A Tale of Two Pom Poms

...or Thin and Sad Vs Fat and Happy. It had been some time since I had made a pom pom, very possibly decades. I remember making them in primary school, so approached my first pom pom making project this century with a high level of confidence. how hard could it be? On top of the years of life experience I had gained since primary school, I had also purchased myself a dedicated "Pom Pom Maker" - so self explanatory is the task that the packaging does not bother to include instructions!
My first attempt took at least a couple of hours. I used my pom pom maker (below) and thinking I wanted quite a large pom I left the 3 coloured rings joined together and proceeded to wind my yarn in a radial fashion using a tapestry needle. I wanted to use a solid pink yarn to compliment the flecked hot pink yarn, so I painstakingly alternated the colours, winding only a single thread at a time. Increasingly I found it harder and harder to fit the needle through the centre of the pom pom maker. I had a bad feeling about this pom...

...The result is the emaciated, scruffy-dog excuse for a pom pom you see on the left of the top picture. What a blow! But I was not to be defeated, failure is after all the best way to learn. On attempt #2 i really smartened up my game. Using only the yellow rings of the pom pom maker, I thread both colour yarns through the needle at once and used them doubled over. What a brain wave! I'd quadrupled my productivity before I even started!!
The result is a fat and bouncy, heavy-weight pom. Almost a little too heavy to be attached to the beret, but it will go there anyway. He could still do with a hair cut, but I'm afraid that I will get carried away, so I have put the scissors away.