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Make a crochet ribbon, finished off at both ends with a soft pompom, to be used again and again. Make this project in different sizes and colours to match your wrapping and decorations. Or you can cluster four or five small pompoms at either end in place of the single large ones. Taken from A Very Pompom Christmas by Jemima Schlee, published by GMC (£9.99, available from www.thegmcgroup.com)
You will need
Oddments of DK yarn
2½in (6.5cm) pompom maker
Small, sharp scissors
Yarn needle
E/4 (3.5mm) crochet hook
1 Fill both sides of the pompom maker with your choice of yarn.
2 Cut all around the edge of your pompom maker with sharp scissors.
3 Tie off with yarn directly from your ball of wool – do not cut it to length. Remove carefully from the pompom maker. Use the sharp scissors to trim your ball – a medium trim will give a lovely soft, bouncy quality. Take care to keep the ball attached to the yarn from your ball of wool – you can cut the shorter tie tail end flush with the surface of your pompom ball, leaving the yarn coming directly from the ball of wool remaining.
4 Using the attached yarn, start to crochet your ‘ribbon’. Use the crochet hook to make an initial slip knot (or chain) by making a loop and pulling another loop, made with the free end, through it.
5 Continue to chain until you have a ‘ribbon’ to the length you desire. Trim the yarn to 8in (20cm) and pull it through the last chain to finish.
6 Make another pompom following steps 1 and 2, but this time trimming one tail end to about 8in (20cm) and the other one flush as you trim the ball. Thread the tail end at the end of your crochet chain onto the yarn needle and feed it through your second pompom. You need to position the needle so that it draws out close to the tail end left on this second pompom.
7 Taking your two tail ends from step 6, tie them firmly into a tight knot to secure them to your crocheted chain.
8 Trim the two tail ends flush with the surface of the second pompom and you’re ready to tie it around a parcel.
Tip
Use white yarn and your pompoms become snowballs! Or try using mixed yarns for this project to use up any scraps you have lying around.