Yarn Bowl

[David DeCristoforo]

I've seen lots of these but I've never made one. My daughter wanted one so I thought I'd give it a shot. Also made her a pair of #7 needles out of rosewood and maple. Nothing to write home about but a nice diversion from the telescope project.

yarn-bowl.jpg

[John Hart]

Nicely done.
I've started making these too. It really is relaxing

[Steve Eure]

Nice job. I made several for Christmas gifts to family who knit, crochet, etc. They loved them. My only issue was cutting the j groove in the side. I used a dremel with a wood bit. It went well even though my shaky hand gave me fits.
I know your daughter will cherish it.
Steve

[John K Jordan]

I've seen lots of these but I've never made one. My daughter wanted one so I thought I'd give it a shot. Also made her a pair of #7 needles out of rosewood and maple. Nothing to write home about but a nice diversion from the telescope project.

yarn-bowl.jpg

Very nice! I'm making one now for my Lovely Bride who has taken up crocheting. For those who like to sell things, these may be good. I've seen them for $80-100. A yarn/knitting shop is a good place to sell them.

Does your daughter spin as well? I raise llamas and alpacas and with annual shearing I have a huge stash of fiber now. A few years ago I bought a drum carder and a couple of spinning wheels and learned to make yarn. Then I learned to knit (not good at it yet). Since I have kids here often at the farm I want to be able to show them: "Here's the alpaca, here's the fleece, here is the yarn, and this is the hat!"

Another good thing for woodturners to make and give or sell are hand spindles for making yarn. I've made several drip spindles for gifts and a supported spindle. I've had people want to buy them so these may also be a good item to sell. Fiber people also need others things that can be easily made on the lathe and in the shop.

JKJ

[Alex Zeller]

The wife asked for a larger yarn bowl. The one I made her is about 6" in diameter and lately she's been using larger balls of yarn. These two are sugar maple blanks with the larger one being about 11". I'm hoping they dry ok. The tree was cut 3 or 4 months ago and sitting in a snow bank so it was soaking wet. I left the base a little on the thick side to give it some weight. So far so good. I wish I had a steady hand to cut the slot. The few I've made I just used a coping saw and finished it up with a small bit in the dremel and hand sanding.
yarn bowls.jpg
She thinking of doing a craft show in the fall and said she wants a few bowls to see if they will sell. I suppose I'll have to do something as we are starting to get quite the collection of bowls, cake stands, and cheese and cracker serving platters.

A local lady we buy christmas trees from has Llamas and one Elpaca. The Elpaca looks like a baby Llama. They are older and are thinking about getting out of it. I don't know how much she makes off of it but in the summer the local ski area offers "Llama walks". The kids seam to love it. They each get a Llama to walk for a mile and a half with their lunch strapped to the Llamas. I tried talking the wife into starting up a farm here but she's not going outside in the cold to take care of them. I didn't realize they love eating christmas tree branches.

[John K Jordan]

...A local lady we buy christmas trees from has Llamas and one Elpaca. The Elpaca looks like a baby Llama. They are older and are thinking about getting out of it. I don't know how much she makes off of it but in the summer the local ski area offers "Llama walks". The kids seam to love it. They each get a Llama to walk for a mile and a half with their lunch strapped to the Llamas. I tried talking the wife into starting up a farm here but she's not going outside in the cold to take care of them. I didn't realize they love eating christmas tree branches.

Alpacas and llamas can eat brush and bark and such since they have stomachs like goats and deer.

In case you are interested, here are some differences between llamas and alpacas:

Alpacas are generally smaller than llamas but not always.
Llama ears are tipped over on the ends, often called "banana" ears.
Alpaca ears are more like "spears"
Alpaca ears are generally fuzzier.
Alpacas have fuzz on top of their heads; llamas usually don't.
Alpaca coats are generally finer and very soft; the fibers have "crimp" making them good for spinning. A girl petting a young alpaca said "it's like a cloud!"
Llama coats generally have more straight hairs, often not as soft, no crimp; sometimes mixed with alpaca or sheep for spinning.

Most alpacas have coats of one color.
Llamas can be wildly colored with patches of brown, black, white, tuxedos, spots. The colors and patterns generally don't pass from parent to young. One born here has unusual white leg coloring - mother is all black.

baby_llama_IMG_20170608_185924_137.jpg

Llama ears
llama_ears.jpg

Alpaca ears, left and right
llama_ears_alpaca.jpg

Another difference is harder to see - llamas are generally more intelligent, inquisitive, and "personable". Some people compare alpacas to sheep. Llamas are often used as pack animals. The Leconte Lodge high on top a peak in the Smoky Mountains uses a train of pack llamas to carry all the supplies up and down the mountain. A one-way trip takes them about 4 hours - there is no road.

JKJ

[David DeCristoforo]

Alpacas and llamas can eat brush and bark and such since they have stomachs like goats and deer.

In case you are interested, here are some differences between llamas and alpacas:

Alpacas are generally smaller than llamas but not always.
Llama ears are tipped over on the ends, often called "banana" ears.
Alpaca ears are more like "spears"
Alpaca ears are generally fuzzier.
Alpacas have fuzz on top of their heads; llamas usually don't.
Alpaca coats are generally finer and very soft; the fibers have "crimp" making them good for spinning. A girl petting a young alpaca said "it's like a cloud!"
Llama coats generally have more straight hairs, often not as soft, no crimp; sometimes mixed with alpaca or sheep for spinning.

Most alpacas have coats of one color.
Llamas can be wildly colored with patches of brown, black, white, tuxedos, spots. The colors and patterns generally don't pass from parent to young. One born here has unusual white leg coloring - mother is all black.

baby_llama_IMG_20170608_185924_137.jpg

Llama ears
llama_ears.jpg

Alpaca ears, left and right
llama_ears_alpaca.jpg

Another difference is harder to see - llamas are generally more intelligent, inquisitive, and "personable". Some people compare alpacas to sheep. Llamas are often used as pack animals. The Leconte Lodge high on top a peak in the Smoky Mountains uses a train of pack llamas to carry all the supplies up and down the mountain. A one-way trip takes them about 4 hours - there is no road.

JKJ

That’s a good yarn? 😂

[Alex Zeller]

One of the interesting things the woman said about her Llamas was they were friendly and sociable but if you didn't have time for them they would be just go do their thing.

[Tim Hoyt]

I have made couple of the yarn bowls. both are what I consider prototypes. The first one was maybe 12'' dia and had 3 slots for 3 balls of yarn to be used at more or less the same time. I bought a bunch of french curves and spent a lot of time laying out the curved slots. Long story short, it looked like crap. Gave it to a knitter who told me the thing was way to big and 3 slots was kinda dumb.
Next bowl was maybe 6'' dia and one slot. I cut the slot with no layout marks whatsoever using a coping saw. Cleaned up everything with a dremel tool. Gave bowl to another knitter. She likes it and uses it a lot and I think it looks good. Moral of story- don't overthink things. Keep it simple.

[John K Jordan]

I have made couple of the yarn bowls. both are what I consider prototypes. The first one was maybe 12'' dia and had 3 slots for 3 balls of yarn ...a knitterc... told me the thing was way to big and 3 slots was kinda dumb.

There are types of knitting that use two balls of yarn at the same time and I know someone who wanted a dual bowl, or probably better, a second bowl.

One thing might be important from taking to knitters - make the bowl heavy enough to be stable as the yarn is pulled. Maybe even add non-skid feet/base.

I need to finish my bowl soon - my Lovely Bride has taken recently up some weird type of crocheting.

JKJ

[Alex Zeller]

My wife's making an American flag out of blanket yarn. The balls of yarn must be able a foot in diameter. Other stuff she does the small 6" bowl is more than enough. My plan was for her to have two sizes and get a feel for which one she uses more often. If the big one turns out to be a "rare" occasion use type of bowl then smaller then I would make a few of the smaller ones. If the larger one works out then I figure I would give her one to try and sell if she does do a craft show. I figure she can put a large ball of blanket yarn in it to give buyers a better idea. However I think that a large bowl might be priced too high for most women.

[Hayes Rutherford]

David, this is a nice set. I asked about the slot configuration on a fiber website and in out of approximately 50 replies, only about 5 used the slot. Doesn't matter, many do use the slot and for marketing and as makers, we put the slot in.

I tried cutting the slots with a coping saw, a roto zip, Bosch jig saw, then settled on a plunge router with a brass bushing, 1/8" bit, and a plastic template. It takes longer for the glue gun to heat up than cut the slot.

[Mark Greenbaum]

David, this is a nice set. I asked about the slot configuration on a fiber website and in out of approximately 50 replies, only about 5 used the slot. Doesn't matter, many do use the slot and for marketing and as makers, we put the slot in.

I tried cutting the slots with a coping saw, a roto zip, Bosch jig saw, then settled on a plunge router with a brass bushing, 1/8" bit, and a plastic template. It takes longer for the glue gun to heat up than cut the slot.

Thanks for this tip - I have cut after drilling holes, the coping sawed the curve, and spent 3 hours trying to smooth it out.
0923181131_Burst01[1].jpg

[Mark Greenbaum]

David, this is a nice set. I asked about the slot configuration on a fiber website and in out of approximately 50 replies, only about 5 used the slot. Doesn't matter, many do use the slot and for marketing and as makers, we put the slot in.

I tried cutting the slots with a coping saw, a roto zip, Bosch jig saw, then settled on a plunge router with a brass bushing, 1/8" bit, and a plastic template. It takes longer for the glue gun to heat up than cut the slot.

Thanks for this tip - I have cut after drilling holes, the coping sawed the curve, and spent 3 hours trying to smooth it out. Really rough in comparison.
0923181131_Burst01[1].jpg

[Clint Bach]

I drilled the hole at the end of the slot then used the saw on my Swiss Army knife to cut the slot. I then used a round file to true up the slot. A little sandpaper to smooth things. It only took about fifteen minutes to cut the slot not counting drilling the hole and the sanding. Easy...

Clint