Howdy, knitting friends! I’m so glad you’re back. Or, if this is your first time checking out the Knitting Daddy blog, I’m glad you stopped by. I’m going to talk about yarn bowls today, but before we get into that, let’s take a look at what’s been going on in my knitting world the past week.

This Week In Podcasts

Lots of podcasts this week! I listened to The Lost Geek, Fiber Hooligan, Knit 1 Geek 2 (2 episodes!), Never Not Knitting, and Knitting Pipeline. In addition to staying current on my podcasts, I managed to listen to a few more episodes of CraftLit. I only have 1 episode left to listen to in order to finish The Age Of Innocence, and I think I’ll probably listen to that episode on my way to work, instead of listening to an audio newspaper.

The Lost Geek is a new-to-me podcast. Episode 24 — Staying Dry included tips for resisting the temptation to unnecessarily buy new yarn and patterns. Good advice. There was also a good discussion on the Ravellenics. I’m really starting to understand how that is all going to work out — good thing, too, since it starts Friday. The Fiber Hooligan episode was an interview with JC Briar, creator of stitch-maps.com. It was really cool hearing about her background in computer science, especially since that’s what my background is. As Benjamin often says, no one comes into the fiber industry directly. It’s always interesting to hear about how people get into the business. It was also nice to get a little shout-out in the State Of The Hooligan segment, when Tammy mentioned a link I shared about Agnes, the knitting robot. The first of two episodes of Knit 1, Geek 2 I listened to was a discussion about the first Sherlock episode of the current season. Episode 85: Agents Of Pheels was full of all around geeky goodness, including a note that Leonard Nimoy wants to be your honorary grandfather. It also included some discussion of yarn bowls — particular geeky ones — which is part of what prompted me to devote this edition of Knitting Daddy to yarn bowls. One of my favorite parts of Never Not Knitting is the listener-submitted stories. Episode 78 included a great story about lessons learned from knitting. In Knitting Pipeline Episode 159, Paula announced that the Knitting Pipeline retreat is all booked up, no more spaces. If I start planning now, perhaps I can go to the retreat next year. Paula also had a nice discussion about cowls.

This Week In Ravelry

It’s been another mostly quiet week for me in Ravelry. There is a lot of activity in the forums, and I mostly keep up. One thing of note is that I received my Valentine’s Day gift from the IBK swap. It’s a super-cute blue monster with a heart. Blueberry has already adopted him and showers him with hugs.

This Week On My Needles

This entire week on my needles has been devoted to my dad’s second sock. I’m currently in the middle of turning the heel, so I should be in the home stretch soon.

This is the second sock I asked if I really had to knit. I ended up not immediately finding another skein of the Lake Washington Marathon Sock: Seattle yarn, but I found another colorway (Seward) on eBay. Dad said he’s fine with a mismatched pair, even after someone offered me a skein of the Lake Washington colorway. So that’s what I’m going with. This second sock is knitting up so much quicker than the first one did. I’m really excited about it.

Yarn Bowls

Ever since I heard of yarn bowls, I wanted one. Yarn bowls are functional. Yarn bowls are artistic. They’re like knitting, really. A good, hand-made yarn bowl is a thing of beauty.

So what, exactly, is a yarn bowl? Quite simply, it’s a bowl in which to put your yarn while you’re knitting. It’s not just for storage, it solves a problem that knitters have — the wild ball of yarn rolling and bouncing around the room while we knit. The distinctive hallmark of a yarn bowl is a cutout on the side of the bowl.

This cutout is used as a guide for your working yarn. You string your working yarn through the cutout, and pull, pull, pull, to your heart’s content, not worrying that the ball your yarn is attached to will run wild throughout the room. Instead of rolling everywhere, your yarn ball rolls in place in the bowl.

I love my yarn bowl. I just got it a few weeks ago and have been using it constantly. For Christmas, my wife gave me a gift certificate to Bridges Pottery for a yarn bowl. It was a wonderful gift: she did all the work finding a great artisan to buy the pottery from, and I got to pick out the colors I wanted. Once I picked out my colors, the artist created my yarn bowl and shipped it to me. I was surprised — and thrilled — with how quickly I received it. It really is a wonderful work of art.

Before I had a yarn bowl, my solution for keeping my yarn balls tame was to keep them in a ziplock bag. I would cut the corner off a bag to thread the yarn through, and the ball was free to roll around n the bag. It’s a very economical alternative, but stepping up to a genuine yarn bowl really makes a difference in the attitude while knitting. I already think I want to get more than one….

Earlier, I mentioned that the Knit 1, Geek 2 podcast turned me on to some geeky yarn bowls from Earth Wool Fire. This one is my favorite:

When my wife saw this one, she wondered if it was bigger on the inside. I estimated that you could easily fit at least an entire sweater’s worth of yarn in the bowl.

There are a lot of beautiful yarn bowls out there. There are a lot of talented artists creating them. If you don’t already have a yarn bowl (or two, or three, or…), put one on the top of your knitting wish list.

Do you have a yarn bowl? Just one? What is your favorite part about knitting with a yarn bowl? Where did you find yours, and why is it special? Join the conversation by leaving a comment on this post about your favorite yarn bowl.

Until next week, keep on knitting for the ones you love!

-greg