discover

I have been very busy knitting. A big project. A fitness ball cover.
On Friday the 5th of November I went to see the annual Crafts Fair called KIC. The exhibition has a hanging committee and the arts and crafts are exquisite.
One of the exhibitors  displayed several Pilates balls - in suits. She had called her exhibition  "Pilates Ball Goes Livingroom". Unfortunately I did not bring my camera and can´t show them, but they were all gorgeous.

Here is my attempt to make such a cover. The ball is 65 cm / diameter.
Many of my friends have a fitness ball in their home, however those big rubber balls aren´t exactly pretty. And they are cold to sit on. The idea of making them a cover and transform them into a chair is brilliant.
Here is a tip from an expert:

Sitting on a ball instead of a chair is a great way to keep your spine healthy. Try to sit on a ball for at least part of your work day, if you have a desk job. When you sit on a ball, you're forced to sit up with good posture because you have nothing to lean back on. Also, because the ball rolls around, it keeps you on your toes and keeps your body moving, which help prevent the stiffness and back pain that you can get from being too sedentary.

The ball rolls around easily, so core strength and balance are required to keep it still. The challenge of keeping the ball still makes the ball an excellent tool to teach stability and rehabilitation. The simplest movement can become a huge challenge when you do it on the ball. Using a ball can give your workout a little more variety and extra challenge.

Knitting is a sedentary work, even though you sometimes have to stand up to wind some yarn. But it is not always necessary.
I desperately need such a ball.
I tend to believe I can knit anything, and I still had plenty of my 25 years old Faroese yarn left. And some hand dyed wool for stripes..

I worked two doilies using a pattern from my vintage knitting book 1924. The doilies had 60 rows, I skipped the border, did 8 rows stockinette and ended up working an I-cord. I bought some of elastic thread, and sewed the two pieces together.
It sounds simple but all this testing and fitting made me feel I had worked two of these covers. I was aware that it is not that simple to make a ball. Two flat circles sewn together will not fit. However, it is done and I believe if I inflate the ball a bit more it will be OK. If I work another one, I will choose to work sideways using short rows. But I am looking forward to knitting and training at the same time.