Pom poms to yarn wrapping art

The childhood pom pom has come a long way since the sale of crafts online has become such a huge industry. Pom poms are overwhelmingly available in just about any colour, format and size, from wreaths and garlands to individual poms for crafters making woolly hats, baby blankets and numerous other soft furnishings for the home, fancy dress and seasonal decorations.

Many years ago I started making pom pom draft excluders that were instantly popular but who would have known where that pom pom path [oh, a 'Pom Pom Path', interesting!] was going to take me. One thing I have always done from the very beginning was to keep a record of the many different colour combinations I have used. To date I have well over 140 yarn wrapped cards, each with the name of the Draftie or wreath as a permanent record of what does and doesn't work. I have always loved these yarn wrappings and had no idea until recently just how trendy and current they are.

My signature pom poms for Drafties and wreaths have at least three colours in them and by adjusting the combination of each colour I can gradually and seamlessly change the colour of the wreath or Draftie.

From these coloured yarn wrappings came the idea to make loose craft pom poms each using three colours. With 20 poms to choose from totalling 60 colours meant there was a pom for virtually every colour palette. My loose craft poms have been created to add an unusual feature to a knitted or textile project and they are not for mass production.

Over the years I have taken on large bulk orders and annually make the pom poms for the costumes at Lapland UK, held at Ascot in December. I had also been contacted by a chap who wanted 1,000 65mm pom poms for his winter hats. When I did the maths I would have had to make pom poms for 18 hours a day with help from my husbunny. We would have taken a month to make them but there wouldn't have been time for anything else. In the end I explained I would need more time and wouldn't be able to make them all within the time frame. I declined his order as I would be doing everything I stand against, mass production for huge profits.

Above are examples of the cheaper, speckled poms that I make in all the sizes 20mm, 25mm, 35mm, 45mm, 65mm and 85mm, with the option to discuss 115mm poms

Above centre The pastel rainbow range comes in Rose, Apricot, Buttercup, Apple, Ice and Lilac plus the rainbow pom using all the pastel colours, in all sizes up to 65mm

Below show the more expensive shaded poms, which have a light and a dark side.

Making these sorts of pom poms from so many colours means I have a fully stocked wool room

and it seemed a shame not to utilize having such a great selection of wool. I also noticed the potential to offer two new 'polka dot' pom pom ranges as I have all the colours anyway.

Below are the new Polka Dot Gothic and Polka Dot Frosty ranges both of which are really unique. I have looked long and hard and they really are quite special. The gothic grey ones offer dark academia a real alternative to plain coloured, dark shaded poms and the white polka dots are a fabulous addition to a candy striped or unicorn theme and as they are both available in a full range of 25 colours they make a complete rainbow for larger projects.

Both sets come in identical colours and can be matched up to the pastel rainbow, speckled or shaded ranges offering a really unique pom pom collection

All of my poms can be bought in any colour, size and quantity allowing the freedom to create any combination..

I soon realised that people were buying my poms as kitten toys, and so I created a listing that is slightly different from the loose craft poms! The kitten pom toys have one long tail so the pom

can be tied to somewhere so it hangs and dangles, or the tail can be cut off so the pom becomes a light-weight carrying ball. I include a tiny organza bag of catnip with the kitten toys to make it more of a Kitty Gifty thing. These toys have been really popular, and some of the photos I get sent are marvellous of happy kitties playing with their poms!

A brand new range will be William Morris wallpaper sample bookmarks with pom poms. I made myself the one on the left and thought with all the paper I had left over from decorating they would make a great item. After researching there is nobody making bookmarks using actual wallpaper samples sandwiched between clear vinyl with added

matching poms in classic Morris colours. I also have a fabulous sweet pea paper by a different company but of the same quality. I shall offer 6 options of pom pom colours, browns, rusts, mustard yellows, slate greens and smokey blues, with matching lavender poms for the sweet pea paper. What's nice about the bookmarks is they are all different, not one will be the same making them unique. Plus I have been using mine and it is really tactile, substantial and of a nice quality weight.

As I mentioned in my blog celebrating my fifth birthday I can now afford the time to concentrate on one-off large arty pieces. My first peace

is a yarn wrapped Christmas tree with matching pom poms that decorations can be hung from. I plan to make lots of these yarn wrapped hanging trees, they are fabulous but they do take over 120 hours to make. Each will be a different shape or colour, each with the signature decorative string trunk. I'm keeping the tree a bit quiet for the moment so here are just two photographs. It isn't quite finished so it'll be the start of May or so until it is on Etsy. It has been designed for a high ceilinged room as it is nearly two metres long and a metre wide at the bottom. The dimensions have been worked out mathematically and so the overall peace is really aesthetic. It sits away from

the wall due to pom poms attached along the back and so fabulous shadows can be created with cleverly placed fairy lights and filigree baubles. The centre trunk of the tree also casts intriguing shadows making this a tree worthy of year round admiration. It does come in a made to measure box if it does end up stored away for the Summer, but I have a sneaky feeling this tree may end up as a permanent wall hanging.

So, check out all the pom listings I have and if there is something bespoke you want just ask!.