A few months ago we made papier-mache balloons with the kids:
That time I decided that I will crochet balloons… and I finished them today! I made 6 finally, all using the same pattern (see below), but with slight changes and different colours to make them attractive.😊
I saw similar hot air balloons on a cute baby mobile, but as my kids are bigger now, I made a window decoration instead. I hanged the balloons on a wooden rod, with crocheted clouds to complete the set:
Pattern instructions:
Yarn: Alize Cotton Gold (55% cotton/45% acrylic; 100g – 330mt/361 yds; hook size 3,5-5 mm)
Hook size: 3 mm
Size: the height of the balloon (together with the basket): cca 16 cm
Stitches used and abbreviations (US)
- slst: slip stitch
- sc: single crochet
- hdc: half double crochet
- sc inc: single crochet increase – make 2 sc’s in the same stitch
- sc dec: single crochet decrease – invisible decrease
- work in rounds (R)
Balloon:
Worked from top to bottom, start with main colour of the balloon.
R1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts)
R2: 6 sc inc (12 sts)
R3: (sc inc, sc) x 6 (18 sts)
R4: (sc inc, 2 sc) x 6 (24 sts)
R5: (sc inc, 3 sc) x 6 (30 sts)
R6: (sc inc, 4 sc) x 6 (36 sts)
R7: (sc inc, 5 sc) x 6 (42 sts)
R8: (sc inc, 6 sc) x 6 (48 sts)
R9: (sc inc, 7 sc) x 6 (54 sts)
R10: (sc inc, 8 sc) x 6 (60 sts)
R11 – R12: 60 sc (60 sts; 2 rounds)
Now crochet the stripes in R13 – R17, that differ slightly, follow the pattern of the selected balloon. I tried to give proper descriptions, though I do not have more pictures with the details:
R13 (blue): 60 sc with blue yarn (60 sts)
R14 – R16 (pink/white): (3 sc white, change to pink; 3 sc pink, change to white) x 10 (60 sts, 3 rounds)
R17 (blue): 60 sc with blue yarn (60 sts)
The same pattern appears on the bottom of the balloon, in R31 – R35:
R31 (blue): 24 sc with blue yarn (24 sts)
R32 – R34 (pink/white): (3 sc white, change to pink; 3 sc pink, change to white) x 4 (24 sts, 3 rounds)
R35 (blue): 24 sc with blue yarn (24 sts)
R13 – R17 (blue): 60 sc with blue yarn (60 sts)
With red yarn, make surface slst stitches around between R12 and R13, and to R17.
With light blue yarn, embroider the pattern in the picture.
The same pattern appears on the bottom of the balloon, in R31 – R35:
R31 x R35 (blue): 24 sc with blue yarn (24 sts)
With red yarn, make surface slst stitches around between R30 and R31, and to R35.
With light blue yarn, embroider the pattern in the picture.
R13 – R17 (white): 60 sc with white yarn (60 sts)
With blue and green yarn, make surface slst stitches around as shown in the picture. Work parallel with the 2 colours.
The same pattern appears on the bottom of the balloon, in R31 – R35:
R31 – R35 (white): 24 sc with white yarn (24 sts)
With blue and green yarn, make surface slst stitches around as shown in the picture. Work parallel with the 2 colours.
R13 (red): 60 sc with red yarn (60 sts)
R14 – R16 (white): 60 sc with white yarn (60 sts)
R17 (red): 60 sc with red yarn (60 sts)
With green yarn, make surface slst stitches around as shown in the picture.
The same pattern appears on the bottom of the balloon, in R31 – R35:
R31 (red): 24 sc with red yarn (24 sts)
R32 – R34 (white): 24 sc with white yarn (24 sts)
R35 (red): 24 sc with red yarn (24 sts)
With green yarn, make surface slst stitches around as shown in the picture.
R13 (red/white): (5 sc in white, change colour, 1 sc in red) x 10 (60 sts)
R14 (red/white): (4 sc in white, change colour, 2 sc in red) x 10 (60 sts)
R15 (red/white): (3 sc in white, change colour, 3 sc in red) x 10 (60 sts)
R16 (red/white): (2 sc in white, change colour, 4 sc in red) x 10 (60 sts)
R17 (red/white): (1 sc in white, change colour, 5 sc in red) x 10 (60 sts)
The same pattern appears on the bottom of the balloon, in R31 – R35:
R31 (red/white): (5 sc in white, change colour, 1 sc in red) x 4 (24 sts)
R32 (red/white): (4 sc in white, change colour, 2 sc in red) x 4 (24 sts)
R33 (red/white): (3 sc in white, change colour, 3 sc in red) x 4 (24 sts)
R34 (red/white): (2 sc in white, change colour, 4 sc in red) x 4 (24 sts)
R35 (red/white): (1 sc in white, change colour, 5 sc in red) x 4 (24 sts)
R13 (white): 60 sc with white yarn (60 sts)
R14 (pink): 60 sc with pink yarn (60 sts)
R15 (red): 60 sc with red yarn (60 sts)
R16 (pink): 60 sc with pink yarn (60 sts)
R17 (white): 60 sc with white yarn (60 sts)
The same pattern appears on the bottom of the balloon, in R31 – R35:
R31 (white): 24 sc with white yarn (24 sts)
R32 (pink): 24 sc with pink yarn (24 sts)
R33 (red): 24 sc with red yarn (24 sts)
R34 (pink): 24 sc with pink yarn (24 sts)
R35 (white): 24 sc with white yarn (24 sts)
Continue with main colour:
R18: 60 sc (60 sts)
R19: (8 sc, sc dec) x 6 (54 sts)
R20: 54 sc (54 sts)
R21: (7 sc, sc dec) x 6 (48 sts)
R22: 48 sc (48 sts)
R23: (6 sc, sc dec) x 6 (42 sts)
R24: 42 sc (42 sts)
R25: (5 sc, sc dec) x 6 (36 sts)
R26: 36 sc (36 sts)
R27: (4 sc, sc dec) x 6 (30 sts)
R28: 30 sc (30 sts)
R29: (3 sc, sc dec) x 6 (24 sts)
R30: 24 sc (24 sts)
Continue with R31-R34, with the same pattern as in R13-R17, see pictures above.
Stuff and fasten off.
Bottom of the balloon (main colour):
R1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts)
R2: 6 sc inc (12 sts)
R3: (sc inc, sc) x 6 (18 sts)
R4: (sc inc, 2 sc) x 6 (24 sts)
Sew the bottom to the balloon, with slst stitches around.
Basket:
R1: 12 hdc to magic ring (12 sts)
R2: 12 sc inc (24 sts)
R3 – R7: 12 sc (12 sts, 5 rows)
R8: 12 slst (12 sts)
Attach the baskets to the balloons: with a thin yarn and smaller hook (I used 1,75 mm) attach yarn to any stitch of the bottom row of the balloon, chain 10, and slst to the top of the basket. Skip 5 stitches both on the balloon and the basket, and repeat around, till the 4 ropes are ready. Fasten off.
Clouds:
For the colours, I used white and grey colours of the same yarn.
Work in rounds, stuff continuously.
R1: 6 sc in magic ring (6 sts)
R2: 6 sc inc (12 sts)
R3: (sc inc, 4 sc, sc inc) x 2 (16 sts)
R4: (sc inc, 6 sc, sc inc) x 2 (20 sts)
R5: sc inc, 18 sc, sc inc (22 sts)
R6: 22 sc (22 sts)
R7: 22 sc (22 sts)
R8: 9 sc, sc dec, sc dec, 9 sc (20 sts)
R9: 8 sc, sc dec, sc dec, 8 sc (18 sts)
R10: 8 sc, sc inc, sc inc, 8 sc (20 sts)
R11: 9 sc, sc inc, sc inc, 9 sc (22 sts)
R12: sc dec, 8 sc, sc inc, sc inc, 8 sc, sc dec (22 sts)
R13: sc dec, 18 sc, sc dec (20 sts)
R14: sc inc, 18 sc, sc inc (22 sts)
R15: sc inc, 20 sc, sc inc (24 sts)
R16: sc inc, 22 sc, sc inc (26 sts)
R17: 26 sc (26 sts)
R18: 11 sc, sc dec, sc dec, 11 sc (24 sts)
R19: 10 sc, sc dec, sc dec, 10 sc (22 sts)
R20: 9 sc, sc dec, sc dec, 9 sc (20 sts)
R21: 9 sc, sc inc, sc inc, 9 sc (22 sts)
R22: sc dec, 8 sc, sc inc, sc inc, 8 sc, sc dec (22 sts)
R23: sc dec, 18 sc, sc dec (20 sts)
R24: sc dec, 16 sc, sc dec (18 sts)
R25: sc inc, 16 sc, sc inc (20 sts)
R26: sc inc, 18 sc, sc inc (22 sts)
R27: 22 sc (22 sts)
R28: 22 sc (22 sts)
R29: 9 sc, sc dec, sc dec, 9 sc (20 sts)
R30: (sc dec, 6 sc, sc dec) x 2 (16 sts)
R31: (sc dec, 4 sc, sc dec) x2 (12 sts)
R32: 6 sc dec (6 sts)
Fasten off, finished! 😊
Cheers,
Judit
NeridaCraft 
Quedan magnÃficos. Muchas gracias por compartir todos los detalles.
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Really cute idea! I followed the directions but left out the fancy detailing to make it look like my father in laws hot air balloon.
Unfortunately it turned out quite different, mine is much bigger. Don’t know if it was the yarn I used or that I modified the directions.
It will still be a nice gift, just different then I expected.
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