Making Ceramic Yarn Bowl – Skills Upgraded!

Alright, I’m all in on these yarn bowls. It has been a bit of a (fun) learning curve and I’ve upgraded some of my tools which has been making things more efficient and the end result is a lot more “professional-handmade” looking.

I bought a “start-up pottery sculpting kit” from Amazon, that has some pretty good pieces for carving and finishing – and it included a yellow sponge.

I noticed that the sponge was “pulling” the clay and had some grooves that was shown after firing, so I looked at better options. I found this little guy – a white finishing sponge – and after soaking it in some water, it felt almost like a soft cloth. It was around $10 and when it arrived in the mail and it looked like a piece of paper. I was glaring at it thinking I had been tricked by internet marketers, but after soaking it in some luke warm water, I felt a little better – it had expanded to a more recognizable sponge shape. When I used it on the edges of the clay I had carved a few moments before, it worked out great – It may be my new favorite thing! — It’s so soft!

When we first tried carving the bowls we used an Exact-O-knife to cut the rim of the bowl, but my new kit included a piece of twisted wire fastened to wooden dowels that worked out really well remove the extra piece of clay in one piece.

After looking at my process, I realized I also needed to take a step back and properly prepare my Greenware before it had been fired. It seemed like the best option is a “scrubby.” This helped the Greenware be ship-shape before even being fired! The blue scrubbies you can buy at Wal-Mart but I also picked-up a maroon one from the ceramic store that was specifically meant to sand at this step. My husband mentioned he had used the same maroon scrubby at a previous job to prepare painted surface and was pleased with the results.

After getting a few fired (bisque) pieces back I couldn’t help but notice I could make them better (#perfectionist), so I asked the Ceramics store owner what options they recommend, and they mentioned bisque sanders. I bought a few … and man do they make a difference! The better I can make the Greenware, the less need for the bisque sander – but it’s nice to know it’s available. They basically sand down any rough edges before the next step – whether it be glaze, chalk, or horse-hair.

After using the bisque sanders for a few bowls, I asked the Ceramics store if they had a bisque sander for the yarn/knitting needle holes of the bowl and she was said – “Yes!…Hold on!” She went into her backroom and brought back cattails.

When I worked at Pier 1, Cattails were a popular item for floral and interior design so I was pretty surprised to hear the term again, but once I saw the items, I was like – Yep, those are definitely Cattails.

The cattails worked perfect and have lessened the carving time on the Greenware making the bisque have no need for touch-up! They are the perfect diameter for the yarn, making the yarn bowls prefect for all types of yarn including – chunky, worsted, fingering, etc. yarn.

After getting the finished product a bit more dialed in, I went back to the beginning– Pouring the slip. I decided to use a mesh filter (thank you Costco) – I had noticed that when I poured the slip, a few hard/dried pieces were making their way into the Greenware and filtering them out would help avoid random dried pieces when I was carving. (My husband is super excited that pouring slip has turned into a two-person adventure)

The last part was how to start the Etsy Store. A good photo is really important and I wanted a proper background to showcase the bowls. Cue husband and Home Depot! We went to Home Depot , it was one of those wander-around-until-you-find-something-that-you-think-will-work scavenger hunts or, “field engineering” as I’ve also heard it called.