Remembering the Hacky Sack

When I think about the Hacky Sack, I remember my junior high school days in the 80's, there was always a group of kids, usually all boys, gathered in a circle kicking this little mesh ball around. They seemed to get so much enjoyment from this display of skill, instead of eating the junk food at the school snack bar for lunch. 

I haven't even heard the words Hacky Sack in such a long time, until my son recently asked me for one. As it turns out, he seen one of an episode of the Jonas Brothers.

Of course, I was able to find a free pattern to make this on Ravelry.com (my new resource for everything crochet).   This is a free pattern design by Amber Linn Designs, and you can access it by CLICKING HERE.  Keep in mind, you may be required to sign up for a Ravelry membership for access, but Ravelry is FREE.

I was able to make this using 4 small skeins of DMC embroidery thread that I picked up at Joanne's fabric.  I seriously thought I could whip this up in no time at all, because it's small in size, but it took me about 2 hours because I had to concentrate on the counting.  I'd like to make some in other colors, and suspect that once I get the hang of this, I will be able to cut my time in half. 

The pattern says to fill the bag with uncooked Lentils or "whatever else floats your boat".  Uncooked Lentils? I have no idea what the heck those are, so lucky for me I still had some popcorn kernels in my Orville Reddenbacker jar left over after my popcorn maker broke.  So my bag is filled with uncooked popcorn kernels.