Cute pompom! I'll have to make some of those, because when I make regular pompoms, they come out all weird and spidery-looking. Scary. Not cute. Happy Friday!

That is so cute! I really have to learn how to knit!

That looks easy enough. I'll let you know if I manage to muck it up!

Clever pom-pom!

Julie, spidery pom-poms are usually attributable to one of two causes: using a yarn with no "memory" (cotton, silk, and other very drapey yarns) or not using enough yarn. Acrylic, 100% wool and blends thereof make nice, plump round pom-poms because the yarn has "memory," or springiness, to it, which makes it want to stand up.

If you want to make a hat topper with silk or other drapey yarn, make a tassel instead.

Road closed for wind? How high? Those California can't deal with wind or rain like us sturdy Louisiana folk.

Well, the wind has been pretty crazy, tropical-storm force winds and gusts up to hurricane strength. Plus it sprinkled last night which just makes the roads a mess.

Then it's supposed to be 80 degrees next week, and after that cold and rainy. The weather has been just plum WEIRD for weeks now.

Now that's a pompom I could get behind. Very cute!

$12 for pompoms? Well maybe if they were scented.

It seems to me there must be a way to tie it up before you slide it off. Could you ease it over to the left, where there is a cut-out in the stitch guide, and work the tying yarn around it? Or to make it easier, cut a hole out of the middle of a cardboard guide so you had a place to work the tie.

Did you see the trees knocked over in Venice? We had some bushes and leaves, but luckily nothing we couldn't cope with. It was nothing like the SW Louisiana tornado yesterday...among other things,a neighbor's roof ended up in the yard next door and someone else's trees ended up in our back yard.

Hi Laurie,

Great tip on making pom poms. I will give your method a try. BTW, I'm an avid crocheter, but taught myself how to knit because of your blog. (Thank you!) I still have alot to learn, but I'm enjoying myself. I needed one more addiction. LOL Everyone in my family got knitted scarves for Christmas. :) Keep those knitting tips coming. I'm also owned by my cat, so I love to see pic's of your kitties when you post them.

I love that pompom. But how do you attach it to the hat?

The answer to the uneven pom pom!

Melissa, just use a large-eye yarn needle and thread the tail ends of the yarn that you used to tie down the center into the top of your hat.

I bring the two ends of the tail yarn down into the hat separately and make a knot with them on the inside.

I love knitting hats! You gave me a tip a while back as to how not to have the top look all ruffley. You said to decrease every other row rather than every row. Thank you so much for that tip, my hats have dramatically improved.

Pamela, so glad that worked out for you!

I'm going through a scarf phase right now, but I need to do another hat soon. They're so fast and easy, and more portable than a mismatched yarn scarf required 12 different skeins LOL

I love the pompom hat! The instructions are good to know for whenever I learn how to do a hat. Thanks!

Nice set of pom poms, Laurie.

Nice set of pom poms, Laurie.

Nice set of pom poms, Laurie.

Sorry. Didn't mean to send that THREE times.

I have been DYING for you to give us this recipe! It is so easy! But looks so different and difficult! I'm finally gonna give some of my naked hats pom-poms now!

What would happen if the wind meleded with (gasp) rain?!?

Best roller skating song that made me cry in the bathroom because Jim was skating with some girl from a different town:

Reunited and it Feels so Good

I have been DYING for you to give us this recipe! It is so easy! But looks so different and difficult! I'm finally gonna give some of my naked hats pom-poms now!

We used to get really excited when the John Anderson son "Swingin'" came on. We were kind of country ;)

If you have a tapestry needle you can thread the tying yarn (I would use a separate piece just because I am klutzy that way) under the pompom yarn while it's still wrapped around whatever form you're using and sort of tie while sliding. You can probably get arrested for that in some states, but I've never had a problem.

Hat! So cute!

Yay, thanks for the instructions! Must be the bulky yarn that gives it that cool flowery look.

LOL! I remember the pom-pom on skates craze. I sucked at skating but was a cracker-jack pom-pom maker. Still use the same method: wrap the yarn around the fingers of one hand until I'm satisfied with the thickness, then snip, tie off and attach to intended destination.

a $12 PomPom!!!????!!
Did it come with a happy ending??
Holy Moly!

I must try this method also because my clipped and trimmed and shaped pompoms always look tumor shaped and not very round and happy.

Laurie, did you have the "Swingin" t-shirt? It has a couple sittin' in (on) a porch swing. I still have it after all these years. Thats real country, keeping old shirts. Also, I know you like pink, I was just on the knitdenise web site.
They have their knitting needle sets in pink now. (it's just the case and the cables that are pink)
and $5.00 of every pink set they sell goes directly to breast cancer research. I have the blue set, but the pink looks so good I want them too. ...An Oklahoma Knitter...Love your Blog

I like the pompoms. very much. I have been kinda loopy for the loop stitch (ha) since you showed us that and have been gathering up a loopy end to make a thingy on top (Does that make sense to anyone but me?)- it is ok but the flower pompom looks better!!
Happy New Year!!!

ps I did make the roll brim with no pompom for the little miss, she loes it!!!

Then you roll it in chocolate and chopped nuts and...down the hatch. Oh, wait, the holidays are over...

Adorable - must add one to the next baby hat I knit. I normally don't like the regular pom poms, but I do like the version you just demontrated.

Cute, cute, cute! Three times the cuteness of ordinary pompoms. Know what else these would be good for? Kitty toys! Rolled in catnip! Must try it tonight for Miss Criquette and BitsyBonTon. I'll bet Bob especially would love one of these to entertain himself once the Xmas goodies are put away. Thanks for sharing!

Oooh, I like those better than the cut pompons. Thanks!

Those are really neat pom-poms. I never saw them uncut! The power of the blogs!

Pink knitting needles? Portions of the proceeds go to breast cancer research???

I have survived breast cancer twice and my twin sister has survived it once, (both of us wound up with mastectomies before we were 45)... so I encourage you all to go out and get those pink knitty sticks. Then you can all feel good about where your money went and when all is said an done...you have a set of cool pink knitting needles!
:)
Oh, and P.S. Laurie, Your readers are the funniest bunch of people I've come across in a very long time. The replies to the Chammomile Tea situation of yesterday cracked me up!!!

I loved that hat, it had such a happy attitude and what a deelightful and cheery pom-pom. Know what? Reading about your life, cats, yard, work, knitting, family, SnB, has made me more brave. I stared down a seriously messed up sock-weight yarn guest towel mock-cable itty-bitty stitches thing and frogged back two rows to find the squished stitch (not exactly dropped) and knit it up again. (I did have to put it away for two days though.) I thought of you and stayed with it. I felt so very very accomplished, I woke up thinking - gee...I feel so good, what good thing happened? It was the hand towell. :) Thank you sooo much for your writing!

Thanks for returning to the knit! I love to hear about the traffic woes of California. Delaware's biggest threat is...wait for it...FOG! Schools shut down, banks open late, I don't know how the postman does it. Have a great weekend!

Windy in San Diego, and rain last night,too...very weird weather patterns...sigh...Gonna try the pompom AND the hat! I'm not so good at hats...you give me courage =-)

In Tennessee this hat is called a toboggan! Pompom or no pompom.

nice set of pom poms yourself, steve d

Oh, that hat is so cute! Thanks, Aunt Purl!

I love that! I'm going to have to do that for the preemie hats I'm knitting this month :)

I so love that pom pom. I was given the store bought kind and I have to say I like the index card method a littel better now. It is not as "messy" as the one where you have to wrap and wrap and wrap. Then cut and cut some more. I made a pair of rolled brim hats for a set of new born twin girls and they where very well recived.

That looks great. And I think that will 'wear' better too. The ends will stay 'nice' looking longer. Thanks for the tutorial! Well done.

Oh the little things that amuse us...I'm not much of a pom-pom person, but those are the same pretty little ambery scissors I have in my knitting kit! So funny to see them on your blog.

I'm actually posting about it, how's that for dorkdom? :P

Love the hat and the pom pom is really cute as well. Who even buys that Kraft green stuff? I get the stuff in the produce section that actually has avacados and tastes so divine. It comes in a box with pouches inside. We can get it in Texas, don't know if it is available there or not. Ah the good life, a bowl of guac and some seriously good chips.

I do very much love the flower pom-pom, and have admired it for quite awhile, so am very appreciative of the tutorial. You rock!

I like this uncut version so much better than a regular pom-pom. I bet it would look particularly flowery if made from a slightly over-spun handspun single.

We had some wind in our part of San Diego county, too. But no damage this time, thank goodness. A couple of years ago we lost 6 trees due to a wind storm.

When I was growing up in the 60's & 70's we only called the hats with the long tapering tails toboggans- I haven't heard a hat called that in YEARS! Haven't been on a toboggan in decades, either.

I see you have taken off your pretty French nails. :)

Laurie, read your budget worksheet for the first time this afternoon. LIKE the worksheet a lot -- especially the big imaginary salary, gotta get me one of those.

Just curious, with rent like that -- YIKES! -- why dontcha just buy a house or condo?

Unless, of course, all you can get in the Valley for $2K/mo. mortgage would be an extra-large cardboard box?

Just bein' nosy. It's my birthday so I can do that. I also plan to knit all day and have King Cake. I'm 46. Woo-hoo!

Very cute pom pom. I've never liked pom poms because they looked to spidery. This version is much better!

what is that yummy lookin yarn?! I must obtain it XP

cute pom pom!

That is a faboo yarn. Shame it's wool, though. I can't wear wool at all, 'cause it makes me crazy itchy.

Even the really expensive stuff (you know, the stuff that's imported from Italy and has a better pedigree than my last show horse) makes me itch :(

Thanks for the pom pom tip. I am so making some.

Also, I was in your beloved Valley on Friday, walking on the sidewalk and had one of those "big truck drives by and splashes you with a giant puddle-wave" moments. Only instead of a wave made of puddle water, it was a wave made of about three million leaves and twelve kinds of debris. Rock on, Valley, with your bad self.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who keeps reading the title as "Flower Porn Porn."

Y'know, last night I was working on the hat I'm knitting, and thinking "Damn, but I wish I could figure out how Laurie made that cute flower pom pom, it'd be perfect on this hat!" And here it is!

Thanks so much for the tutorial. I just added flower poms to two hats, one for my daughter and one for the Dulaan Project.