The first order of business this weekend was to finish the Flower Blossom purse.

As of late Thursday, the bag was in need of a lining, and this weekend, once I got the lining done:

I decided that it was also in need of a button.

I awoke this morning with one idea in my head, and after fussing with it the the point that I was almost satisfied, I glanced at the photo of the rendition of the purse featured in the book Crochet Noro, and I decided that my button design, while delightful, was not going to work of the Flower Blossom purse.

I got a fresh cup of coffee and retrenched.

Soon enough, I had come up with a crocheted button that better reflected the existing design elements:

With the Flower Blossom purse officially finished:

I then turned my attention to a project that has been on my mind for many weeks now.

In late June/early July of 2010, I used the African Flower hexagon motif as the basis for a crochet soccer ball that I made to mark the 2010 World Cup which was being held on the continent of Africa.

Here is the soccer ball that resulted from those efforts:

Nearly four years have passed since that time, and I wanted to make another soccer ball for the the 2014 World Cup, and I hit on the idea of making hexagons and pentagons that were based on the flags of the various countries participating in this year’s event.

Using a 4.0 mm hook, Red Heart Super Saver colors royal, bright yellow, and paddy green the first hexagon of my 2014 World Cup soccer ball is inspired by the flag of the host country, Brazil:

and while I intend to use this hexagon in combination with 31 other motifs that depict some facet of the other 31 countries participating in the World Cup, if Brazil is the team you are rooting for, you might find that this pairing with a bright yellow pentagon would make the perfect crochet soccer ball:

Tuesday, I will launch a page with everything you need to know to follow along and make your own 2014 crochet soccer ball, including the directions for the first hexagon in the series inspired by the flag of Brazil.

I hope you will be able to join me for this crochet adventure.