My daughter crochets a lot and is asking for a yarn bowl for Christmas, but I’m not sure what to look for so need a bit of advice please!
The balls of wall she uses tend to be the long oval shaped type rather than round ball shaped (sorry, I’m not a knitter, don’t know the proper terms!) - do they work OK in a yarn bowl? A lot of the images I’ve seen of bowls show round balls of wool in them…
Some I’ve seen have a hole for the yarn, and others have a kind of curved slot that ends in a hole - is one better than the other?
I’m guessing it needs to be made of something smooth so the wool doesn’t snag - wood, ceramic, smooth plastic sort of thing? I’ve seen some that are made of wicker which make me think the wool would just keep catching to my mind…
And what size should I be looking at (sometimes she uses tiny balls, other times they’re full size)?!
I have no idea about yarn bowls as I’ve never used one, but I had a feeling they only worked with round balls or cakes of wool and this blog seems to bear that out:
So she would need to re-wind her skein of yarn into a ball first I think?
Yarn bowls are good and have a slot in the side for the yarn to come through and the ball of yarn stays in the bowl
( hopefully) However, if she buys yarn in the UK …and I assume that she does, she might prefer a yarn spinner…this is one that I copied from the internet…any shape ball can fit on the spike and it spins round as you crochet.
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I looked online for you and they sell them on amazon called yarn ball holders and I am sure you would be able to see a demo on youtube but i DON’t think links are allowed on here…x
I looked on you tube and typed in Yarn Holders and there are a few demos on there…one of those would be much better than a ball of yarn in a bowl…saves rewinding yarn and stops it from rolling all over the floor…any size or shaped ball works…in a bowl, there is the danger of the ball jumping out …have fun xx
Show your daughter the photos and videos…x
I knit and crochet and have the most beautiful hand turned wood yarn bowl that I tend not to use very much I mostly knit / crochet straight out of my project bag (which I make myself and add yarn guides to, which I also tend to ignore most of the time - LOL). The reason that I don’t use the yarn bowl is that when you get near the end of your ball of yarn, it keeps coming out of the slippery bowl and goes under furniture, which is very annoying. In the project bag, it stays nice and clean until it’s all gone. You can also get yarn bowls made with fabric that keep it in check.
To my great chagrin, I’ve never seen one of those holders that Brenda shared and they look brilliant! After now Googling it, I find that there are also tons of handmade ones available out there although I didn’t find one on Folksy… The very talented Les at Testwood Crafts (sorry, not sure why it won’t let me link there in the usual way: https://folksy.com/shops/testwoodwoodcrafs) would probably be delighted to make you one though
I think it is because Folksy don’t allow outside links…but they did allow the one you gave because it is FOLKSY…
Everyone I know that has a yarn holder, says that it is a game changer…
I don’t have one at the moment, as I rewind all my yarn but it takes ages, so it is something I am seriously considering buying for myself xx
I tempted myself and have bought one from Amazon…
I read all the reviews and chose the wool Jeanie for £12.99 as it had the best reviews that I could find…watch this space…lol…
Ooh I’d love to know how you get on with it Brenda - you can be my lovely guinea pig! I must admit, I’m leaning towards the yarn holder… I’ll have some subtle “oh look at this I’ve just seen” type conversations with my daughter so I don’t give the game away for Christmas Let me know how it goes when it arrives though (and sorry for tempting you to spend money today!!)
Interesting you say that Debbie, I can easily picture it slipping out of the bowl - she usually crochet’s sitting on her bed or at her desk, and a lot of the time she uses quite small balls, so I’m thinking a bowl may not be right for her at all
ha ha Sarah @PhotoFairytales …I have read a lot of reviews about them and all of them say that they are brilliant…see if you can find a demo on you tube then you can discreetly show your daughter.
I spend a lot of time rewinding wool and another benefit of this gadget is that if you rewind your yarn into “cakes” there is a limit to the size of it and so that involves extra joins or knots , somewhere in your work…but with the yarn Jeanie you can work with the whole ball and avoid unecessary joins…
It is due for delivery by next Tuesday, but I will report back as soon as it arrives
watch this space x
I have a handmade wooden spinner that I bought from a local wood turner (similar to @teabreaks but not as fancy) … i only used it once as I tend to sit on a bed and the right hand side is against a wall so it was no use to me but if sat in a chair it would definitely keep the wool in place.
I have seen yarn bowls for sale on Folksy, usually pottery ones, will have a look.
I have never used a yarn bowl although I find some very pretty. So far I’ve been using other cute containers I have. The curved slot is definitely useful so you can easily remove the yarn. Today I saw a ceramic one in the window of a shop…it had two holes with the tips of the needles partly through them. These are for resting the needles when you stop your work.
I mostly knit / crochet straight out of my project bag (which I make myself and add yarn guides to, which I also tend to ignore most of the time - LOL). The reason that I don’t use the yarn bowl is that when you get near the end of your ball of yarn, it keeps coming out of the slippery bowl and goes under furniture, which is very annoying. In the project bag, it stays nice and clean until it’s all gone. You can also get yarn bowls made with fabric that keep it in check.
Let me know how it goes when it arrives though (and sorry for tempting you to spend money today!!)
