Out & About Autumn 2019

HOW TO... HAVE FUN WITH POMPOMS

FIONA CROOKS SMITH from Rainbows of Newbury in Inch’s Yard shows you how to make and use pompoms P ompoms are bright, colourful, fluffy, squishy and lots of fun. makers. They are simple to use and come in a variety of sizes to suit all projects. Of course, pompoms can be made in different colours, and it is worth trying various textures or thicknesses of yarn depending on your project.

You can decorate all manner of items with them, including bags, clothing, flip flops, lampshades, cushions, decorate a Christmas tree or knot them onto a piece of carpet canvas to make a small rug or covering for a foot stool. Pompoms can be made in so many ways, including the traditional technique using two rings of cardboard or even on a fork. If you want to make a lot of pompoms for a project, then it is well worth looking around at the different types of pompom-makers available and find what suits you. Personally, my preference is for the Clover pompom

Variegated yarns work well for multi-coloured pompoms, or use small amounts of a range of plain wools in one pompom for interesting effects. Experiment and see what lovely pompoms you can make. WARNING: Do not use chenille-type yarns for pompoms. Although these are gloriously soft and squishy to touch, because of the way they are manufactured (short strands twisted between two core threads), when you start cutting your pompom you will just end up with a big pile of fluff.

Using a Clover pompom maker:

1 Open up one side of the pompom-maker and begin winding wool around the two coloured plastic curves. Keep your tension even and try to fill the curve as evenly as possible. Continue winding until the whole curve is full. Cut yarn and close the curve.

2 Open second curve and wind with wool to the same depth as first side. Cut yarn and close curve.

3 Take a sharp pair of scissors (small embroidery ones work best) and snip around the middle of the wound wool, making sure to hold the curves in place.

4 Once all strands have been cut, take a length of yarn and tie it tightly around all the threads, ensuring you wrap it once and tie a knot, then wrap to other side and knot again. There is a large groove which makes this whole process very easy. TIP: Although the thread needs to be pulled and tied tightly, do be careful as most knitting yarns will snap if pulled too abruptly. When tying the first knot, wrap the yarn two or three times as this will allow you to pull the yarn up tight and it will hold better for doing the second wrap and knot.

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