Singlade balls owned by Martha Sterner
|
Made by Martin Sorensen
This is one of Martin's early balls. My guess is he made it in the 1950s. At about 5 inches in diameter, it is larger than most of his later balls, which are around 3 inches in diameter. The stitching is also more precise than in later years. I believe he was using a finer gauge of yarn at that time. Later he used standard worsted weight wool yarns, which is what he encouraged me to use. Grandpa loved to be cheerful. He put smile faces on several of his balls. |
|
Made by Martin Sorensen
It has Martha's name on it. Martha is Martin's third daughter. When he put a name on a ball, he sewed it in a band around the middle, which left him with two circles to fill on the top and bottom. These he filled in with various designs. I'm not sure when this was made. Perhaps in the 1980s? |
|
Made by Martin Sorensen
Here are photos of two very similar balls, one with larger diamonds, the other with smaller diamonds and triangles. They are also a relatively early balls, probably from the 1960s, when Martin had already begun making this smaller, 3 inch diameter size. The stitching is very even. |
|
Made by Martin Sorensen
Here are views of two more balls, stitched mostly in red, white and blue. The one, of course, was made for the bicentennial of the USA, and had 1776-1976 stitched on it, and the circles above and below are decorated with stars. The other ball symbolizes Martin's love of the game Canasta. He stitched on it a heart, spade, clover and diamond. |
|
Made by Martin Sorensen
This one has the name Beloit on it, the city where my family lived for several years. It also has one of Grandpa's happy smile faces on it. |
|
Made by Martin Sorensen
Another ball with just designs. I think this is from the 1970s. |