Simple Crochet Christmas Ball Ornaments—FREE Pattern

Looking for a quick, simple crochet ornament pattern? Today I am excited to share a classic crochet Christmas ball ornament that will work up in 10-20 minutes!

I sure do love a quick crochet pattern. When I was thinking about ornament designs, one of my top priorities was to make a classic ornament—but also something that was simple and could be made last minute (for those of us who like to procrastinate! 😉

Crochet Christmas Bauble Ornaments

These cute little ball ornaments are what emerged when I thought classic and simple! They are made almost entirely from half double crochet, with a quick round of single crochet in the center to make a stripe.

On a different note, I find it interesting that these can be called both “ball” and “bauble” ornaments. Which name do you usually use? I would love to hear!

Materials to Crochet Easy Ball Ornaments

You will just need small amounts of worsted weight yarn to make these ornaments! That’s the wonderful thing about this pattern and all my other crochet ornaments – you can try to use up scraps you have in your stash!

When you choose colors, you can definitely go a variety of different routes. For example, the first time I made these ornaments I used all Christmas colors: green, red, and white.

However, the second time around I decided to use more jewel-toned colors, like wine, gold, and teal.

If you scroll down to the tutorial section of the pattern, you’ll see what I mean! 😉

More Crochet Christmas Ornaments

Speaking of more ornaments, here are a few other patterns I’ve designed! You definitely want to check these out if you need some quick crochet gifts for family and friends this year.

1/ Snowflake Ornament 2/ Wreath Ornament 3/ Red Truck Ornament 4/ Christmas Tree Ornament

How do you crochet a Christmas Ball?

To crochet our Christmas baubles/balls, we will start at the bottom and work in these steps:

1. Make a small round of 10 half double crochet
2. Increase in each stitch for round 2 so we have 20 half double crochet
3. Work a regular round so the work starts curving up into a ball
4. Fasten off and join in color #2 to make a quick stripe
5. Join the main color back in, work an even round, and then some decrease rounds to form it into a finished ball

Of course, if that sounds confusing now, don’t worry! I will have more detailed instructions farther down in the post, along with some photos to help you out.

What is the average size of a Christmas ball ornament?

Regular Christmas ball ornaments come in a wide range of different sizes! I’m sure you’ve seen very large ones and very small ones. From what I can tell, the average size ranges from 3 to 4 inches.

This crochet ball ornament in particular can change in size depending on the yarn and hook you use! The ones pictured below measured around 3″ tall. However, I’ve also gone down a few hook sizes to experiment, and I’ve found that I like the way they look smaller too.

GET THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT EBOOK!

Want a whole lot MORE cute crochet ornament patterns? I would invite you to grab the Crochet Ornament and Gifting Pack for a huge discount!

In this Ebook, you get ALL my ornament patterns in one PDF, so you can print them all out easily and not have to worry about ads. Not to mention, if you’re participating in the Christmas in July Crochet-Along, you’ll get early access to all the patterns before anyone else!

Christmas Ball Ornament Crochet Pattern

All right, lets get onto the pattern now!

• Pin this pattern to your Pinterest Boards
• Get the ad-free, PDF version of this pattern
• Get a bundle of 12 cute ornament crochet patterns

Materials:

• Red Heart Super Saver Yarn (96% acrylic, 4% other, 364 yds/333 m, 7 oz/198 g) less than 1 ball in your preferred Christmas colors
• Or any other leftover worsted weight yarn you have in your stash. I also tried Yarn Bee Soft Secret when making the tutorial, and loved the way they turned out.
• G/4mm Crochet Hook
• Yarn needle
• Polyfill Stuffing

Notes:

Chain 2 at the beginning of each round NEVER counts as a stitch! This ch 2 is there simply to eliminate a hole in the joining area.

Abbreviations/Stitches Used:

Chain – ch

Slip Stitch – sl st

Single crochet – sc

Half Double Crochet – hdc

Repeat – rep

Round(s) – rnd(s)

Skip – sk

Stitch(es) – st(s)

MC: Main Color

CC: Contrasting Color

Special Stitch:

Half Double Crochet 2 Together (hdc2tog):
YO, insert hook in indicated st, YO, pull up loop. Insert hook in next st, YO, pull up loop. YO, pull through last 4 loops on hook.

Crochet Christmas Ball Written Instructions & Tutorial:

Rnd 1: With MC, Ch 3 (does NOT count as st, here and throughout), 10 hdc in 3rd chain from hook. Join with sl st in first hdc. (10 hdc)

Rnd 2: Ch 2, 2 hdc in ea st around. Join with a sl st to first hdc. (20 hdc)

Rnd 3: Ch 2, hdc in ea st around. Join with a sl st to first hdc. Fasten off MC. 

At this point your work should be curving upward into a ball:

Rnd 4: Join CC with a sc in any st (no need to make a sl st first. Just make a slip knot and make a sc into any st. This is also known as a standing sc). 

Sc in ea hdc around. Join with sl st to first sc. Fasten off CC. (20 sc) 

Rnd 5: Join MC with a sl st in any st. Ch 2, hdc in ea sc around. Join with sl st to first hdc. (20 hdc)

Rnd 6: Ch 2, hdc2tog around. Join with a sl st to first hdc2tog. (10 hdc)

At this point, begin to stuff your ornament! Don’t overstuff, but add enough so that it looks like a nice ball. I like to stick all my loose ends inside at this point too to avoid lots of weaving in later.

Rnd 7: Ch 2, hdc2tog around. Join with a sl st to first hdc2tog. (5 hdc) Note: if desired, add a little more stuffing about halfway through this round.

Fasten Off, leaving a tail for sewing. 

Finishing:

• Weave end through last 5 sts and sew opening closed. 
• Weave in any remaining ends
• Attach a hanger—I simply used a piece of yarn knotted at the surface of the ornament.

I hope you have enjoyed this pattern. If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I would love to help!

To view all my other FREE patterns, click HERE.  If you want to be the FIRST to see new patterns, tutorials, and more, sign up for my email list below!

— Rachel

© 2021 All rights reserved. You may print this pattern for private use only. You may not reproduce or distribute this pattern in any way for any public or commercial use. You may sell finished items made from this pattern, but please give credit to me and link back to my blog.