Pompom Bee

Pompom Bee

It's a fact - everyone loves a pompom!  So how about a pompom bee? I think so!  

First select your pompom maker.  I've tried various ones but have found these by Clover to be by far the easiest, quickest and most robust to use.  However you can use the old fashioned, tried and tested cardboard circles if you don't have one of these.  You can find instructions for that method here.

Clover pompom maker - closed

Clover pompom maker - open

You open it up and start winding yarn around it. Do it in stripes. This will give you a bee with a black bottom, a yellow head and a black stripe in the middle.  Try and keep the yarn stripes even widths and thicknesses on both halves of the pompom

Wind your yarn on in stripes - keep it even

Make sure you've got the sequence right

Make sure you've wound your yarn on in the right sequence...

This is the pompom ready to cut

Cut the yarn round the middle...

Cut your pompom

A successful pompom needs a very strong, tight middle.  I tie mine with strong linen thread.  This is sometimes called button thread.  You don't want to use anything that snaps when you pull it very tight.

Linen thread

I use my thread double and tie a surgeon's knot which has an extra over and under and doesn't slip as much when you are trying to tie the next bit.

Tie the pompom securely

Undo the pompom maker

Take off the pompom maker to reveal your bee pompom...

Bee Pompom

Make some wings either by crochet and by plaiting some yarn together...

Crochet some wings

Join the crochet into wing shapes

Tie the wings onto the pompom bee...

Add some eyes - knot the ends of some yarn and thread through the pompom and then knot the other end to form a matching second eye...

Finished pompom bee

Then try making different sizes...

Different sized pompom bees

Pompom bee with plaited wings

Go on - you know you want to!