Summer Water Bombs

With the weather beginning to turn towards summer I am reminded of all the joys of filling water balloons... the ones that broke in the sink... the ones that broke on the way outside... having to clean up the balloon carcasses from the grass in failing light because mom wanted them out of the yard...

These cute little things are reusable, don't burst on the way to the yard and once they're 
picked up they can be quickly stowed away... and they're so pretty! ;D

True balloon shapes are found on Left in Knots... she graciously shared her pattern for free. I have made this shape and love them. The net bag works well to store these as well as any other shape your heart comes up with. I have snow cones, butterflies, balloons and bombs to go with these awesome little fish.

yarns pictured here: butterflies and bag are Bonita Dream Baby, snow cones and balloons 
and bags are a mixture of Big Twist yarns in different types

1. ANY applique or unstuffed shape will work. Ice cream cones, snow cones, butterflies... grenades... balloon shapes... half a circle on top of a cone will make ice cream or snow cones depending on the placement of the half circle (snow cones are usually INSIDE the paper cone whereas we prefer to believe our ice creams drip over the cone.) What's important is to avoid hard bits, no one wants to be smacked by a button or safety eye while playing with water bombs.
2. ANYONE who crochets can make these, even if you are just beginning... the patterns below only LOOK confusing because I am trying to be clear about the bags... they are actually very simple.
3. The TRICK here is to use an absorbent yarn that doesn't get heavy, so I avoided cotton and used a larger hook than described on the packaging for the yarn. Again, kids can play rough... I tried to think about how much I'd like to be hit by the water bomb while I was making them.

I used Fair Isle Liberty yarn in the Neons tin (I substituted Hyacinth for Pansy because 
I prefer the brighter purple with the neon shades) and in Cloud for the net bag
(pattern also included below.) This yarn is fluffy, light and wonderful to work with.

What you will need:
yarn, I used worsted weight acrylic yarn
a large crochet hook, I used a 7mm
patterns
a darning or yarn needle
scissors

Abbreviations
sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet
m/c = magic circle
inc = increase (2 stitches in the space of one stitch)
dec = decrease (combining 2 stitches)
ch = chain
sl = slip stitch, I do this to finish off
sk = skip
f/o = finish off
(#) = number of stitches in the round

Summer Water Bombs
Guppies
Round 1: 6 sc in m/c, pull tight and tie in after Round 2 (6)
Round 2: sc around (6)
Round 3: inc around (12)
Round 4: sc around (12)
Round 5: sc + inc around (18)
Rounds 6-9: sc around (18)
Round 10: sc + dec around (12)
Round 11: dec around (6)
Round 12: sc around (6)
Round 13: inc around (12)
Round 14: sc + inc around (18)

squish flat, ch 1 and sc through all 4 loops (both stitches) across the width of the tail (9)
f/o and sew ends into fish

Fish Net Bag
This little thing helps small hands when dunking the water bombs in buckets, pools or sinks and doubles as a storage bag.
Round 1: ch 3 and 9 dc in m/c, sl into top of original ch 3 from this round (10)
Round 2: ch 3 and dc in same space, inc dc in each stitch around, sl into top of original ch 3 from this round (20)
Round 3: ch 3 and 2 dc in next stitch, dc and inc around, sl into top of original ch 3 from this round (30)
Round 4: ch 5, sk 2 stitches and sl into the next and repeat around. on last stitch sl into space where first ch began
Round 5: ch 5 and sl into closest ch 5 space from previous row, ch 5 and sl into next ch 5 and repeat around (you've added one net space and will now be working in the round. this is a good place to add a stitch marker to keep track of each row as you go up.
Rounds 6-10: continue working in the round. ch 5 and sl into next ch 5 space around to the end of the 10th row
Round 11: ch 3 and sl into ch 5 space of the row before and repeat around ending in the bottom of the first ch 3 space
f/o and sew end into stitches in the bag
...
Drawstring = ch 70, knot both ends and feed through the ch 3 loops around the bag and knot ends together

Have tons of fun! Beat the summer heat with these cool little toys that can be used for years... if they don't fly too far!

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