April 25 is World Penguin Day, celebrate by making a cute pompom pet!

Firstly - How to make pompoms

Making pompoms is fun and very easy with a pompom maker.

Semicircular pompom maker

This type of pompom maker is fairly sturdy and consists of two pairs of semicircular arms that fold out of a central section.

1. Open up the pompom maker, making sure the pairs of arms are lined up with each other and begin winding the yarn round one pair of arms.

2. Wrap as much yarn as you can so that the arm is full. This will help to make a nice dense pompom. Cut the yarn and tuck the end into the wound yarn – you can do this with a crochet hook if you have one.

3. Fold the first arm back to the centre.

4. Repeat step 2 for the other arm, then cut the yarn and fold it back to the centre.

5. Using a small pair of sharp scissors, cut along each half of the maker in the gap between the arm pairs. Be sure to hold the arms down so the pompom maker doesn’t open up while you are cutting.

6. Check carefully that you have cut all the yarn strands.

7. Take a length of yarn and wrap it around the centre of the pompom maker. Tie it securely and make a double knot. Make sure you leave long yarn ends so you can use these to attach the pompom to another one.

8. Finally, open the arms and pull the two halves apart to release the pompom. Trim off any extra long bits of yarn to shape it for a perfectly round pompom, or leave it until you attach another pompom for whatever project you are making.

How to work with several colours - The layering method

1. Wind two layers of white yarn evenly around the first arm of the pompom maker all the way across.

2. Repeat with the blue yarn.

3. Now wind two layers of red yarn over the blue. You will find that the arm is now full. Repeat this sequence for the second arm.

4. When you cut the yarn, the white layers meet in the centre, the red layers meet on the ‘outside’ and the blue layers are thinner and don’t meet each other.

5. Tie and knot some yarn round the centre to secure the pompom, open the arms of the pompom maker ...

6. ... and release the pompom.

The finished pompom shows two wide segments of white and red yarn and four thinner segments of blue yarn.

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HOW TO MAKE A POMPOM PENGUIN

For the head

• Make a pompom using the 35mm pompom maker.
• Wind the top half of the first arm in black yarn across three layers.
• Wind three layers of white yarn over the bottom half of the arm. Leaving the top 5–8mm (¼in) free, wind four layers of white yarn over the rest.
• Finally, wind two layers of black yarn over the whole of the top half, including the top 5–8mm (¼in).
• Wind the second arm in black yarn only.
• Tie the centre and finish making the pompom.

For the body

• Make a pompom using the 45mm pompom maker and grey yarn.
• Tie the centre and finish making the pompom.
• Leave a long yarn tail.

Joining the head and body

• Attach the two pompoms to each other using the yarn tail.
• Draw the yarn tight to connect the two pompoms securely.
• Trim the Penguin to shape.

Tidying your penguin

• Using a felting needle, tidy up the yarn and separate the colours from each other for a neat appearance.

For the wings

• Wind some grey yarn around two fingers ten times, release and place it onto a felting mat, leaving a tail yarn.
• Stab it with a felting needle until the yarn knits together, matching it to the shape of the template (below).
• Repeat for the other wing.

Attaching the wings to the body

• Thread the tail end of yarn attached to one of the wings onto a needle and attach it to the side of the body.
• Take your needle in and out of the body pompom, going through the centre, to secure the wing and then fasten off.
• Repeat for the second wing.

For the beak

• Cut a piece of black felt to the shape of the template (see below).
• Using a fine sewing needle and some black cotton thread, attach the beak to the face by threading through the flat edge of the beak, sewing it into a downward curve, and fasten off securely.

Attaching the eye beads

• Thread a needle with some black cotton and bring it from the back of the head through to the eye position.
• Thread a bead onto the needle and take it back through the head from front to back.
• Repeat for the other eye.