The Purl Bee is Purl Soho's craft blog where we publish ideas for you to knit, crochet, sew, stitch and more! You can view our projects below.

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Wednesday
Jan092008

Pom Pom Tutorial

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Purl sells a Pom Pom Maker from Susan Bates that turns out wonderful, fluffy pom poms. However, I have on more than one occasion witnessed customers look at all the little pieces and the instructions and then at me, "Huh?" If you don't have the convenience of a Purl staff member at your side, you may find this tutorial helpful...

The Pom Pom Maker comes with forms for four sizes of pom poms. Each size has a set of four color coordinated pieces. Select a size and disconnect the pieces from each other so that there are four separate U-shaped pieces, 2 with smooth backs and 2 with bumps on the backs.

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Taking 1 smooth and 1 bumpy piece, place them back to back, so that the little feet are facing outward. (At this point, the pieces are not connected in any way.)

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Holding the pieces together, start wrapping the yarn around the U shape.

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Keep wrapping, traveling back and forth until the arch under the U is full.

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Repeat this process with the other set of pieces.

Then, interlock the feet, joining the two sides into a donut shape.

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Next, carefully cut around perimeter of the circle.

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Slide a piece of yarn between the halves of the pom pom, pull tight and tie a knot.

Then gently remove the plastic pieces, trim any defects if necessary and voila!

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Try holding two or more yarns together. Or filling one half with one color and the other half with a different color, or different yarn... Or whatever else you can think of. It's hard to make a mistake when it comes to pom poms!