Colorful Yarn-Wrapped Rope Bowls
Ever since I first saw them on the walls at Animal Kingdom Lodge at Walt Disney World, I’ve been fascinated by colorful yarn-wrapped rope bowls. I don’t know how those particular ones are made, but once I learned that you can make some beautiful bowls with only rope and yarn, my mind was blow! And I was on a mission.
Okay, I also used a pair of scissors and a tapestry needle, but that’s truly all you need to make these bowls.
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With all of the colors of yarn out there, you can customize your bowl to look however you want. I’ve found inspiration all over the place, and there are so many different patterns I’d like to try. So far I’ve made fairly small bowls, but I’d like to try a big basket eventually. It’s pretty cool that the same techniques can make small ring dishes, large baskets, and everything in between.
Here’s what I’ve made so far…
This is the cotton cord I’ve used. I’m still on my first spool, and I have a lot left on it. If you’re making small bowls, a little goes a long way!
I’ve only used pretty basic yarn so far, and I’ve tried to keep it to nearly the same thickness for each bowl.
From what I’ve seen and read, there are many ways to make rope bowls. (Hot glue even?) I’ve tried two only slightly different ways, and they’ve both produced beautiful bowls!
Although I’ve made made several bowls now, I still have a lot to learn. I have yet to figure out how to shape the sides exactly the way I want to. But that’s okay! I haven’t been disappointed by anything I’ve made so far.
Rather than try to explain the process, I’ll share the tutorials that I found especially helpful.
The photos in this tutorial helped me figure out how to start my first bowl and get the first coil just right.
This one has a helpful video and also helped me envision how bowls of different shapes and sizes would look. (As I said, I haven’t been quite as successful at shaping them exactly how I want, but I see the possibilities!)
This tutorial showed me how to wrap a bowl without looping the yarn around the row below entirely. The finished bowl has just a slightly different look.
A couple of tips…
- Wrap anchor stitches more frequently than I did at first. For my more recent bowls, I wrapped an anchor stitch every 7th stitch max, and the bowls feel much more solid and don’t have the same gaps between rows that some of my earlier ones have.
- Wrap everything tightly. It helps give the bowl structure and also just looks neat and tidy.
This is a perfect cozy tv-watching activity.
Give it a try and I think you’ll be happy with your first bowl!
If you do, I’d love to see! You can find me on Instagram and Facebook. You can also see what I’m up to on Pinterest.
Happy crafting!
