could I be first? finally?

I don't even like pompoms, and you've got me wanting one of those gadgets. Sheesh.

And may I just point out that, with this new and up-to-date photo of you, you will have to stop with the "I'm fat" comments as clearly you are not fat at all. You are scrumptious and perfect!

Yr so sweet; talking all nice about those other unworthy craft sites!!

I'm contemplating making up a bunch of weird email addresses just so's I can vote vote vote for you. Then again, I kind of have a life (although my family know you all by first name. Like, as if, we were actual friends and had ever, like, met? Even the kitties. Is it mental that this makes me happy?) and would hate to mess with democracy that way.

Hey, we only *wish* we could hang out in the bathroom taking pictures of ourselves. Mostly because we don't have an innernets camera, but still.........

I totally agree with Amanda. My first thought was "she really thinks she's fat? She should see the size of my arse."

Love the scarf! Love the pom poms! I don't knit but even I want to make pom poms. But that would just be a waste of my time and y'alls yarn supply.

And.

Yeah. What she said about the scrumptious and perfect.

So there.

Bossy never knew anything even close to a Pom-Pon maker existed. In fact, if Bossy was being perfectly honest she'd admit that she refers to those kind of things as Pom-Poms, not Pom-Pons. Where's the 'n' come from? Anyway - nice job on the scarf. If you ever tire of knitting Bossy thinks those Pom-Pon makers could double as breast shields.

You! are so groovy.
If you say I must look on those other sites. I will. Because you are so groovy.

Trust me, that was the one picture that didn't require a whole morning of photoshopping... out of like 35 pics.

I think it's really hard to talk about weight, for me, but I will say this: I am not a small sized girl, but I am working on being okay with whatever size I am.

Wearing giant pompoms helps.

That notmartha other-award-nominated website thingy has a pompom rug!!!! can you imagine?!?

Okay, in addition to a life, I also have a job. Must leave now.

Beautiful scarf, Laurie, but HOW DO YOU ATTACH the gigantic fabulous pompoms? Please help out a less crafty sister!

Fabulous pom-age. Fabulous stockinette-age. Love, love, love the scarf. And I'll bet that, even w/ fabulously snobby yarn-age, it didn't cost you $185 to make. You are now Juicy Aunt Purl.

Susie, you know how you take a long-ish piece of yarn and wrap it around the center of the pompom when you're making it? So it all stays together?

Well, when you're ready to attach it to something, just take that tail and thread it through a large-eye yarn needle. Then you basically sew it to the ends of your scarf, or sew it to your hat or whatever. Don't tell anyone, but I totally tied a knot, too, and you can't even see it. Pompoms hide many sins.

LOL @ Mary!! Juicy!

It cost me about $60 for the whole thing. Still pretty expensive, but well worth it since I'll wear this one all the time.

It's alot easier viewing another's weight from an outside perspective. I know how you feel - I, myself hate the weight I've gained and think I look worse than I am. Having said all that, you really do look terrific, girl!

And I LOVE those pompoms! My gosh, they're gigantic, though, heehee! I wasn't expecting them to look so big on your scarf but I love them! Way cool! Thanks for the instructions!

And, er, is that what I have to look forward to when I start to knit? Yarn fuzzies in the cat box? Or maybe they won't be so fuzzy anymore in the end result. Okay, TMI!

Awww, sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyat.

Another convert to the pom-poms. You should check out Catherine's pom-pom scarf. (http://sothathappened.typepad.com/main/knitting_the_needles_and_the_damage_done/index.html)

It's actually kinda cute, and this is coming from a girl that had to do pee-wee football cheerleading, where pom-poms were de rigueur.

Aurgh.

Very cute! I am personally pom pom impaired, but continue to try.

congrats on the nomination too!

I have 2 hanks of a similar color malabrigo merino...I think I'm going to make me a Juicy Aunt Purl scarf (though mine might only be 6 ft of stockinette so I have enough yarn to make the poms!).

Oh, and I love the "pomegranate" color of your "pom wonderful" scarf!

I *like* the pompoms on the scarf ends!!! What a great idea.

Isn't it amazing how we'll spend so much to make something, but we wouldn't buy it for that much? I was thinking about that today with sock yarn. $25 for socks? NO way. But for yarn? Sign me up!

Congrats on the nomination, too. I voted for you today. :)

Fabulousness in stockinette and pom-poms! Great color too, way to knit it, woman!

It looks gorgeous on your juicy (and to quote others above: scrumptious, perfect) self, by the way, Laurie, so wear it with confidence.

What? "Vwa-lar" ain't how ya say it?

I feel dopey asking this. Do you attach the huge pompom to the middle of the scarf, or sew both ends of the scarf together to the middle of the pompom? I LOVE how your scarf looks, but I can't figure out how everything fits together, ugh.

Congratulations on your site nomination!

Check out the pom pom rug from the Craftivity book!!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060841303?ie=UTF8&tag=notmartha-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0060841303

Dora ... you know how stockinette sort of rolls inward anyway? So I used the yarn tal of my bind-off (on my scarf) to gather the ends together sort of like you would with a drawstring purse.

Then I just sewed it all down, so the scarf kind of ends at a point instead of ending all wide on each end.

A knitter with more foresight would have tapered the ends to begin with, using less stitches, but my scarf began as a swatch so what can you do?

(All my projects begin as swatches because I can't bear to rip out a swatch!)

This is super nubby, wooly yarn so nobody can tell if it's a little messy, plus then you attach the pompom and everything is hidden.

Pom-Poms - especially wool ones - totally rock!

On skating rinks - till this day every time I hear Billy Squire singing "Stroke Me, Stroke Me, Stroke! Stroke!" I totally start skating in my head. I loved the embroidered pockets on my jeans and the big ass comb in my back pocket. And the boys!!!

Very cute! Love the pom poms. Perfect! (and the helpers, of course)

I'm so glad you gave us that photo of you wearing your wonderful scarf. You said the pamage was large, but I didn't realize just HOW large until seeing that shot. Wow!

If we put a pom pon on a dog would that make the dog a Pomeranian? If we made one in Italy would it be Pompeian? What if we made one in Pamona, CA? If we put one in our hair would it be a pompidore?

(stop me now!)

1. Cute scarf

2. Even cuter with giant pompoms

3. Soooo NOT fat.

Fantastic scarf! It's very soft and cushy looking. I think scarves might be a bit of a maligned project, personally. I have about 4 scarves and only one of them I knit myself. It's kind of dorky to have hand knitted sweaters and hand knitted socks but nothing so simple and satisfying as a hand knitted scarf, isn't it? I think I'm going to do that next (or add it to my list of pending projects anyway). It'll make fabulous bus knitting. I love the pom pom! Isn't it great to knock off ridiculously over priced designer stuff yourself by hand??

suntea, until this moment I had actually forgotten the required comb in the back pocket!!!
Ah, the memories.

LOL @ Maggie... you are cracking me up!

I have to say I have resisted the urge about 37 million times this morning so far to post, "No! I really am fat! I fall into the obese category on fitday.com! I'm terrified that when my parents come next month they'll be disappointed and embarrassed by me!"

I will say instead thank you for your nice words, and admire my excellent photo taking skills that hide imperfections. And of course, big ol' pompoms!!

I wish I lived on the other coast so we could be friends. :)

You rock. Even just making miles of stockinette and ginormous pom poms. You totally rock.

Signed,
Also an inappropriate hugger who's glad she doesn't actually live on the other coast, because she'd surely hug you inappropriately all the time.

My mom used to add pompoms to all her projects, so my sister and I would joke that when we brought her to the nursing home, we would give her some yarn, and she could just make pompoms to her heart's content. Your project is changing the way I look at pompoms though. That scarf is so cute!

Has anyone ever caught you taking pictures in the bathroom?

That is a pretty cool tool you got there. Your scarf (and pom poms) turned out be u ti ful and you wear them well. I don't know if I could pull off pom poms, and big pink ones to boot.

That is so cute! And I don't usually like pom poms.

Isn't it fun when the kitty posse helps? And your hair looks a lot longer!

Pom poms are very slimming! Quick - someone notify Anna Wintour.

Ok, gotcha! I think the way you made it makes a lot of sense, and is probably really toasty like that!

I just voted too! Thanks for such a great read. I always look forward to every post.

Kick-ass scarf!! Brava.

Dude, you just make me laugh. A lot.

And, BTW, it looks awesome!!! I might have to make one to match, and then we'll be twins and then I'll be sent to jail for being all single white female on your ass...

Ooh! Giant Pom Poms! You make a plain stockinette scarf look absolutely chic!

You're looking svelte, my dear. And suave and debonair too!

Damn, those are some big-ass pom-poms. I love them. And now feel the need to pom-pom something. This is bad.

OMG, YOU are so hot !!!

Okay....those so rock...I must go get a DAMN gadget and practice...My lab is going to love this little adventure

There is more to being a great "crafty" website than just doing crafts. Your website is insightful, humorous, heart warming and yes, crafty. I personally don't know you, but yet, you manage to bring a smile to my face almost daily and then sometimes my heart breaks for you. I usually don't comment because you get an enormous amount of them, but this time you really need to understand that you are so much more than you think you are.(no pressure there!) So yes, you really deserve an internet award.

It's beautiful and you ROCK. :)

Faith! lol!

Laurie, I voted for you.

Did I tell you that already?

I did, I voted for you, too.

:)

Laurie, you rock - not only have you helped me come to terms with my scarf-only knitting policy, but now you introduce this novel thought to my perfectionist brain: "I love funky, unexpected elements in knitting." I'm going to mull that over a glass of wine and let that beauty sink in!

On another note, my kitty Misty is sick. Since Tuesday morning, she's been throwing up, not eating, is cold, and is acting distant and not her happy self, so I'm taking her to the vet this afternoon. Please think good thoughts for her. :0(

So how many skeins did it take for the pom pom?

On a side note...I've thought of a way that you could save more money (for more yarn or a bigger storage shed) and have blog fodder to boot. Toilet training your kitties (http://www.karawynn.net/mishacat/toilet.html).lol.Good luck.

Ari, thank you :)

Faith if we had matching pompom scarves, we could be the POMsey twins heheheheheheh.

Colleen, I am thinking healing kitty vibes for your Misty! You just hang in there, and remember -- it is harder to get into vet school than into med school, so the animal docs know their STUFF!

And everyone...hi! OMG IT IS JANUARY 31 already. HOW did that happen?????? and hi :)

wendy -- two pompoms took a whole skein of wool! But it is not actually bulky wool, because it's one of those fibers that is thick in some places and fine as thread in others. A bulky wool would take less yarn.

I'm not sure toilet training the herd is in my skillset. I cannot even train them to sleep past 5:30 a.m., alas.

you so totally crack me up. Thanks for making my day. It was almost ruined when someone on another blog deleted my comment. You are not like her, you would never do that to me would you?
congrats on the award nomination! How awesome is that?

What they said. (Fabulous knitting, you converted me to pom poms, you look awesome.)

And . . . as an uptight girl (blame the German Lutheran heritage) who, despite my best intentions, cringes when someone hugs me, let me tell you that the cringe has nothing whatsoever to do with the hugger. I am always grateful to the hugger for wanting to give me a hug. I bet a lot of other Touch-Me-Nots feel the same way. (I hope that made sense, even with the mangled pronouns.)

Hey Faith! If there's three of us sporting the fantastical pom scarf, is that Single White Female or Fan Club? I can't decide... LOL

And Laurie, as always, you're luscious and wonderful. Women are supposed to have curves! ;)

That IS a lot of stockinette! I can't imagine how much wine that must have required.... Oh and I love my giant pom-pom maker, I wish I had more reason to use it. Hmmm, maybe I'll have to make a scarf with gianto poms on the end?!?

Awesome scarf, very stylish!

But that pompom maker ... it looks so... medical.

Thanks Laurie for the healing kitty vibes! I also meant to tell you I voted for you too but not just because you're thinking of my kitty - you are awesome all the time.

Is that a CABLE near the end of the scarf? Or are the colors fooling my eyes? Or am I going blind? (Note to self: make eye appointment.) Cable or no, that is stunning, and worth every dime of $185, not that I would pay it, but there's one born every minute.

1 I voted- love you site read it everyday
2 i just began to knit 3 weeks ago
3 cat lover
4 I'm a southerner (understand hugs)
5 you are very pretty and skinny!
6 dig the pom I also was a skate child
blessing 2 u Angie and pumpkin (my fur baby)

Oh, and making the Red Heart practice pompoms? The nerds I hang out with call that "prototyping." See, I keep telling you, nerds are sexy.

Holy crap that IS a lot of stockinette! Theraputic, I say! The scarf looks great and those are the best pom pom's I've seen yet!!

Fabu scarf! And truly GINORMOUS pom-poms! I didn't realize the scale w/o the pic.

I loved the pom pom scarf that someone else posted a link to; check out mine: http://www.flickr.com/photos/32173315@N00/336723348/ Pattern's on my website.

Love your blog! Have to go vote for you, now.....

I've never been a big pom pom lover, but I must say I LOVE your pom pom scarf! Brava!

Holy Fuck! Your PomPom's are HUGE!

*childish snicker*

Hi, I'm 12. ;^)

Congrats on the nomination!

Love the scarf. That's pretty cool. :D

Oh and I have a cheap ass pompom maker that is one piece. I thought I was mentally challenged trying to get the yarn through the little donut hole until I realized the makers were on crack and trying to mess with what little brains I have left. o.0

Oh and good tip on using the scrap yarn first. I wish I'd thought of that. *L*

I have one of the solidly round pom-pom makers and, needless to say making pom-poms is an arduous task that I try to avoid. I will have to look for that dismantleable one!

(the pom-poms totally make the scarf!!)

No cable-- just stockinette, but this yarn has some areas that are bumpier, since the yarn isn't an even size (some places are bulky and some are thin as string!)

I find stockinette to be very therapeutic :)

All these pompom scarves are AWESOME!!!! How do you string them together though?

Bridget your bobble scarf is FABULOUS! In fact all your projects are amazing! I love knitting. I love the art people make out of sticks and string. It makes me wish I were knitting RIGHT NOW. But of course I have a meeting to run of to, darnit.

Pom pommy goodness! Your test pom looks like a fry guy - all it needs are a pair of googly eyes and pipe cleaner legs.

I love this post.

1. You are talking about knitting again. Yay you! Although you could write a three-page post about car tires and we would love it, it's nice to make it to home base at least once an inning.

2. The scarf is ab-fab. And the poms are ginormous enough to be the envy of any Pineville high school cheerleader.

3. You, also, are ab-fab, tres jolie blanc, and NOT fat. Women are supposed to have curves. That's so you can look at us from behind and tell we are not just a guy in drag.

4. You said "PO" and you talked about Carencro and baling hay all in the same post, homegirl.

Hugs, and vwa-lar, cher.

Dez

P.S. -- I won't lecture you about keeping yarn away from kitties, you know why, but just a friendly reminder. Don't be mad. :)

laurie, you are an awesome pom pom maker! love that scarf.
btw, you look so amazing and healthy - congrats!

Oh, the rolerskating memories! And yup. Had the big comb in the back pocket. I totally needed it to keep my feathered bangs in check. And the french kisses........um, what was I talking about? *whew* Is it hot in here?

I was never crazy about pom-poms until I saw yours! Wow, I'm feelin' the need!

And this blog, blogger, crafter, catowner is a total winner, no matter what vote counts may inappropriately say!

So in love with the pompoms!

Your scarf avec pompoms is fabulous, dahling!

But let's not bash the Red Heart; I'm fond of the Red Heart! I learned to crochet avec the Red Heart. Crochet led me to knitting (eventually), and knitting led me to Brown Sheep and Noro and, saints preserve us, Rowan. But I still have a soft spot for a lovely giant 2-dollar 8-ounce skein of the Red Heart, which crochets up into such a cheerful and sturdy baby blanket!

Cute scarf and pom poms! Having recently caught the knitting bug, I'm off to your archives to pillage.

Hehehe, your blog makes me laugh. I finally had to comment to say I love that you can see the tampon dispenser in the back of your picture. ;-)

Thanks for the tute on pompoms. Now I want some!

Julie, I hope you know I was speaking about the Red Heart with love! And obviously, I use it all the time in my "prototypes" (heh, Lucia!!)

Red Heart is rockstar. My yarn snobbery lasted like two and a half weeks, then I saw my paycheck again and came to my senses :)

yes, The tampon dispenser makes all my bathroom pics that much more glamorous!!!

And dez, I am working on another knitting project right now which is...uh, as usual, *inneresting* LOL.

Hopefully I will be done next week with pictures!

Okay, that scarf is awesome. I rarely comment on your blog because I really cannot add to what others have already said, but your scarf is so cool. That is something I would have never considered making but it looks great. Maybe I will do something similar as a Christmas gift next year!

Keep smiling.

Know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to try it first with Red Heart!

Oh, I love that!! The pom poms are so awesome!

(I was going to say "so fucking awesome", but then I would sound like a fucking sailor compared to everyone else.)

Ok I thought I hated pompoms, but I'm reconsidering.

Also, I actually know where Carencro is - yay me!

I love the scarf :) So awsome

the pom poms are so cute.
d'you think you'll sew pom poms on everything now?

(btw, are they quick to make? i've got 0 attention span sometimes).

Your comment about embarassing your parents hit a nerve. When I lost about 15 lbs a few years back, my dad actually said: "Don't gain it back." Of course I did - plus some - and now, every time I see them I'm thinking "Dad thinks I'm a fat ugly pig."

Not that your parents will. No way. Not yours.

Oh that's too cute!!! Good work. I can't knit, so I'm thinking....lets see, a size "N" hook, and some of that new funky looking Bernat. Oh Yeah! I've never been a pom pom fan, didnt even have them on my skates, but I could do this.

ok wait! I have a question....how did you attach the pom pom to the scarf??

i just wanted to share a story with all of your readers about knitters saving the world. (Houston rep-ra-sents!)

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/4513180.html

So exactly how many pompoms are on each end of your scarf? It is mighty cute and when you first mentioned POMPOMS I said "oh, dear lord where is this girl going now?" But it is just so cute, but not at Bloomingdales... at Chez Pompom!

kaybee-- they're somewhat quick to make, although you do have to count the amount of times you wrap the yarn (the guidebook provides a number) and that can be tedious. But I am somewhat OCD so I love counting :)

LaDonna -- I don't want them to feel embarrassed or disappointed in me. My mom saw me pretty recently but my dad hasn't seen me in a while. I know I am healthier now than I was this time last year (you wouldn't have caught a full picture of me unphotoshopped anywhere!!!) but I'm still... you know. I have my concerns. I think I am mostly scared that it will become a topic of conversation.

And I'm kind of shocked that TWO people here besides me have heard of carencro, louisiana!!!

LOVE the scarf, but I don't believe my LYS carries the Rio. Do you think Manos would be a comparable substitute?

You're not fat, btw. You look good. And that's a nice scarf...and I don't even like pom poms.

Scoff not at the Bloggies! I attend the awards ceremony every year during a lunch break at SXSW Interactive in Austin and they are an absolute Hoot! You are up against some stiff competition this year, but I think the cats will cinch it for you. The pom poms were a nice touch too. Good luck.

Melissa: I added the info up there now with a pic since folks were asking, hope that helps!

Lyn: One big honkin' pompom on each end!

Vanessa: Yes! Tons of folks at SNB even asked me if it was Monos yarn.

Nice scarf! Lovely pompoms!!

And you totally deserved to win the category craft-blogs! I voted for you!

That is a VERY nice scarf, well done! Me, I'm slightly scared of pompoms.

Tapering the ends!!! Yeah, that's it! Ok, I'm sooo on it! This is good. Thanks a ton for adding that.
m

Hey!! I found a pic of the Juicy Couture scarf here:

http://www.shoprapunzels.com/store/images/small/AC0657_front.jpg

The scarf is gorgeous and those pompoms are HUGE. Really intimidating. But beautiful!

So--you gonna lowball the Juicy Couture people and sell it for $150? ;-)

I thought all the craft blogsites were really good! One thing I always look at in any story (or roundup) of websites is to see how many are run by women ;) And this award thingy had a LOT of women, which made me very happy.

And I also discovered several new sites on that award page... I am afraid to say I had never heard of Gizmodo before, and I found a whole lot of cool new websites through all the links.

I don't have a whole lot of time for web surfing but when I do I like to learn new stuff and so this was a huge bonus for me, just the nomination! Plus, you know I had to go vote for my gossip blog crush, Trent at pink is the new blog!!!

I love my Trent.

how long did it take you to go through all the stages of yarn consumption?
I think I am trying to challenge myself to spend as much as possible.
This is a bad thing.
You look muy bonita in poms!

p.s. do you think I could comment with any more exclamation points

(!!!!)

p.p.s. I added the pic I found from saks ... they were selling it for $195! I had to add it as a link in the entry because stupid comments don't have hyperlinks. whoops.

I bet David Beckham would LOVE to squeeze your giant poms-poms Laurie.

That scarf is too fab for LA. You need to send it to Belgium where people wear scarves YEAR ROUND.

How about a matching hat?

What am I doing wrong? I could be charging someone $195 for a scarf?! Oh, here is a site for you to check out, nice nice yarn for cheap cheap cheap! www.colourmart.com. They have cashmere....oh so cheap! It comes on cones. I went crazy and bought two cones today for only a mere, $36! That was with shipping as well. Yippeee!!!

What a gorgeous scarf!!! And what a gorgeous you!!

Way cute, Laurie. I would NEVER have looked twice at the Juicy Couture one, but I covet yours.

My first kiss was in a skating rink, too. Carl Barker -- I actually saw stars.

So pretty in pink Miss Purl. If you blocked that scarf, it would wrap around your HOUSE three times.

(Shhhh, don't tell, I knot too.)

The best scarf ever! If I ever get the hang of knitting, I will make one. I now have pompom envy, sigh

love your new & improved ghetto "lightbox" photos!

I followed your link to shoprapunzels and saw the original scarf - yours is much more attractive! A prettier color, and there's not an inexplicable kilt pin stuck in it. :)

Also, yay for the Red Heart love!

That turned out great! It looks very jaunty on you.

By the way....the other blogs in the competition with you? I just came from reading all of them. Maybe I'm biased (not really) but NONE of them even come close to being the writer that you are.

Or having the fans that you so obviously have. Crazy, insane fans. Not me, of course. I was crazy and insane before you came along!

The revolution awaits your Pompensity.

What a gorgeous scarf! I don't even like pom pons but I like the ones you made, and they really finish the scarf.

You are SO not fat! I, too, am "obese" on the BMI scale, but the 20-30 pounds of extra "lard" is evenly distributed, fortunately. *I* don't like the extra inches but it mainly matters in the fact that I can't sew my old patterns and I have to buy a dress size I hate.

And it's the same with you! You LOOK good. You probably look 25 pounds lighter than what the scale says, and remember, the camera adds pounds, so if you look good in the photo, YAY for you!

You're in proportion and if you lose an inch or two all the way around, it's all good but at least you don't have any one body area that's HUGE while the rest is tiny. You will look good while you work on eating healthier.

I know what you mean about parents. I was feeling bad about having gained weight from my divorce/cross-country-move, etc. and when I told my parents I had lost 7 pounds this month and was on my way to losing more, my mother (the critical one) said, puzzled, "But you LOOK good."

I checked out the Make Magazine site and found that they were blamed for the Boston security fiasco today. Hah! And we thought it was cats that were up to no good!

Okay, I must admit, sometimes I come here and wonder...when will she knit something? Yet, everytime you do knit something its awesome! I mean, I've been knitting for about 4 years now and never designed a hat! Not to mention pom poms....
Not that I need you to knit. I'd check here everyday for ever if you never knit again! But you do so thats awesome! Okay, I'll shut it and go have some wine and watch Scrubs....

Laurie I love your scarf... it's much nicer than that crap one at Sax Pith Ave anyway...

And yes, nerds are sexy!

Love your blog...read it every time you update <3

And yeah I'm voting for your blog on the awards site, but not voting for anything else...most of them are blogs I don't read or written by snobs anyway.

Hey! that looks great.
I totally have not mastered the "pom pom". In my hands it is the "little pile of shredded yarn on the floor". Oops.

My grandma is the queen of pom poms and tassels. I've got a crocheted acrylic blanket from her with these huge complicated tassels on each corner. (she did hook them on in a way I could take them off if my cats messed with them) I've even seen her make tassels from beads.

I do love the jumbo tassels on the scarf.

I take all my FO pictures in a bathroom mirror, too...but I don't have a job right now. I totally would do it at work, though.

Don't let living in L.A. give you a complex. I used to hang out at my friend's lake cabin (in Kentucky - remember that), but I wouldn't get a swimsuit or even wear shorts because I felt so fat. Finally, he asked if I was ever going to go swimming, and I said I don't want to wear a swimsuit out on the lake. And he said, "Are you kidding? You've got all your teeth, so that makes you a supermodel!"

So I got a swimsuit. And it turns out that when I swim in lakes, I get very neurotic about FISH looking at my big ass (because, you know, fish eye lenses aren't flattering), so I would swim faster and tread water even if I could touch bottom just because I didn't want fish swimming near me.

Downside: swimsuits expose more skin to that evil ball of fire in the sky. Redheads MUST reapply sunscreen every 3 minutes or spend 2 days smelling like solarcaine and vinegar.

Great scarf! Love it. And great idea practicing with the Red Hart.

you are so cute! thanks for a great blog entry and for the great descriptions. I especially enjoyed the analogy of hay bale-ing. It seriously made the description clearer to me.

best wishes!

I checked out "the competition" -- b.o.r.i.n.g.

Keep up the good work. Craft is good; real is better.

Laurieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! My best friend is from Carencro! I'm serious.

Great Pom-poms!

Lovely scarf on a lovely woman. :o)

Dear Purl:
I know I am a bit much on saving things but those little extra yarn pieces I save. They come in very handy to attach tags to presents or tie cute little things together. I made fabric covered buttons attached to goody hair ties for Valentines Gifts this year and those little yarn peices came in handy to tie the hair bands together.
Love you pom pom scarf. Very Valentineish.

Hmm Love the scarf, sorry haven't read thro all the earlier comments. [ I am so late to read , being downunder!! ] So sorry if this hint is a repeat...for future reference you can puff up a pom-pom by "steaming" it over a boiling jug. Works wonders for some yarns. May pay to try a "test" read sacrifical red heart one first.

By the way you so totally get my vote. You are compulsive reading every day. So many paralels.

Cheers

Your scarf is by far the superior version.

*smacks forehead* prototype pompom! Brilliant!

Even better than the original, in my opinion! Loving it and love reading you. Thanks for the pompomology tips.

as I'm sure you've read by now, Excellent Pom-Poms!!
Ah yes, roller rinks. those were the days... holy crap i'm old, my sister wants to know what a roller rink is.

Oh Lawdy, someone who doesn't know what a roller rink is! That's scandalous!! (also, I am old. The end.)

If you have a cheerleader's outfit to go with those pom poms, and some potato chips to eat, I'm all ready for the Super Bowl party!

Great, great scarf! I like it better in red.

Ooo ooo ooo! I love your scarf! And the best part? I think I could actually make this myself! You rock in an extremely hard way!

Cute scarf but I think that I'll still stick with fringed scarves.

130+ comments - do you even read this far down?

You look skinny in that outfit!

Nice work.

Although those other blogs may be great, I voted just for you.

That is an awesome scarf. I am actually midway through my second skein of Paton's SWS for a straight stockinette scarf. It's just too pretty in stockinette to even consider a different stitch. I was thinking this morning that striping yarn makes weird fringe... maybe I'll add giant pompoms!

I have a question about the yards and yards of stockinette, though... Do you have any good tips for blocking to minimize the rolling? I thought I had mine nice and wide, but as it gets longer, I'm definitely knitting a nice tube o' scarf...

I totally voted for you. You make me want to move to California.

Love, a new reader from NYC

hello!
If one were going to make the scarf out of Manos, how many skeins total would be needed?
(including pompoms)
kelly

Now I'm totally confused (as opposed to just slightly, my usually state of being): Is it Pom-Pom or, as shown on the label of the thing, Pom-Pon? Whichever, cute!

Greetings from London and thanks for Pompomology 101 - I think they'll be a running feature in this season's collection.

Will try to post some photos soon since it's about time I crawled out of the middle ages.

Hugs

I'm totally laughing that, just like me, you can't overcome the urge/habit to use the teensy viewfinder hole even though there's a big ol' screen we could be composing with instead. :D

Mol: I have to look through an optical viewfinder. Old habits die hard!

Rebecca: I call them pompoms. I had never heard of a pom-poN before! But I am country, so don't ask me....

Kelly, it takes one full skein for two giant pompoms. For your scarf, if you wanted a normal-length (5-6 foot) scarf, I would say you need two skeins for the knitted part as well. A skinnier and not as long scarf -- or one knitted on bigger needles -- could get away with a single skein, but the pompoms are quite heavy so your scarf needs some heft to it, you know?

I made mine on size 13 needles because I am a SUPER tight knitter, and I cast on 32 stitches. I used three skeins and it ended up close to nine feet long.

e. -- Mine rolls too. I didn't block it because I don't mind it rolling inward, but you could try pinning your patons scarf on your bed (guest bed if you have one, so it can dry overnight) and spritzing it with water, then letting it dry. I have had better results with spritzing than with steaming, anyway. I find that I have a tendency to WAY over-block with the steamer. Let us know how it works out!

Laurie ... you forgot to list the best wine to drink as part of the PomPom Scarf recipe!

I was looking at the picture of the one you found on the net.....umm...i'm totally suspecting that this is crochet and not knit. You can tell by the way the stitches lay. If so, not the first time crochet has been labled as knit. However, It convinces me even more that I can duplicate this exactly in crochet. :) Yeah me!

ps. Yours is much better! And I aint just sayin that.

At least you're not taking photos of yourself in the MEN'S room!!

(Sorry for the delayed comment; I have menopause brain)

Cute scarf but $195! Much better to make your own. Anyhow, I have one of those pom pon makers and it came with no directions so I have always wondered how in the hell to get the yarn into that little hole (i.e. when the thing is in a circle). Duh, you take it apart. I'm off to try and make some pom pons (isn't that a weird name for 'em).
renee

Prior to reading this posting I hated pompoms...now I covet yours :-) Fabulous scarf!

hehehe.. Cava! A sparkling Cava goes very well with pompom scarf making!

I think you might be right Melissa, the Juicy Couture scarf might be crochet. I couldn't quite figure out the stitch, I just remember it was some sort of ribbing (I had to examine it quickly, since security was hovering nearby and I couldn't take a picture).

That's awesome! I've been on a red/pink kick myself lately and just may have to copycat you!

SO friggin' cute. I love it.

As a rule, I totally dislike pompoms, but your scarf has me wondering whether I might need to rethink that (please don't do a post on bobbles, I'd really like not to need to rethink them...). Also, have to admit, when I saw the merest top edge of a photo off the bottom of my screen, right after you mention furred felines transporting yarn ends to litter boxes, I was just a mite concerned what the photo might actually contain. Thanks, much appreciate it being an adorable photo rather than the, well, we won't go there option...

Re Rebecca's question, is it pom pom or pom poN--checked the dictionary and a pom poN is officially a chrysanthemum or dahlia with a rounded head. Pom pom is an alternative of it...so, either one is correct! And, I must say, that scarf is absolutely adorable!

Ooh la la I love your scarf and the giant poms! Work the pom poms, honey. They become you. Will you give us the pattern? Of course you will. At least tell us how many skeins of $14 yarn it took, ok?

I like how you gathered the ends instead of tapering, I think it looks better. Glory be, those are enormous pom poms.

Po! You totally stole my line! Actually, to support my yarn habit, that first 'o' is looking shaky...

I'm not a fan of pompons, but I think that scarf looks FABULOUS. You do good work!

I love that scarf - the yarn color, and the giant pompoms! And it didn't cost you $195 (although perhaps if you were paid by the hour, that's a bit low....)

So, it's stockinette. OK. How wide and how long (inches), please?

I just saw your comment that gives me the info I was looking for. Thanks!

First: Colleen, Evangeline & Lilliane are sendng Good Vibes to your kitty; second - LAURIE!! You've made a $250 scarf! Yours is MUCH prettier than that dorky white one that was $185. Double Bravos on you! And again -- I add "ME TOO" to everyone's who's writee before me.

I'll second the notion that your scarf is MUCH nicer than the icky overpriced Juicy one (although I am a sucker for cashmere).

Love the pompons... you bring new life to an otherwise typically boring item!

hello laurie, my name is laurie, it's funny. I don't spik English very wel because I'm french, I'm live in France. your cats it's butiful and I like your song. I'm 15 years old. your skyblog is very good. good by. (this is my adresse msn : " la.chataingne@hotmail.fr")

Did you know that the skating rink is a hockey-plex now? Very interesting to drive past since the shooting range is next door. Kid magnet + discharge of firearms = so 'cro.