Pom Pom Magazine to Cease Publication

The makers of Pom Pom magazine, known for its lovely production values and stylish but accessible patterns, have announced they will cease publication. The upcoming January edition, number 48, will be the last.

A letter from the founders posted on their website and on Instagram said the magazine was launched by the founders in 2012 with a £600 investment and has grown to include offices in the UK and the US and is stocked in more than 700 shops around the world.

They said in their statement:

Pom Pom was founded during a renaissance of printed magazines, when many believed print was dead. We knew that makers are tactile people, and our readership appreciated the beautiful paper and lithographic printing that has always been a hallmark of our publications. We have always sold more in print than digitally. The world has changed unimaginably since our foundation. The cost of paper and printing has more than doubled in recent years, as has the cost of shipping. Though we tried many, many ways of continuing to make Pom Pom work as a print publishing company, we cannot continue without compromising the values on which we were founded. It has been an incredibly difficult struggle but we can safely say we gave it our all.

The upcoming issue, they say, is “among the best issues we’ve ever produced” and the company is still incurring a lot of costs to be able to produce it. They ask for help from those for whom “Pom Pom has been a meaningful part of your crafting life over the past twelve years” to buy back issues and books to help offset the costs of production of the last issue and allow them to pay their staff and freelancers.

You can visit their online store here, were almost everything is 50 percent off. You can check out back issues on Ravelry if you want to find the designs you’re most likely to make more easily.

It’s a shame that the production values that have made it such an asset to knitters and crocheters are also what makes it impossible to continue as they have, and we wish all involved the best in their future projects.

[Photo: Pom Pom]

Next Pattern:

Not too long ago my daughter and I had a discussion about what a chestnut really looks like. The nut itself is small and brown, of course, but on the tree they’re covered with this weird kind of spiky, kind of fuzzy shell. It’s a wonder anyone ever figured out they were edible.

If you didn’t know that, you might wonder why this project is call Chestnut balaclava, but now you know.

This fun design from Yevheniia Pyroh is covered with spikes just like a chestnut shell, and is even the same color, though of course you can make yours whatever color you like. It uses two strands of fingering weight yarn held together (which it says is fingering weight but you could try a light/DK yarn and see if you get gauge with it if you’d rather).

There are two different design options in the pattern. One is a more fitted balaclava style hat (it doesn’t cover the face but does go around the neck) and a looser fit hood.

It’s worked primarily in garter stitch, with shaping done by knitting and purling in the same stitch and through various decreases (including a knit 3 together).

The pattern is charted but also explained in words. It’s worked flat to the size you want, and then joined into a hood shape with ribbing at the neck. The opening for the face is finished with I-cord.

This hood/balaclava would definitely be a conversation starter and in different colors it might read more dinosaur than chestnut, which could also be fun. The sizing is totally custom so you can make it fit whatever head you’re stitching for.

If you want to try it for yourself (and I’d love to hear about it if you do!) you can download the free pattern from Ravelry.

[Photo: Yevheniia Pyroh]

Balaclava Knitting Patterns

Colorwork Balaclava Knitting Pattern [Knitting]

Next Pattern:

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