Yarn and Twigs | Christmas 2014

Baby MiH is a collector - mainly of stones and twigs - stones fit in his pockets and he is able to point with twigs, which is great fun as far as he is concerned. I love going on walks with him, he finds everything wonderful - but at the same time, every walk takes forever. So I decided to make the most of his 'presents' to me and incorporate them into my Christmas decoration.

I did make him have a go at making these Christmas decorations - with NO success whatsoever - and resulting only in knots in my yarn. So maybe next year - or the year after... 

So for the time being, we will be focusing on gathering more twigs. It makes walks much more interesting as Baby MiH is looking purposefully - and of course this is also an opportunity to introduce new words in his vocabulary. But it also means I am much less frustrated at his collection habit, and in fact I get quite keen to find more twigs (of a certain size etc). 

I am sure you will have realised now that thankfully I have spent a lot of time at summer camps - where making this ornaments was part of our weekly routine - all helpful some 20 years later... 

The colour scheme of the ornaments matches the pompom garland one. I am stuck at the moment because I have ran out of the cream yarn (is that really cream?) - so I am waiting for a happy delivery soon. Except for that yarn (Rowan Revive, which is a recycled fibre), the other yarns are from my stash - pompom garlands are a great way to destash. I am using a pompom maker (you can read my review here) - so much fun!

None of this takes a lot of time - but will make an interesting addition to my Christmas decoration. Have you tried to incorporate your children 'presents' in your Christmas ornaments - would love to get more ideas! 

Serial Pompom Maker | Maker versus Cardboard {Review}

I love pompoms, but I must admit I dislike making them. It is quite time-consuming and I am always worried about the thickness of them - as in them not being thick enough. I love really chunky ones (which eat yarn).  This was until I (finally) bought some pompom maker.

I have known about those for a bit of time, but never bought one. I was really worried that the pompom would not be thick enough and that it would not actually make me save any time. Wrong, wrong, wrong! I was so wrong... 

Those makers (I have 4 because you have to buy them by two and the two sizes I wanted came into different packs, of course!) are my pompom saviour - the things that are going to make sure I will be able to make a pompom garland without giving up after 2 pompoms. 

I will probably never use the cardboard technique ever again, except for making oversized ones. But I will definitely use my pompom makers a lot. If you have not bought it, but are considering it - do it now! I was not paid to say this, I bought all 4 with my money.. 

Making a chunky stripy pompom {Tutorial}

I am sure there are many ways to make pompoms and even devices to help out... But I use the method I was taught at summer camp when I was 12. You only need cardboard. The two things I have changed are: the thickness of the pompoms, and the layering of colours. 

To assess the size of the pompom, I measure the beanie hat and the diameter of the pompom is usually a third of that height (if I want the pompom to make an impact). 

The pictures are self-explanatory... 

Clearly no need to go for perfect cutting -
leave a big inner circle  to make a thick pompom

Layer your different colours - and wind the wool around the rings
until they are full of wool

Cut the wool - still tricky after many years of
making pompoms (you can see the layering of the different shades)

Pass a length of wool between the two cardboard rings

Trim the pompom so it is spheric

They really ads interest to a beanie hat and they are fun (and easy) to make - a win win!