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Monday, February 22, 2016

Adventures In Pom Poms

I finished my Baa-ble hat re-knit and I'm Much Happier with everything about it.  Yes, Stella, it does always hurt way less to frog (rip it rip it) something than to live with it not exactly the way you want :-).
  
Other than not doing such a sloppy job knitting it to begin with, I did make one modification to the pattern.  I took out two rows of the night sky so it would be just a little shorter since I couldn't get the correct row/height gauge.  It fits perfect now.  

I was torn on putting a pom pom on the top or figuring out some sort of i-cord topper.  I don't really think of myself as a pom pom sort of person, but I couldn't help at least giving it a try.  Why? Because a night sky should have a full moon (even though on a full moon night, the stars don't really show up ;-).

I picked up a Clover Pom Pom maker over the weekend.  I wasn't sure how much yarn I'd need to make a large pom pom, so I made a test one and determined 40 yards would give me plenty, with some room to spare and then I got out the dye pot.  

My first attempt was way too bright/dark yellow, so I tried again.  I've had trouble getting my yellows dark enough in the past.  Now when I wanted it pale...yeah, the second one was better, but still too yellow as well.  Using one strand of yellow mixed with one strand of white worked perfect.


Here is my pom pom in progress.  Note the second pom pom maker in the background.  I got two so there'd be an extra one to give as a prize for the Meridian Jacobs/Punkin's Patch knitalong.  Yep, there are prizes (on top of ending up with a super cute hat :-)!


So you wrap around the two half circle arms, close the circle, cut up the middles and then slide a tie yarn down through the two halves, tie it off, carefully open the arms...


Okay, so I'm not the best pom pom maker in the world...yet ;-).  I trimmed (and trimmed) it up while the hat was soaking.  The hat bloomed quite a bit once it hit the water, so I decided to see if the pom pom would as well.  Bingo!  Of course I forgot to take pictures...


...so I pulled out my test pom pom (that I thought was not very good), trimmed it up a little more and dunked it in the warm, slightly soapy water.


Hey, it's not so bad after all!  Keep in mind this is 100% wool.  It might not be such a great idea to do that if you are using some other sort of fiber.  I don't know though and probably won't ever find out . Why?  Because I'm a Wool Girl ;-).


The finished hat.  Very cute, if I say so myself, even with the temporary blue stitching to hold the brim exactly where I want it (have I mentioned that I love block wool ;-).  

I can't wait until Wednesday to start another one!


20 comments:

Fiona said...

What an awesome toque! I love the pom pom, my mother used to make Pom Pom Santas for tree decorations. You have very high tech pom pom makers....we used cardboard circles with holes in the middle.

Lori Skoog said...

Another outstanding product from Punkin's Patch!

small farm girl said...

Oh my goodness! Making those pom poms sure did bring back some school memories. We use to do make those all the time!!!! You know, when they were REALLY in style. On your shoes, on your purse, on your........ Well, you get the drift. lol.. Love your hat! It's just do darn cute!

YarnKettle said...

Hey CrazySheepLady, how am I supposed to cheat, ahem I mean learn from your experience if this lovely hat is not on Ravelry. I'm trying to figure out what needles I will use. Oh is that what swatching is for?? I thought a hat is a swatch. I guess that is why mine always fit funny/wrong.

Yours is beautiful, I'm looking forward to seeing how they all turn out.

Linda said...

I love every bit of it...I'll have to show Aunt Joy.

T.L. Merrybard said...

Ohh, that's so cute! Almost, only almost, makes me want to abandon my beloved crochet and go back to knitting for just long enough to make one. :) I was a terrible knitter!

Linda said...

Adorable! I haven't tried stranded knitting yet. This is really really great!

Auntie Reg said...

I would as for one but I don't need a wool hat in the hot weather. Great job.

Sheepmom said...

Excellent job! Look at you - dyeing, making pompoms... way to push the envelope! ;-)
I love the full moon pompom. It's full tonight and so bright! Looking forward to seeing your next Baa-ble color scheme!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Your hat made me smile today when I truly needed to smile:) It is an absolutely adorable sheep hat! I envy your creativity and talent to knit! I will be your first customer if you make one to sell!

Bee Lady said...

That hat is beautiful! And I love the pom pom! I could have saved you some money. I made pom poms using a fork and posted about it a couple posts back!!! LOL! I couldn't get the pom pom to look good using my makers...but mine are not near as fancy as yours. Maybe I need a pom pom maker update!

Cindy Bee

MarmePurl said...

Love it. Taking out those couple of rows was perfect. What a great 'moon'!

Anchor Cottage said...

Darling, it looks like it is snowing under the full moon.

Susan said...

Oh yes, perfect. wonder what a few nibbles from a sheep would do for it haha

Jan baby said...

Beauuuuuuuuuutiful!

sophy0075 said...

Beautiful! I have never been good at making pompoms :(. Which is one reason why I'll be knitting Baa-ble fingerless mitts.

Alice said...

The hat is adorable ! So you! Even the pompom! Had to laugh about you buying a pompom kit. We Elders made them using the two cardboard circles cut from dry cleaning shirt boards and a hole in the middle . Kinda shows our age. Your hat looks to be a very happy creation!

LannieK said...

Baaa~tiful! Love the moon, even though you're not a pom pom kinda gal :-)

Claire MW said...

Love the Baa-ble hat! It looks super! I've had it on my queue for a while but haven't gotten around to it yet.

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