Now for the terrifying part. Take your sharpest scissors and slide them between the two cardboard pieces. Start cutting the yarn around the outer edge of the circle. Don’t pull the cardboard apart yet!
Make a pompom for a hat - jorddepot
This step feels like cutting the hair of a sleeping toddler. One wrong snip, and everything unravels. Just go slow, like you’re defusing a bomb made of fluff. Stay calm. You are the master of this chaos.
Once you’ve snipped all the way around, the pompom will look like a weird, fuzzy mushroom. It’s hideous. Do not panic. This is normal. The magic hasn’t happened yet.
The Crucial Cinching
Now, slide a long piece of yarn between the two cardboard pieces. Wrap it tightly around the center of the cut strands, pull it with all your might, and tie a double knot. This is the spine, the backbone, the very soul of your pompom. If this knot is loose, your pompom will flee the hat the first time you put it on.
Tear the cardboard away. It’s done its job. Now you’re holding a sad, shaggy, caged beast. It looks like a bird fell into a mud puddle and then gave up.
Do not throw it away yet. You are about to become a barber.
