Today we’re so excited to be kicking off a fun new project we’ve put together with our friends over at Purl Soho – a series of 12 different DIY pom poms, each one inspired by an endangered animal. The first animal we’ll be crafting is the polar bear. Keep reading to see the full step-by-step tutorial below and stay tuned over the next few months to learn how to make each of the animals pictured below!

• Pom Pom Maker Set (small + large)
• Pocket Posey in Heirloom White
• Wool felt (black, baby pink, & white)
• Embroidery floss (blanco)
• Scissors
• Tacky glue
• Printable polar bear tag

Step 1
Begin by winding your skein of Pocket Posey into a ball. If you’ve never done this before, take a look at Purl Soho’s tutorial on how best to do this – it’s super easy! Once you have a ball of yarn, wrap it around the large pink pom pom maker that comes in the set. For a nice, dense pom pom, you’ll want to do at least 300 rotations around the maker. For our pom pom, we used the whole ball to make it as fluffy as possible.

Step 2
Once you’ve wrapped all your yarn, cut an 18″ piece of embroidery thread. Thread one end through the U-shaped gap between the wrapped yarn and the pom pom maker. Bring that same end up and over the wrapped yarn and then back through that same U-shaped gap again. Bring the two end of the embroidery floss together and make sure that the horizontal threads are nice and centered on the yarn wrap. Tie a surgeon’s knot but wrap the end through the loop twice. Pull the knot together but don’t pull tight yet.

Step 3
Gently slide the yarn wrap off the end of the pom pom maker. Pull the embroidery floss knot as tightly as you can. Use a finger to hold the surgeon’s knot tight in place and then tie a half granny knot on top to secure. Bring both ends of the floss to the other side of the wrap (make sure to do this so that you don’t catch any loops of yarn along the sides) and then tie another tight surgeon’s knot, followed by another granny knot to secure. Make sure that these knots feel secure and very tight – a loose center may cause your pom pom to fall apart later.

Step 4
Use sharp scissors to cut all the yarn loops. You’ll now have a slightly shaggy looking pom pom like this.

Step 5
Use your matching large pom pom guide to trim the excess yarn, forming a nice round pom pom. As you trim, fluff up the pom pom and reposition the guide on different sizes to make sure you have a good sphere shape from all sides.

Step 6
Your trimmed pom should look something like this!

Step 7
If you like, use the scissors to trim two small concave spots in the pom pom – this is where the polar bear’s eyes will be.

Step 8
Time to add some more facial details! Cut two little ears from white felt, with slightly smaller pink pieces to go on top of each. Cut black felt into an oblong nose and two round eyes. Place around with the placement of the features until you’re happy with it.

Step 9
Glue the felt features onto the pom and set aside to dry completely. When gluing the ears on, slightly separated some of the yarn so that you can insert the glued end of the ear into the pom pom – this will help the ears stand up nicely and hide any glue inside the pom pom.

Don’t forget to print out the tag too – it includes a few facts about polar bears and has a spot for you to name your polar pom pom too! Learn more about polar bears and how you can help right here.

Happy crafting!