My grandmother taught me how to make these as one of my first sewing projects when I was 8. I find myself sitting at a desk most of the day now, so this is a great in a pinch when my neck gets sore. Just pop these in the microwave in 30 second increments until desired heat. On really cold winter days i'll also make mini ones to keep in my pockets for my hands. The heating ball is particularly helpful with trying to work out sore back muscles. I added the knit cover as a protective layer for skin, but this can also be done without knitting if you want to use a cute fabric. If you prefer not to sew you can also do this with dried black beans if you knit tightly or crochet.

Supplies

- Paper

- Scissors

- ruler

- 100% cotton fabric - I used muslin but any quilting fabric can add a great print!

- rice, you can also use dried black beans or chickpeas

- yarn - natural fibers only! I used shiny happy cotton from wool and the gang

- straight knitting needles

- sewing machine

Step 1: Pattern and Cut

Rectangle:

I made mine 10" x 5" with a 1/2" seam allowance and cut two

Ball: (the pattern is actually a cube

to make the pattern I started with a 2" x 2" square, then through the middle I drew a 4" line matching the center-points, then connected the end points diagonally with the corners of the square. I gave this pattern a 1/4" seam allowance to accommodate for bulk.

Step 2: Sewing

For the rectangle, sew two long sides and one short side completely. On the fourth side, stitch just far enough away from the edge to secure the corner, but leave about a 2" opening in the middle.

For the ball (cube), begin by sewing the four sharp corners, but make sure the stitches begin and end at the point. To help, I draw my seam allowances on the fabric. After all the corners are sewn, clip away the excess fabric above the point (photo 2) and sew three sides fully. On the last side leave a gap just large enough to flip right side out.

Step 3: Fill and Seal

Flip right side out, then fill both the rectangle and the ball (cube) with rice, but leave a little extra wiggle room so they it's not too stiff. For the ball, it took about 1/2 cup. The rectangle I split into 3 sections so the rice sat evenly. To do this, I poured in 1/2 cup, pushed all the rice toward the bottom, then sewed straight across width wise, 1/3 of the length, and repeated for the remaining sections. Hand sew the opening.

Step 4: Knit Sleeve

Rectangle:

With Shiny Happy Cotton from Wool and the Gang on US 7 straight needles, I cast on 33 stitches, and knit 66 rows in garter stitch. This fit snug around the entire pad.

Circle:

normally I would nit this pattern on double pointed needles, however I found it difficult to knit around the ball, so the pattern is adjusted for straight needles

Cast on 7sts

*P1, M1* across row, repeat for 2 more rows

*P1, M1, K1, M1* across row

*P1, K1* across row, repeat for 3 more rows

Knit row, repeat for 3 more rows

*P1, K1* across row, repeat for 3 more rows

*k2tog, p2tog* across row

*P1, K1* across row, repeat for 2 more rows

*k2tog* across row

cast off

loop through the cast on stitches twice and pull tightly to cinch. Insert the cub and seam up the side, then finish by looping through the cast of stitches, cinch and weave the tail back in.