How to Make an Upcycled Yarn Bowl

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If you’re a knitter or crocheter, have you ever used a yarn bowl?  It’s a total game changer.  It keeps that ball of yarn from rolling all over the room and helps make sense of those balls that have lost every bit of their shape {please tell me I’m not the only one with a stash full of tangled yarn}.  You can buy some really beautiful wood and pottery yarn bowls but it’s also really easy to make an upcycled yarn bowl out of a thrifted wooden bowl, making it super cheap and affordable.

To make a yarn bowl, you’ll need to find an old wooden bowl. The wood doesn’t have to be thick but if it’s too thin, it may split when you try to drill through it.  I found this old bowl with strange notches in the top, maybe for chopsticks, and it worked perfectly.

Drill a hole in the side of the bowl.  Ultimately, you want that hole to be large enough to pull a thick piece of yarn through, but start with a tiny hole first, then drill it again with a larger drill bit, then again with another even larger drill bit, and continue until the hole is large enough.

I’m sure there’s a simpler way to do this, with a better tool, but this worked and it’s simple.  And most people have basic drill bits in their stash.

Sand well around the hole and inside the hole as well so that yarn doesn’t catch as it’s pulling through.  My hole was a little uneven {or whimsical, as I like to call the imperfections} and if yours is too, just sand it as much as you can to even it out.  The easiest way to sand inside the hole is to tightly wrap a piece of sandpaper around a pencil and slide it in and out of the hole.

Once you’ve finished sanding, the bowl is ready to paint.  It also can be left as is but I always like to add a bit of color.

I used Jolie Matte Finish Paint but decided to mix two colors that I had to get more of a denim style blue.  I didn’t use any exact measurements, just added a dollop of classic navy to about half a cup of palace white and stirred it well.

I used painter’s tape to tape the top part of the bowl and painted around the bottom.

Once it was dry, the yarn bowl was ready to use.  Yarn slides easily through the hole and makes knitting and crocheting so much simpler.

Have you used a yarn bowl before?

For another knitting related post, be sure to check out these DIY jumbo knitting needles you can use to make bulky knit blankets!