panel, so the join is clean. And keep the carried strands loose across the back, because tight floats will pull the balloon into a lumpy shape you cannot block out.
Six strands trailing is a nuisance for the first few rounds and then you get used to it. Let the balls sit on the floor around your chair rather than in your lap.
While you are increasing and decreasing, the panel width changes. Just keep the increases evenly distributed and put one increase in each panel per increase round, which keeps the stripes straight.
The balloon
Round 1. 6 sc in MR (6), one stitch in each colour. Round 2. Inc six times (12), two stitches per colour. Round 3. Sc, inc, repeated six times (18) Round 4. Sc twice, inc, repeated six times (24) Round 5. Sc three times, inc, repeated six times (30) Round 6. Sc four times, inc, repeated six times (36) Rounds 7 to 13. Sc around (36), six stitches per panel. Round 14. Sc four times, dec, repeated six times (30) Round 15. Sc three times, dec, repeated six times (24) Round 16. Sc twice, dec, repeated six times (18) Round 17. Sc, dec, repeated six times (12). Stuff firmly.
Now drop all colours except cream for the neck.
Rounds 18 and 19. Sc around (12). Fasten off, leaving the neck open.
Stuff it hard. A soft balloon sags at the shoulders and the vertical stripes go wavy, which is the one thing that gives this away as homemade.
The basket
In brown. 6 sc in MR (6), inc six times (12), sc and inc repeated six times (18).
Round 4. Sc in BLO around (18), which makes the base fold sharply. Rounds 5 to 8. Sc around (18) Round 9. Sl st around and fasten off, which gives the basket a firm rim.
For the woven look, work rounds 5 to 8 in a moss pattern instead, alternating sc and sl st around. It is a small change and it reads as wickerwork from a distance.
Push a small bead inside the basket so it shows above the rim, and stitch it in place.
The suspension
Cut four short lengths of fine gold chain, about 3 cm each. Sew one to the balloon neck and the other end to the basket rim, at four evenly spaced points.
If you do not have chain, make four cords by chaining 8 in gold thread and slip stitching back along each.
The gap between balloon and basket should be about 2 cm. Too close and it looks like one object. Too far and the balloon looks detached.
The spiral tail
The chain is worked in colour blocks, so the coil shifts through the pastels as it descends. Change colour on the last pull through of the final chain in each block.
Starting with dusty pink, ch 10. Change to lilac and ch 10. Then sky blue, mint, butter yellow and pink again, 10 chains each, giving 60 chains.
Row 1. Ch 1, then work 3 sc into the second chain from the hook and 3 sc into every chain across, matching your yarn to the chain colour underneath. Fasten off.
Three single crochet per chain gives the fat tight coil in the photo. The stitches are short, so the fabric turns a hard corner and springs up on itself. There is no wire and none is needed.
Do not add a second row. It fights the curl and you lose the chunkiness.
Putting it together
Thread a wooden bead onto a length of cream cord and stitch it beneath the basket.
Sew the top of the spiral to the underside of that bead, going through the same spot several times.
Attach the gold bell to the bottom end of the coil. Its weight keeps the tail hanging straight rather than drifting.
At the top, thread the second wooden bead onto a doubled cream cord, stitch it into the top of the balloon and knot a hanging loop above it.
Hang it up and check the balloon sits level. If it tips, one of the four suspension chains is shorter than the others, which is easy to fix now and annoying later.
Notes and variations
A bright primary version in red, blue and yellow reads as a toy rather than a nursery ornament.
Make three in the same palette and hang them at different heights, which is how they look best.
For a car mirror, shorten the tail to 40 chains.
For a proper nursery mobile, make five and hang them from a covered hoop.
Add a tiny bear or bunny sitting in the basket instead of the bead.
Questions I get asked
Why are my stripes wavy? Either the balloon is understuffed, or your increases are not evenly distributed across the panels. One increase per panel per increase round keeps the lines straight.
Why is my balloon lumpy? The carried strands are too tight across the back. Let them lie slack, and check by looking inside before you stuff.
Can I make it in fewer colours? Yes. Three colours alternating across six panels works and is much less fiddly to manage.
Can I use acrylic? Yes, and it suits the pastels, though cotton keeps the panel edges crisper.
How long does it take? About four hours, and the balloon is three of those.