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Dear Olive,
I went through a huge - HUGE - pom pom making phase when I was about 7.  Right in the middle of my pom pom frenzy, my brother landed himself in hospital from a dog attack, and I attempted my most ambitious pom pom yet. With a template cut from an oversize dinner plate, and requiring my neighbours help, it was destined to cheer him up. Because, hey, what he may have lost in an eyebrow, he was going to gain in a giant, multicoloured pom pom. But even though I spent hours winding and winding the wool around and around and around, it was found many years later, discarded and crumpled in the bottom of a toy box, with only one eighth of it completed. A pom pom of that size would have been a huge floppy disappointment no doubt, anyway. That hard lesson learnt all those many years ago has has not been forgotten: I'm going to keep these ones small. Pom poms, it seems, are back. And who wouldn't love them? They're cute, they're colourful, they're easy to make, and a fun word to say. Pom pom. Pom pom. The plan is that they'll adorn all my christmas gifts this year. Blatantly ripping off the wrapping on a gift I received recently from a friend (Hi Rach! Sorry Rach!), I'm thinking maybe keep it simple with plain brown paper? Or perhaps I should let you loose with some kind of home made christmas tree carved potato stamper and some ink. Either way it'll be hours of pom pom fun for all the kids and cats come christmas day.