Yarn – CraftilyKori

Making Ceramic Yarn Bowls

November 8, 2020 No Comments

My husband and I recently celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary. I’m a sucker for traditions and according to the internet, 8 years is both Bronze and Pottery. Each year, we switch out our wedding bands for that year’s material, so we went from copper to bronze. During our Staycation (thank you COVID for not letting us travel), we did a crafting activity at a local ceramic store to highlight the Pottery portion of the 8-year…and let’s just say… I got bit by the ceramics bug.

While searching the shelves for what we would decorate, I spotted a yarn bowl. “You have yarn bowls??” – I asked the owner. He replied that was a custom carving from an existing vase mold so I’d have to wait a few days if that’s what I wanted to glaze. Well, I’ve never been known to be a patient person, so my husband and I both picked a mug and had fun during our anniversary painting session.

I couldn’t get the yarn bowl out of my head. And thank you internet because I started researching slip molds and stumbled upon Glaser Ceramics that offered a yarn bowl mold! When we went to pick up our glazed mugs, I asked the owner if that would be something I could do myself. They confirmed that the mold producer was a reputable one (the ceramics industry has gone from 100’s of cast makers to single digits) and that I could always cast my own mold and bring it in for them to fire.

Yes. DIY has been my mantra and they literally said I could do-it-myself. I bought the mold that day and CraftilyKori Yarn bowls was now a thing. I had done pottery in high school (hand-built and the wheel) so how hard could it be?

Okay, I jumped in with both feet and had no idea what I was doing. I got the mold in the mail (paying 30% shipping cause the thing was almost 30lbs) and when I opened the box, I thought there was a section missing. You see, I was imagining two pieces – inside and outside – where you poured the clay inbetween.

I actually looked at my husband and thought, “what the heck did I just buy??” So, then I hit the internet…”How to pour slip molds” I found this article and this video and noticed they didn’t have the interior piece like I had expected. Alright, alright, alright…I think I may have all the parts….

Pour the slip in, wait a while, pour the slip out, wait even longer…and wha-la! Yarn bowl. Well, sort of. Again, this is where my husband and I were both scratching our heads because it was just a big tube of clay and it literally said “cut out” in the J-hook and the hole. My husband is an engineer and he was going into design-efficiency mode – where’s the insert?

Exact-o knife and turn-table to the rescue! After about a half-hour of cutting and smoothing we had what actually resembled a yarn bowl. At this stage, we had what is known as “Greenware” which is pottery that is unfired and very fragile. Out to the garage it went! Making sure no cats could knock it over while it continued to dry.

Each day, we’d pour a mold, cut a mold…pour a mold…cut a mold. We kept experimenting with what would help the J-hook stay structurally sound and not shrink away from the edge as it dried. I was pretty surprised to learn that as the greenware dries it shrinks about 7%. For this yarn bowl from first out of the mold to greenware – it decreased 15mm in diameter!

During this first week of my new yarn bowl adventure, my husband went on a trip and I was left to fend for myself. The slip of 3 gallons was HEAVY! Probably about 50lbs so it took some creativity of moving it to smaller buckets so I could even lift it by myself. Also, I could not figure out the ratchet strap that holds the two pieces of the mold together for the life of me (even the Amazon reviews confirmed this was a pain-point) so I switched to bungee cords instead. I pulled off a few more yarn bowls and by the time the weekend came, it was back to the ceramics store to get them fired. As I was showing the owner my very own greenware, I mistakenly pulled one up by the weak spot (the J-hook) and it broke. So sad! He told me he could fix it and when I got them back, I was so happy because he was able to piece it back together! This will be the one I keep for myself! My very first yarn bowl 🙂

When I got the fired pieces back, I had four bisque pieces that were ready to be glazed. I picked up some glaze and more slip when I picked up the fired pieces. This way, I could paint them at home and bring them back with the next set of greenware. Each night, I’d pour a mold and paint a bisque. My own little ceramics factory!

Well, then things got interesting. I was trying to figure out how I could add my logo to the greenware piece so people would know it was a product I had made from start to finish. The ceramic owner mentioned a stamp…. Yes! I have a 3d printer, I can make a stamp!

This was not as easy as I had hoped. I’m still learning my 3d printer, and let’s just say I had some failed attempts. First, I didn’t include a brim so when I went to check on my print, it was dancing in a weirdly shaped ball around the print-bed. Second, my logo was too complicated and it ate the bottom of the bowl right out. Third, the stamp was too high. By the fourth (or fifth, I lost count) I finally got it to work!

Now, I had some practice and a bit of a rhythm. I categorized the bowls by greenware and cone firing with labels for the ceramics store owners. We took our second round this weekend and added a few finishing touches to the first round. I got a little creative with my Cricut and some paint markers to add my logo on the non-stamped ones.

My vision is to have a different “series” and each series will have at least 4 pieces. There will be horse-hair, crystal-glaze, chalk-painted, and sager over the next few weeks.

Check back for more crafting stories on each of the series!

Update! I’ve added the link to my Etsy Store so you can own one of these yarn bowls! https://www.etsy.com/shop/CraftilyKori

Happy Crafting

~Kori

Fiber Arts, Tools and Techniques, Weaving, Yarn

Prima Fiber Arts – Loom Weaving Kit

October 10, 2016 No Comments

I’ve been working on the same crochet project for a few months now and was itching for a little variety. While running errands, I talked the hubby into a quick pit stop to Hobby Lobby. I walked up and down the aisles, scoping out what would become my next crafting venture. I was hoping for something that wouldn’t be a huge learning curve and could be completed in a weekend, but still enough to satisfy my itch for something different.

I turned down the aisle and there it was, calling to me. The Prima Fiber Arts Loom Weaving Kit. Whispering “Buy me…. Buy meeeee.” Ever the sucker for a kit containing all you need to get started, I quickly loaded a mobile coupon and headed to the checkout.

I’ve been wanting to get into weaving for a while, and this kit was perfect! It included an adjustable loom, weaving comb, shuttle, shed stick, tapestry needle, yarn, warp thread, and even some accent pieces to really make your project have some pizzazz. With my 40% off coupon, I ended up paying just about $26 which is a steal for what you get. Everything seemed very well made and the pretty design on the loom and tools added a nice touch.

The “starter guide” instruction included in the kit was okay, but I would recommend watching the videos before really getting your hands dirty. The YouTube videos made by Prima were great because they used all the same items included in the kit. You can basically just follow along with the host.

Here are the videos I recommend watching:

Prima Fiber Arts Loom Kit Intro – (3 mins) What’s included in the kit

Prima Fiber Arts Techniques Part 1 – (18 mins) Basic weaving stitch

Prima Fiber Arts Techniques Part 2 (12 mins) More advanced weaving including angles and roving.

Prima Fiber Arts Techniques Part 3 – (14 mins) Finishing steps

Alright, instructions read and videos watched – now it’s time to get weaving!

The first step is to put the loom together. This was four quick screws, no heavy machinery or curse words involved.

I got hung up right from the get go for not understanding how to wind the shuttle. The still pictures in the instructions weren’t really helping, so I recommend another video: Winding a Stick Shuttle. The trick was to do the figure eight on one side, then change to the other side.

Next, you set the weave pattern by adding the shed stick, flip it up, and then start weaving. Changing colors is pretty easy, you just wrap the new color of the yarn around the shuttle and start a new row. I was a little overzealous on how much yarn I was adding in the beginning, which made if difficult to fit under the threads so lesson learned on that one. Once you have a handle on the basics, using roving and thicker yarn adds some dimension to the project and if you are feeling really sassy, you can start experimenting with angles and shapes!

I followed the design from the kit almost exactly but differed on the angle part a little bit. Full disclosure – this wasn’t on purpose, I got distracted by something on TV. But, I just kept going and think it turned out well. After getting the woven canvas mostly laid out the fun continues with accents. Making tassels is pretty easy. Here, I’ve just wrapped yarn around our tablet case and cut one end so they were all uniform lengths. Once on the loom, it’s pretty easy to just cut and shape them how you want it to lay. The kit also came with metal flowers, metal tubes, and silk flowers to add in where you think looks good.

With everything set, it’s time to weave in all the loose ends and take the project off the loom. This was the only time I had to use items from my own craft room – a needle and crochet hook. Similar to other yarn projects, the idea is just to weave in the ends and tidy everything up. Then, you cut two strands of the warp thread off and begin to tie them together. For the bottom, it was easier to just flip the tassels over so they were out of the way. To finish the weave, I found a stick and sewed yarn around to hold everything together.

Here’s a look at the finished project!

First weaving project down, and now the gears are turning with ideas for future projects. From my spinning stash, I have tons of roving that can be used and hand spun yarn would add in lots of texture. Using the shaping technique, it would be cool to experiment with more colors and use the loom as a base to create a woven canvas for a landscape or picture.

I’m pretty excited to learn more about weaving and happy to have found another use for all the yarn I’ve stored away 🙂

Kori

Yarn

Local Yarn Store in Wickenburg

June 12, 2016 No Comments

A three-day weekend meant a chance to take a little trip to Laughlin, Nevada for my husband and me. One of my favorite things to do, when visiting a new place, is to scope out local yarn stores. We stopped in Wickenburg for lunch and happened upon an A-frame sign on the side of the road proudly stating “YARN.” I got so excited and told my husband to turn around.

Him: “Really?”

Me: “Yes!”

Him: “Really, really?”

Me: “YES!”

The store was one of my favorites I have been to yet. It’s called Isabelle’s Parlour: A Yarn Boutique. It’s definitely not the largest, but their selection of yarn was great. The owner, who I assume to be Isabelle, was working on a project in a comfy corner chair when I first walked in. She was super nice and we chatted about the upcoming Wool and Fiber Festival in Flagstaff. There were various projects hung around her shop so you could see how the yarn would react when used. The owner offered a lot of great advice on which yarns would work for different projects. She mentioned she closes her shop during the late part of the Summer so I was happy to happen upon her store when we did.

One of my purchases included a yarn called “Abracadabra.” What’s its magic trick? It changes color in the sun! More specifically, it changes from white to either pink or purple (depending on which color you purchased) when it’s exposed to UV light. I had a quick science lesson about UV light because the yarn wouldn’t change very much when I was trying to take the picture around late afternoon. This one was taken about lunch time. The store owner suggested incorporating the yarn with a solid main color and using this as more of an accent color. After seeing how it reacts in the sun, I agree.

I also picked up some hand painted and hand dyed yarn. I’m not too sure what knitting or crochet projects these will turn into just yet, but I couldn’t resist. Isabelle’s Parlour yarn store was awesome and the next time we take a trip to Laughlin, I’ll be stopping in again!