Make Your Own Hacky Sacks

I have never been coordinated enough to play with a hacky sack correctly.  To me, they are just as well used as stress balls; however, young people LOVE the idea of playing with these little bean bags.  I decided that since I made Valentine's lip gloss for the little girls in Jackson's Awana class, then I should make hacky sacks for the little boys as V-day gifts.  I'll probably have to explain what they are to such a young crowd.  Thankfully, a precious young man from the youth group, Logan, is going to come demonstrate the game for my son and his male companions.  Thanks, Logan!!

I refused to go buy new yarn or needles for this craft, so I used what I had in the house.  The needle is a size J.  Many would recommend a much smaller needle and tighter yarn to make these.  I made them larger for the 4 and 5-year-olds because I thought it would be easier for the kids to get use to using them if the sacks were a little larger than normal.  I think these would also be a good size to use if you want to learn to juggle.  :-)  ...just a thought....

For the inside, I cut the feet out of several old sets of trouser socks. (You could use knee highs or very thin socks.)  I filled the sock feet with 1/2 cup of rice (or dried beans of any kind).  Then, I tied a knot in the loose end of the trouser socks.  This, in fact, could be used as a hacky sack, but I wanted to make them cuter.  Below is the pattern I followed to crochet the covers for the hacky sacks.

Begin : Ch 5, connect with sl st to form a circle
Round 1 : Ch 2 ( counts as 1st Sc), 9 Sc into a circle/ring, join with sl st at top of 1st Sc.
Row 2 : Ch 2, Sc into same space, Sc into each of the sts around, join with sl st at top of the first Sc.
Row 3 : Ch 2, Sc into same space, Sc into next st, ( 2 Sc into next st, Sc into next st) continue pattern to end, join with sl st.
Row 4 : Ch 2, Sc into same space, Sc into next 2 sts ( 2 Sc into next st, Sc into next 2 sts) continue pattern to the end, join with sl st.
Row 5 : Ch 2, Sc into same space, Sc into next 3 sts ( 2 Sc into next st, Sc into next 3 sts) continue pattern to the end, join with sl st.
Row 6 : Ch 2, Sc into same space, Sc into next 4 sts ( 2 Sc into next st, Sc into next 4 sts) continue pattern to the end, join with sl st.


Row 7 : Ch 2, ( Sc into next st) continue Sc to the end of the round and connect as you did previously.
Row 8 to 11 is the same as Row 7.


Begin to decrease back down at this point.
Row 12 : Ch 2, Sc into next 4 sts, ( Skip next st, Sc into next 5 sts) continue to the end of the Round and join with sl st.
Row 13 : Ch 2, Sc into next 3 sts, ( Skip next st, Sc into next 4 sts) continue to the end of the Round and join with sl st.


At this point, I stuffed one of the filled trouser sock feet that I described above into the the cavity the crocheted piece had formed.  Then, continue with the rest of the crochet pattern.


Row 14 : Ch 2, Sc in next 2 sts, ( Skip next st, Sc into next 3 sts) continue to end of Round and join with sl st.
Row 15 : Ch 2, Sc into next st, (Skip next st, Sc into next 2 sts) continue to end of Round and join with sl st.
Row 16 : Repeat the Row 15.
Complete the hacky sack by closing the remaining hole with a final sl st.

Voila!  You have yourself a homemade hacky sack!

Our Very Own Hacky Sacks

Here is my Jackson demonstrating the use of the hacky sack!