Just ask Martha

I want to take a couple of posts to talk about some of the Christmas presents that I gave. Hard to write about them on the off-chance that the recipient might actually read my blog (definitely not a problem with items made for my husband).

Just ask MarthaThis sweater and hat and mitten set was made for my niece Rebecca, for her American Girl Doll Rebecca. If you have been reading my blog for a while, you might remember the amazing thank you drawings that I got in the past for Barbie clothes that I knit for her. She is such a cutie, and an appreciative recipient. This was a pattern that I bought many years ago to make for my daughter’s doll. While my daughter did receive some sweaters for her dolls, I was not confident enough in my stranded knitting at the time to tackle this pattern. The pattern was very well written, much better than most that I find today.

The knitting was very straight forward, I used some Baby Blatt yarn that was in my stash. As I was applying the last finishing touches, I needed to make a pompom for the top of the hat. In the past, my pompoms have often been less than fluffy, and the double doughnut method never seems to work real well. So, off to google to search an alternative, and I found this post by Martha Stewart.

Essentially you take a strip of cardboard the radius of your finished pompom size. Cut slits at each end and insert a longer piece of yarn

Then wrap the yarn around the cardboard about 150 times.

Gently slide out the cardboard, keeping the longer yarn separate. Tie a tight knot.

Cut all of the threads and trim!

Voila! A perfect pompom.