In this Instructable I will show you how to crochet your own mini 2014 World Cup match ball. The mini ball is roughly 8cm in diameter and consists of 6 segments that are connected to form a sphere like the original ball (check out Brazuca's production video). The match ball is white and black with blue, green and orange/red trim which is what I made whereas the final match ball has gold and light green trim, in step 3, there are instructions to make either both.

Step 1: Materials

Yarn weight 4:

White
Blue
Orange or red
Green
Black

Other:

2.5mm crochet hook
Yarn needles
Polyfil/fibrefil stuffing of some sort
Pins

Rnd - round
ch(s) - chain stitch(s)
sc - single crochet
sl st - slip stitch
st(s) - stitch(s)

Step 2: Create Segments

With white yarn, make 6

Rnd1: Magic Circle 6

Rnd2: 2sc in sc (12sts)

Rnd3: sc in first sc, *[ch10, turn, hdc, dc, dc, hdc in rest of chs], sc in 2nd and 3rd sc repeat * sc in 4th, 5th and, 6th sc, repeat *, sc in 7th, and 8th sc, repeat *, sc in 9th,10th, 11th, and 12th sc.

Tie off, weave in ends.

Step 3: Add Colour

Regular match ball:

With green, blue and orange yarn, make two of each colour

Starting from the first sc in the arm of a segment, sl st into the first three sc, sc into the next scs until you reach the tip of the arm, make 2scs into the sc at the tip, sc in each sc down the side of the arm until the third sc form the bottom of the arm, sl st in the rest. Sl st through the crook of the arm and repeat as above.

Final match ball:

The ball for the final match is light green and gold. You can make your own by following the instructions above using gold yarn up until the tip of the arm and switching to light green down the left side of the arm to the base.

Step 4: Spacers

With black yarn

Row1: Starting from the third sc down from the tip of the arm on the left side, sc in 3 scs down the side of the arm, turn

Row2: sc, sc, turn

Row3: sc, tie off, weave in end.

Do this on all four arms of both orange segments.

Step 5: Assembly

Assembling the segments might seem complicated at first but it really isn't too hard, use the images above as a guide. Connect three arms at a time, there should be one blue, green and orange coloured arm. Pin them together, it is best to pin them inside out (I pinned mine from the outside to better show which segments are being connected). I used black yarn to stitch the segments together (they should be inside out) , note as you continue to connect the arms, the piece should curve -it shouldn't lie flat. Once the first three pieces are connected add another, making sure that it is the third colour (ie add the blue segment to the orange and green), pin it togethe and stitch it on, then continue to add the next piece. When adding the final segment leave a portion open so that you can turn the piece right side out.

Step 6: Finishing Up

To finish up; stuff the ball with poly/fibre fil, it should be pretty dense. Then close up the opening. I wanted a black seem between the segments like the original ball so I took the black yarn and threaded it through the black stitches (see image above).