If you're going to decorate your home at any time during the year, December is the season to do so. A garland is the perfect way to add a bit of charm to any piece of furniture, plant or picture frame, as seen above. Here I've made a pom pom garland using bits of scrap yarn leftover from old recycled sweater projects (see this sweater and this clutch). I was inspired by this garland featured on the julep blog.
This garland is really easy to make and the perfect way to use up bits of scrap yarn. This would be a great project for kids too. I remember making a Christmas craft using pom poms when I was about 11 years old. Can you imagine a little human figure made with yarn and a roll of lifesavers? I probably made a dozen of those little things. Who knows what came of them. Where I learned of the idea I can't remember now.
Anyway, this is a very straight forward project. All you need is yarn, a yarn needle and scissors. Step 1: Make about 22 pom poms in colors of your choosing. I did red and gray because those are the yarns I want to use up. It looks rather collegiate doesn't it? Oh well. Use a pom pom maker or do it the old fashioned way, wrapping the yarn around your fingers.
By the way, do you have a pom pom maker? Do you think it's worthwhile to purchase one?
Step 2: Trim your pom poms so they look round and even. The more yarn you use and the thicker it is, the fuller your pom poms will look.
Step 3: Cut a piece of yarn about 12 feet long and thread it on a needle. I used a thick suede yarn. Push the needle through the center of each pom, distributing them evenly. Tie a pom to the each end of the yarn.
That's it. Wasn't that fun? And easy? Soon your home will be filled with more pom poms than you'll know what to do with. And your yarn stash will start to look rather reasonably bare. Win-Win situation don't you think?
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I've made lots of knitted hats over the years and for the most part just make up the pattern. I've always knitted my hats flat because it's easy enough to stitch up the side seam and I never seem to have circular needles at the right length. So, basically what I do, is determine the finished size I want for my hat, then swatch my yarn to determine gauge. Determine the number of stitches to cast on. Choose a stitch pattern and knit until I'm about 1 inch shy of the finished height. Then I decrease the stitches to shape the crown. So here's what I did to make this hat.
Here are a few other hand knit hats of various yarn and stitch patterns. As you can see, the pale blue alternates cable stitches and a knit stitch panel. The long white seed stitch hat in the back folds up to make a brim. If you want to add a brim to your hat, make the rib stitch section at the beginning about 5 inches long or desired length.
A little Christmas knitting I made a very small baby blanket and a baby hat for my niece over the weekend.
