My pom-pom deconstructed itself (see below where I say I am a pom pom EXPERT, lol)!! See details on how I fixed it a year later, and how I made a fur pom pom out of old rabbit fur earmuffs here.

Hey! The reverse side might be even better!! Making one for the man, reversed, sans pompom, Mad Tosh Vintage in Saffron. Will show it off one of these days… stay tuned!

26Jan2012 A test knit for Elisa McLaughlin. I just adore this hat -- it looks like I got it in a store. Better yet, my man loves it, too, and wants one ASAP.

Blocking is important for this hat for stretching it out, if you cast-on 80 sts. However, you can change the size to teen or X-large by just casting-on different multiples of 16 and following the pattern as is.

I finished the decreases with ssk all around instead of k2tog. Barely noticeable, but the k2tog puts the purl stitch on top instead of the knit stitch on top, from the k1,p1 row below. Just aesthetically pleases me.

I did a mega pompom tutorial with myself before embarking on this incredibly dense and wonderful pompom that I ended up with. Anyone who has seen me make a pompom in the past, has laughed in derision. WELL, I am now an expert. I made 3 prototypes with acrylic and decided that the C cardboard technique makes the neatest pom pom. Of course it does, because it actually takes work to make the template. The other secret is to use a TON of yarn. You only get one chance, so do it right. I used about 25% of a ball of Kid Classic on this one.