Tag Archives: pompoms

Crochet Scarflet – Rowan Hemp Tweed Chunky

A little while ago I was asked if I would like a sample of a new yarn to try (I’m sure you can guess my answer!) and the postman duly delivered a gorgeous ball of soft sea green loveliness, Rowan Hemp Tweed Chunky, a mix of 75% wool and 25% true hemp.

Rowan Hemp Tweed Chunky - Sea It’s sometimes a problem to find just the right pattern to show off a sample, isn’t it? I really didn’t want to just knit a swatch to look at, I wanted a ‘thing’, and a lovely one at that. Fortunately, in the wee small hours one night, Madame Serendipity came to call and I came up with a pattern which I think ticks all the boxes.

It’s simple, it’s cosy and makes use of every scrap of the 100gms of the Rowan Hemp Tweed Chunky. I couldn’t ask for more. So without further ado, just a quick Ta – DAAA… may I present my Chunky Scarflet with Pompom… Rowan Hemp Tweed Chunky Scarflet …or button…or even a pin…It’s a really quick and simple weekend project suitable for all skill levels and a perfect little snuggler to pop in your handbag in case of unexpected Autumn chills. The yarn is lovely to work with and makes up very quickly. I used a 7mm hook, didn’t have any problems with splitting and the yarn is soft and light.

I am working on writing basic instructions in much the same way that I did for last year’s crochet sweater so if you are interested do let me know in the comments. The Rowan Hemp Tweed Chunky yarn itself is available for pre-order from the online knitting and crochet shop Laughing Hens and there are eight fabulous colours (so maybe I need to make one to match everything I wear!)

It’s been a busy summer and I’ve missed being here but I have that September ‘New Term’ feeling coming up (does it ever go away?) and lots of things to share.

I’ll be back soon…x

Christmas Countdown – Day Ten

Here we are at Day Ten of the Christmas Countdown and now I can really relish the Pompom obsession!

Last year on the Advent Calendar I featured my Pompom Makers which take a lot of the hassle out of making them, you can find out more from the link below.

Planet Penny Advent Calendar 2012 – Day Ten

I’ve just tracked the source of my love affair with Pompoms. I was in my second year of my Visual Studies Degree, and I had just received issue 3 of Selvedge Magazine – December 2004 (I have every one from the beginning!) and this was the cover…

Selvedge on Pinterest

I fell in love with the camel from the feature inside…

I made quite a lot of pompoms at the time, but never found a camel to decorate!

However, it’s obviously becoming more and more apparent I need a stag’s head for the wall…

fetepress.com

The image below is one of my very first ‘pins’ when I joined Pinterest, Wouldn’t it look fabulous garlanded round a Christmas tree?

pompom garland Christmas Countdown day 10

birchandbird.com

If you decide to make your pompoms in bulk the following tutorial is very useful…

making pompomsin bulk Christmas Countdown day 10

flaxandtwine.com

I was interested to find this image which shows the beginnings of a pompom wreath. the maker pointed out she had only got this far and had used up 30 odd pompoms already so I think you’ll need to start now for Christmas 2014!

pompom wreath Christmas Countdown Day 10

Black Cotton Candy

More inspiration with no source but Pinterest, alas…

pompom garland Day 210 Christmas Countdown

This would look wonderful as a whole twiggy pompom tree…

I’m now itching to go and dig out my pompom makers and I’ve got far too many other things to do!

I’ll be back tomorrow, have fun….x

More Hearts…More Pompoms…

Hello!!! Is it Thursday already? This week is galloping by. Firstly, because I know you’ll want to know, Henry is still doing nicely. The medication has been finished, and as I write he is snoring contentedly, in his bed. This is a relief, as when he first came back the only place he wanted to be if he couldn’t have a warm lap was a warm keyboard.

The only little cloud on the horizon is the visit to vet next Monday for the removal of the stitches. This will probably require the entire squad of nurses and maybe one or two brave volunteers from the waiting room as he will NOT be a happy bunny!

Oh, and some hair restorer…

His tummy was shaved for the ultrasound, his head was shaved for the spinal tap, patches were shaved on his legs for the drips, and his throat was shaved for the operation. Thank goodness it’s summer, I don’t think he’s be happy in a jumper, however beautifully knitted!

But pompoms, I hear you cry, you said there were pompoms!

There are SO many pompoms! I found this wonderful gadget…

Do you remember the Heart and Pompom bunting…

…which I made in January?

I still love it, but I made the pompoms with a little gadget which my mum had given me because she wasn’t very happy with her results. Well, I tried really hard with it, and made so many pompoms using up my leftovers…

but they were never as firm and fluffy as I wanted them to be.

Now I have found this gadget…

…and it is wonderful! The smallest sized one makes a beautifully firm pompom in just few minutes and it is so compulsive I had to pack the gadgets up and put them away as there was a danger that my entire stash would be used up!

The solution was to make a larger version of the Heart and Pompom Bunting – the tutorial for that is here. I just worked the last row in the pattern in the main colour and added an extra row in the contrast colour to make the hearts bigger and made the joining chain slightly longer between the hearts so I could use slightly bigger pompoms.

Would you like to see?

It was hard to find the best way to show you. When I hung it up inside I realised how much my house needs redecorating, and the light wasn’t right so here it is outside the studio…

There’s actually a bit too much light here, it rather bleaches the colours, but I’m not going to complain about sunshine! (If you can’t find the pompom maker locally I got mine from Clothkits thank you, Kaye!)

Now we have another sunshiny day I’d better get out into the garden. All the strong wind over the last couple of days has blown my little plastic greenhouse and flowerpots all over the garden. (Higgins has done his best to round things up but the toothmarks are a problem…)

Talking of Higgins, he’s rather had the spotlight taken off him with recent events but if you were wondering…he’s fine…

You see…?

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All Wound Up with Sunset Colours!

Hooray! I’ve wound all those lovely colours into nice neat balls with my trusty wool winder. I do like using it, it makes such nice soft balls which mean that there is no tension on the yarn to stretch it. I’m working on an idea at the moment, which I hope to show very soon, although I have had very little help from the four legged members of the family.

Apparently the only reason I ever sit down is so that my legs form a lap, and the only thing in the world that a lap can be used for is not to support a book or some knitting, or, heaven forbid, a pattern and knitting, it needs a cat, no, a dog or both, or a jealous punch up between cat and dog.

So keep your fingers crossed that tonight the fire is hot enough to keep them squabbling over the warm spot on the hearth rug instead of the warm spot on my lap so I can get to grips with my woolly project.

I have made some really cute little baby shoes though. there’s something about tiny baby shoes, isn’t there? My three babies were born with enormous feet and were really slow at learning to walk so by the time I came to buy them shoes they were practically into adult sizes! (I’m going to get into trouble for this!)

However, I was really keen to find out how well the wool I have just dyed would felt so I knitted this…

…and then I just popped them in the washing machine with a normal wash and they came out looking like this…

Aren’t they sweet? I’m so excited about them! (and yes, they are nearly small enough for Higgins to wear before you suggest it, and no, because he would eat them!)

And today the sun shone and Higgins and I went for a walk and there was NO MUD! (well, it was sort of fudgy, but it didn’t stick) and I’ve just realised where I got my colour scheme from..

See that shadow? It’s me!

After so many grey days it’s just magical watching the pink splashes spreading across the purply violet clouds and that golden glow before it vanishes as if someone has flipped a switch. Then it’s a quick trot home to get back in the warm.

And finally, I have been working on the Hearts and Pompoms tutorial and if you want to make your own version it’s on the Tutorials page at the top. Please let me know if you do, I’d love to see.

Right, ok, I’m going to tiptoe off to the sofa now and try and do a bit of knitting befor someone spots….THE LAP!

See you soon x

P.S. Siobhan, I tried to email you but it didn’t work, but I just wanted to say Yes! my cat is Henry and the ‘My Fair Lady’ connection IS why we named Higgins as we did. By George, you got it!

Lifting the Gloom with Hearts and Pompom Bunting….

We really need something a little cheerful at the moment don’t we? January is such a gloomy month. Higgins and I went for a ‘squelch’ this afternoon and although it quite mild, it was what my Mother calls a Tupperware box day, and no one’s taken the lid off.

But, the days are getting longer(by about one and a half minutes a day apparently) and I have little daffodils bursting into bloom in front of me as I type.

I was really lucky to receive a lovely gift at Christmas, a beautiful jug which I have been coveting for about five years. Do you remember this post when I was given a pretty little mug for my birthday? Well my clever Daughter-in-law tracked down the very jug I have been hankering after all this time from the same designer, Gabriella Miller.

And I’ve found the little notebook I mentioned in the other post, where I had expressed my desire to have some Gabriella Miller pieces as well as all sorts of useful notes and pictures.

However, I’ve been working on something to cheer up the gloom, and the bareness left now the Christmas decorations have been consigned to the attic for another year. I’ve been playing around with a crochet hook and the yarns left from the cushion and blanket project which are a real splash of colour in themselves. And with February round the corner, and Valentine’s Day there are hearts, and I still love the pompoms so I thought Hearts and Pompom Bunting…

I’ve been fiddling around with the pattern and written it down which I’m really proud of because I got so excited about the whole process, and the prettiness of all the colours. I’ll do a few photos as soon as possible to turn it into a tutorial if you think you’d like make your own version but in the meantime, want to see some more?

(By the way, do you like the cup, saucer and plate on the top shelf? Another Christmas present which I love!)

And finally, bringing all the cheeriness together… Planet Penny Hearts and Pompom Bunting

A cheerful note on which to start the weekend! Have a lovely one, I hope the sun shines for you. See you soon x

Ed to add: You can find the pattern for this bunting here…

A Sunny Sunday and Using Up Leftovers

No lie-in allowed this morning! Last night’s weather forecast promised us we’d lose the sunshine in the afternoon and the beach was calling. We were there by nine o’clock, bright sun, an incoming tide and a stiffish breeze. Very bracing. Only two other cars in the lane ( the beauty of our favourite beach is that there is no car park, no tearoom!) so once we came over the top of the dune the beach was nearly deserted. Higgins is now reliable enough to run off the lead, although he really misses having someone young enough to run with him.

Considering his reluctance to set foot outside when it’s raining and puddly he’s quite intrepid when it comes to the interesting pools forming as the tide raced in…

He hasn’t quite found a deep enough bit to actually have to swim yet so I hope I have the camera to hand when he does.

While Higgins sleeps off all that exercise I’m sorting out my leftover yarn.

I have a bit of an obsessive thing about winding wool. I have a lovely gadget for doing the big balls, but these little bits get wound very carefully by hand so they look pretty. (Yes, OK! I know it’s weird but it makes me happy…)

And it’s something to do while I decide what I else I can make.

I’ve lost my diary. It’s slim, anonymous, dark blue. Perfect for slipping in between books and magazines and losing forever. Well at least long enough to be madly inconvenient. So I decided to get something more substantial, an academic one so I can start it now.

But it’s not really me, is it? But, with a little application of brightly coloured yarn it can be made much harder to lose…

Although Tim has pointed out that I’m going to lose it as soon as I put it down on the blanket….

I’m also suffering from rapidly cooling coffee, but not any more…

… there are STILL bits of wool left, but I have a plan! Bunting! Well, everyone loves bunting. In fact, it would be quite nice to think of a new slant on bunting….

….Pompoms!

I’m very happy with the pompoms…and I still love all those colours. I also have lots of cushions just waiting for covers…and a new sofa which needs cushions.

Which is why I went back to the market on Friday…

…for fresh supplies!