How I Make Flower Pattern Sgraffito and Stamped Yarn Bowls

My previous yarn bowls have proved quite popular and I’ve had some enquiries about when I’ll be making more, so I set to work on a day I had all to myself.

I decided to try out some new ideas for yarn bowls, and thought I’d experiment more with flower themed decoration.

I really liked the Sgraffito work on this old plant pot I found at my great aunts house. I did a few sketches using it as inspiration. I haven’t really done any Sgraffito work before, but it can give a really nice finish. The lines have a much more precise quality than using brushes or wax to decorate.

After making the yarn bowl I brushed it with white slip, and let it dry for a few days. I then drew out my design in pencil.

To carve the lines I used the edge of a broken hack saw blade, I also use the end of a skewer sometimes for this job.

I then cut out the top section and centre with my knife to create an opening for the yarn to pass through. I’m going to bisque fire it with my other yarn bowls then add some clear glaze before glaze firing.

I’m pretty pleased with how they have turned out so far, hopefully there will be no mishaps during firing, and somebody will be an extra happy knitter soon.

I have made some other variations on the theme, some with the flower stamps that were used on previous yarn bowls. These other bowls will probably be given a coloured glaze, as I haven’t used any slip on them.

Knitting Bowls – Handmade Stoneware Pottery Yarn Bowls

I had never come across knitting bowls before I began making pottery. A few months ago a customer asked me to make them some of these knitting bowls – also known as yarn bowls. They are used to hold the yarn in one place while you knit, and have some kind of opening for the yarn to be fed through. Apparently it is bothersome to have balls of wool rolling all over whilst trying to knit a new pair of socks!

I decided to do a few other knitting bowls, my wife does crochet so I gave her one of my trials. It has quite a nice misty blue tint in the glaze around the top edge.

I make a couple of sizes now, as it seems you can knit with two balls of wool at the same time. In the picture below are two of my handmade knitting bowls. One is the smaller type for one ball of yarn, the larger bowl can hold two balls of yarn. As with all my pottery they were handmade on the wheel. I squeezed the bowls into a slight oval shape while they were still soft, and impressed a flower decoration into them. The slits for the yarn to come out if were then cut away from the still damp clay.

Custom made knitting bowls

I’m not planning to make any more knitting bowls for my next firing, I still have a couple available to buy on my shop currently. If you are interested in getting something special made to enhance your knitting experience get in touch. The only thing I don’t do is make special glaze for custom orders, so it would have to use my existing selection.