Pom Pom Quarterly : The Review

I was pottering about Angel the other day and popped into Loop, one of London’s loveliest yarn shops. Instead of emerging with yet more skeins of delight to add to my ever-increasing stash, I found this rather charming publication:

This is a new, indie mag that Lydia Gluck and Meghan Fernandes have put together. Knitting, thinking, embroidering, drinking is the byline and I like that. Pom Pom contains 5 patterns ranging from the charmingly do-able Skipworth Mitts to the ambitious lacework of the Wick Lane Shawl.

What makes these pieces more (dare I say it?) youthful and (yes, I will deploy the word) hip are the colour choices and the use of boutique yarn producers and dyers. In any other publication the selection of a mustard hue – Uncommon Thread’s Brassica - for a piece of knitwear would suggest a surfeit of flammable 1970s acrylic. Here, it’s bright and edgy.

Into the mix are a couple of small articles that enable the reader to answer more obscure questions from a pub quiz. The linguistic forensics of the verb “to knit” are revelatory and slightly toe-curling, for instance its 17^th-century deployment when referring to the gelding of farm animals.

* shudder *

My one quibble is the price. £9.50 for Issue 1. Eek! When one is faced with purchasing Pom Pom for its 5 patterns versus Rowan’s knitting magazine – a gazillion patterns – for £12 ish… well, it’s not a fair comparison between the behemoth yarn corporation and the intrepid indie entrepreneurs, I know, but I fear Rowan may win in these difficult economic times.

However as Pom Pom attracts more supporters, hopefully sponsorship shall soon follow thus bringing down the cover price or allowing for a couple of extra patterns. I also look forward to future editions providing more entertaining crewel in a similar vein to Steve the Marvelous Embroidered Insect and (as ever) a spot of crochet .

For now though, the scrumptious cocktail recipe for a rhubarb and vanilla Bellini on p. 18 - courtesy of Rebecca Litchfield from No. 98 preserves - proved a swift distraction from the cover cost. 

I heartily recommend a glass or three of this liquid ambrosia after an intensive session of the Wick Lane’s nupps and eyelets.

Pompommag.com