Whoever tamed yarn’s tendency to roll everywhere is a genius! End your frustrations with balls of yarn. Keep it in one spot by using a yarn bowl.
Knitters relax and knit away when their yarn ball stays in place. Plus, a yarn bowl is super stylish!
My Quick Recommendations
Here are some functional, beautiful (sometimes outrageous) Yarn Bowls. Depending on your preferences, they’re ordered by material.
Table Of Contents
- Wooden Yarn Bowl
- Ceramic Yarn Bowl
- Plastic Yarn Bowl
- Metal Yarn Bowl
- What Is A Yarn Bowl?
- Why You Should Use One
- How To Choose A Yarn Bowl
Wood
Furls Yarn Bowls
Fits a 5oz/100g ball of yarn. Lifetime warranty. A knitter or crocheter would love this! There two options for this good size yarn bowl, medium and large.
- Dimensions: 6″ wide, 6″ high
Is there a best place to order yarn? Discover for yourself.
Two-Tone Rosewood MangoWood Yarn Bowls
A two-toned tapered rosewood bowl. The mango wood texture is a pleasing contrast with the other tone. Store other things in it too, not only yarn balls!
A gorgeous addition to any yarn bowl collection.
(If you’re buying the yarn bowl as gifts and unsure, get them gift cards.)
- Dimensions: 5″ wide, 3.5″ high
Looking for gift ideas for a knitter. Read my gifts for knitters etsy guide.
Classic Rosewood Hagestad Yarn Bowls
The surface is smooth with a high-gloss finish. A curled slot captures the yarn as you knit, allowing it to feed through, preventing tangles.
Has a velvet travel pouch. It has high customer ratings, and it’s a better alternative to Nagina International.
- Dimensions: 7″ wide, 4″ high
Knit Picks Black Mango Yarn Bowls
This unique yarn bowl has a spiral cutout with three holes. Stores your needles or crochet hooks. Made of mango wood, it has a striking appearance.
Perfect for your chosen craft hobby and the kinds of projects you do.
- Dimensions: 6″ wide, 4″ high
Craftamma Indian Wood Yarn Bowl
This handcrafted Indian Wood Yarn Bowl has a glossy finish. It’s sturdy and durable. Nothing to do but pop your yarn in this beauty, let it keep the yarn in place, and start knitting.
- Dimensions: 6″ wide, 3.5″ high
Carbonized Bamboo Yarn Bowls
A beautiful bowl with a lid for added prevention of yarn slipping out. Made of a sustainable resource with a smooth finish.
- Dimensions: 5.5″ diameter x 3.5” heigh
Ceramic
Banshee Fiber Art
Copper and Gold with streaks of Pearl make up this fun and gleaming bowl. The interior and top rim are painted a solid glossy black.
When not in use, it would make a lovely decoration for your living room.
- Dimensions: 3″ high – 5.5″ at its widest
Wildflower Yarn Bowl
Hand turned and glazed with beautiful flowers. Fired in the kiln so the pain doesn’t come off.
Each of these yarn bowls is handcrafted, so each is unique. Great for Fair Isle knitting, as you can thread multiple strands through the holes.
Yarn bowls stay secure and making knitting a breeze.
- Dimensions: 3″ high – 5.5″ at its widest
The Art of Lucky Stradley Sculpted Yarn Bowl Face
Need a laugh? Try this yarn bowl with faces! A wheel-thrown, hand-altered and sculpted bowl. Perfect for holding a ball of yarn. The large range handles big bulky balls. Such unique designs.
An interesting part of the face for the yarn to come from! 🙂
Of course, I had to include these. They’re lots of fun. They’d be sure to bring a smile to your face. Check out all the options and explore the collection.
- Dimensions: 6″ diameter, 3.5″ high
Cat Yarn Bowl by Misunrie
A gorgeous cat stoneware clay bowl. Kids would love this. Lead-free, food-safe-glaze used. Knit your socks, mittens, and other projects with ease!
- Dimensions: 6″ wide, 3 3/4″ tall without ear, 4″ tall with ear
Leslie Nieto The Mudplace Personalised Yarn Bowl
A custom bowl, perfect for those who enjoy knitting. Available in several different colors and text for personalization. A great gift idea!
- Dimensions: 6.25″ wide, 3.5″ high
Emerald Green Ceramic Yarn Bowl
Featuring a beautiful leaves design. Odorless and clean. Product availability varies as it’s made to order.
An alternative to your knitting bag or yarn bag organizer to store yarn.
- Dimensions: 5.5″ wide, 3.75″ high
Plastic
Yarn Valet
The Yarn Valet is an unbreakable, lightweight ABS plastic. A rubber, non-slip base keeps the bowl from slipping. Your yarn flows through the scalloped yarn guide made of ABS plastic.
(Ships to the United Kingdom, United States, and others.)
- Dimensions: 6″ wide, 3″ high
Metal
Furls Metal Yarn Bowl
Handcast and hand-polished with beautiful anodized metal. These smooth aluminum bowls have three choices.
- Polished Aluminum
- Rainbow Anodized
- Hammered Gold
- Dimensions: 6″ in diameter and 3″ tall.
What Is A Yarn Bowl?
The design of most yarn bowls is similar. They’re sometimes referred to as a yarn holder bowl.
Most yarn bowls have a bowl shape with a swirled section cut out on one side. You thread the string of yarn through there.
When you pull the yarn ball, it acts as a guide and feeds the length of the yarn without snagging.
The weight of the yarn bowl allows the ball of yarn to roll around inside without getting tangled. The high sides keep it in place. A perfect yarn holder. No need to keep the yarn ball in your lap.
They often have circular cutouts for
- Storing straight needles
- Using more than one yarn in your colorwork project.
How Big Should A Yarn Bowl Be?
Take measurements of your wound ball’s width and height. You need a bowl fitting those specifications. If you use bulky yarn, go bigger.
What Is The Point Of A Yarn Bowl?
- To keep your sanity! Your knitting experience is meant to be pleasurable. Chasing yarn under tables, chairs, and your sofa isn’t fun. Nor is knotted, tangled yarn. Strings form knots almost instantly. (1) Prevent tangling with one of these.
- Yarn bowls keep your yarn clean, preventing it from collecting fluff or dust. (Knitting is more important than housework!)
- They’re not easy for a cat, dog or other pets to move around. There are many cute pictures of cats playing with yarn. Sure they’re adorable, as long as it’s NOT YOUR YARN!
- Keeps the yarn out of reach from curious children
- Move your yarn bowl wherever you feel like knitting. Glorious sunny day outside? Take it outdoors and know the yarn isn’t going to get all dirty.
- Their whole purpose of yarn bowls is to be a yarn holder and look beautiful on your coffee table. More attractive than a yarn bag.
- They’re good for other crafts
- Makes an excellent decor piece in your house (Something to show off when you have company over 🙂)
Are Yarn Bowls Any Good?
Sure! Their high quality, durability, and beauty make them a great choice. They make a real difference to your knitting life.
What Can I Use Instead Of A Yarn Bowl?
There are other ways to keep skiens tangle-free! Listed are a few options to choose from.
- Tote bag
- A teapot
- A Colander
- Plant pot (with drainage holes)
- Ziplock bags
- Woven basket
- Water jug
Why Are There Holes?
There are holes in yarn bowls for the following reasons:
- Rest your knitting needles when not in use.
- If working with multiple yarns, thread each yarn through a hole. Great for stranded knitting, Intarsia, or Fair Isle patterns. (Remember, you’ll need to cut the working yarn threaded through a hole so you remove it from the top.)
- The holes prevent you from yanking the yarn out of the yarn bowl when it gets smaller.
How To Choose a Yarn Bowl – Factors To Consider
- The pottery (wood, plastic, or metal) needs to be smooth where the yarn comes out. Even the smallest rough edge catches and frays the yarn. You don’t want your knitting project falling apart!
- Yarn bowls need a wide, flat base, so it won’t tip over when a dense ball of yarn is rolling around.
- A wooden knitting bowl of lightweight wood is great when traveling.
- It needs an opening where the yarn slips through from the top. Otherwise, it’s more challenging to take the yarn out of the yarn bowl.
- High walls are best, or the ball spins right out!
- Another consideration is a yarn bowl with two slots if you are an avid color-work knitter. Two different colored yarns remain untangled
- If you knit with a large unwound skein, an oblong yarn bowl is good.
Where To Buy Yarn Bowls?
You can buy yarn bowls online.
Such incredible inventions. They making knitting not a bit, but much easier and enjoyable, with less mess! Worth the investment. That’s a fact. 🙂
Do you use a yarn bowl? Any recommendations? Tell me in the comments!
References
- Jawed, M. K., P. Dieleman, B. Audoly, and P. M. Reis. “Untangling the Mechanics and Topology in the Frictional Response of Long Overhand Elastic Knots.” Physical Review Letters 115, no. 11 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.115.118302.
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There are so many great ones to choose from. I love the cat yarn bowls 🙂
Hope you find one that suits you Cameron 🙂
Ooooh!! I have a friend who would adore the funny faces sculptured yarn bowl! What a fabulous find. Thank you.
Those Yarn bowls with faces are so unique! Glad my post has helped you find something for your friend. Let me know what she thought of your gift. Cheers Jodie 🙂
Gone are those days for me chasing my yarn around. I love my wooden yarn bowl. 🙂
Great to hear Amanda! Thanks for sharing 🙂
My daughter has been knitting for about 2 years now. I had no idea there were such things as “knitting bowls”. I’d like to surprise her with one for Christmas. I’m wondering if the rectangular wooden box would be a good idea as it looks to be versatile for a beginning knitter. Any suggestions?
I found the information here very useful. Thank you!
Hi Judith. That’s wonderful that your daughter is knitting. Glad my post has helped you know more about Yarn Bowls. The rectangular box that features a knitting needle gauge would make a lovely gift. As you say it is versatile and many customers have given it rave reviews. https://knitlikegranny.com/recommends/wooden-yarn-box-yarn-bowl/ Cheers Jodie
Ok, so I checked out your site for ideas/recommendations for my first yarn bowl. (I’m a half step above newbie in the knitting world.)
Only now I seriously want to start a knitting bowl collection!
These are adorable!
I think I will start with rosewood and work my way through them.
Thank you for such great advice!
Hi Betsy. Welcome to our wonderful knitting community and for your kind words. I hope you find lots of fabulous projects to try and I’m so please you’ve enjoyed finding out about Yarn Bowls. Sounds like a plan working your way through your favorites. Cheers Jodie
What a beautiful chunky yarn in the header pic. What brand/color is it?
Hi Krissy. I will have to check. Cheers Jodie