These pinecone shaped pompoms are my new favorite thing. I will be decking my halls and porch with them very soon. They are very easy to make but I will warn you they do require a fair yardage of yarn. The favorite ones I have made so far have been using blue sky bulky alpaca wool blend. They area amazingly soft and you will just want to hold them in your hand and never let them go.
You can make them in any size you want but mine are about four inches long and almost three inches wide.
Using this template or one of your own making cut two pieces out of cardboard. the trick to obtaining the shape is to make the width at the bottom of your template twice the width of the sides.
Lay one of your cardboard pieces down and place a folded length of wool over it, long enough to be able to tie a double knot to fasten the pompom when it is time. The next couple of pictures show the process with a regular shaped pompom but the steps are the same. Only the template shape differs.
Now lay the other piece of cardboard directly on top making a yarn sandwich.
With your pompom yarn start wrapping. You will want to wrap thicker at the widest part and less on the thinner sides. Don't skimp on the yarn. The thicker the pompom, the more beautiful it will look.
Now draw the string together and cut the outer edges of the wrapped yarn with some sharp scissors. Draw the inner yarn tightly together and tie a very firm know before removing the cardboard template. The result will look like this.
Yes that is an illustration of the lung below the pompom. Now using your scissors trim the sides of the pompom to shape it. I sort of imagined myself trimming the cedar bushes around our house. When you are happy with the shape, stop and admire how natural it looks.
You can tie a ribbon or piece of fabric to the top or leave it plain. They will make beautiful ornaments, gift package adornments or the perfect little surprise to leave at your neighbor's door.
Enjoy!!
