with A. B will be wound next.
※The pom pom maker used for the projects in these books was Hamanaka Kuru Kuru Pom Pom Maker, a Japanese brand. Many different brands are available, such as Clover, Lion and others. Sizes, design and instructions for use vary from brand to brand, so it’s a good idea to visit craft shops for a good look, and check out YouTube videos to see how they’re used. Buying a set is a good idea too, so that the different sizes will be in proportion with one another.
Tips
Other than the 1⅜ in (3.5 cm) pom pom maker size, winding the yarn tightly will result in an elliptical shape instead of a circle. This shape can be used in a variety of ways such as the animal body.
Yarns
Select the appropriate yarns. The photo below is a guide to the weights that are most commonly used in these projects. If you prefer a different yarn, or the recommended types aren’t available to you, adjust for differing weight by increasing the number of windings for thinner yarn and vice versa.
Taking up the yarn ends To wind two strands at once, take one strand from the outer part of the yarn ball or skein, and another strand from the inside; if you insert your fingers into the center of the ball, you should find a clump of yarn that can be pulled out.
Other Materials
Supplies needed in addition to yarn for project construction. For felt and wool roving, try to find similar materials.
1. Felt
Used for the hamster and cat ears, the penguin’s beak, etc. A thin layer of craft glue is applied on both sides of the felt. Once the glue is dry, cutting out small pieces is a snap.
2. Wool Roving
Ears, nose, legs are formed by felting wool roving with a special felting needle on top of a felting needle mat.
※ We use the “Flufeel” brand roving in this book.
3. Embroidery Floss Size 25
Create the chick’s legs by wrapping the embroidery floss around a piece of wire.
4. Pipe Cleaner
By wrapping wool roving around the pipe cleaner and using a needle to felt it, the elephant’s nose and cat’s tail can be shaped.
5. Wire
For the chick’s leg and fried shrimp.
Eyes • Noses Parts
The eyes and nose pieces are essential in creating facial expressions. We’ve listed a variety of sizes, shapes and colors of plastic safety eyes and noses below. Slight modifications to the eye placement can completely alter the expression, so play around with different arrangements (see p. 54).
Pom Pom Basics 1
Let’s Make a Chick Hair Tie
(Template on page 45)
Winding Diagram
• Single strand
• A, B same
※See p55
Materials
Pom pom maker: 1⅜ in (3.5 cm)
Yarn – worsted weight in lemon
Other Materials
Eyes: plastic safety eye (black) 4 mm × 2
Beak: felt (orange) 1 χ 1 in (2.5 × 2.5 cm)
Backing: felt (black) 1⅝ × 1⅝ in (4 χ 4 cm)
Hair tie elastic: approximately 8 in (20 cm)
Trimming and Sizing Guide
Instructions
Wind the yarn around the arm of the pom pom maker 71 times, going back and forth across the arm (indicated by A on the diagram). Once the winding is complete, loop the yarn around your index finger once, leave a tail of about 2 in (5 cm) and cut. Insert the end of the yarn into the loop around your finger and tighten. Repeat on the opposite side (indicated as B).
If it becomes difficult to wrap the yarn around the other arm, keep winding in the center of the arm instead of going back and forth.
Insert scissors between the two arms and cut the yarn all around. In the groove formed, loop a string (such as kite string) twice, tighten and knot securely at the position indicated on the diagram.
Open the arms and take out the pom pom. Using the trimming and sizing visual guide, trim the pom pom.
Don’t worry about precision at first and snip the pom pom into the general shape desired.
Once you have the approximate shape, carefully trim every part of the pom pom uniformly.
Trimmed.
Figure out the eye placement and glue into place.
