Gift Lab: Knitting with Sherman the Sheep (Yarn Bowl)

Product:

Sherman the Sheep Yarn Bowl

Research

Ever since I moved into my apartment, I’ve had an embarrassingly naked pillow adorning my living room couch. I’d been meaning to order a cover for a little while (little while = six months), but hadn’t quite found what I was looking for. When I came across this yarn bowl, I got the idea to make the cover myself. I’m a pretty crafty person, but knitting is relatively uncharted territory. How hard can it be to make a couple squares? Maybe I’ll turn out to be some kind of knitting prodigy.

Hypothesis

Sherman will help me become a knitting master, and soon I’ll have the perfect pillow covers to finally add the finishing touch to my couch.

Experiment

I set out on a Sunday afternoon to pick up the supplies I’d need for my project. The yarn section at the craft store in Manhattan was overwhelming, to say the least. Who knew there was so much to choose from! After several panicked questions to a very understanding employee, I picked a silvery grey that seemed like it would be easy to work with. In retrospect, I think I would have gone with a different (read: nicer) yarn as this one tended to break apart if I didn’t keep it perfectly tight.

Once my yarn ball was nestled safely inside Sherman, I was ready to start. The bowl is the perfect size to hold one skein of yarn, and the way the hole in the back is shaped keeps the yarn from getting tangled or rolling away while you’re working. I ended up needing two balls total to cover my 14″ x 14″ pillow.

 

The first thing I discovered should have been the most obvious. If you have a cat, put her/him/yourself away. My cat (Orangé Ivy Carter, Ivy for short) stopped by my lab (bedroom) to check things out. She sniffed around a bit at first, seeming relatively uninterested, until she figured out the yarn and needles moved. This resulted in a short wrestling match, the removal of Ivy from the lab, and a fit of dramatic meowing in the hallway outside.

Once I was cat-free, I headed to YouTube in search of some tutorials to get started. I picked up a book as well, but I found that watching videos was the most helpful. It’s tricky when you’re first starting out, so I would recommend slightly overbuying on yarn for your first couple projects to account for mistakes.

After my first few rows, I had really gotten the hang of it, and I was able to work a lot quicker than in the beginning. Sherman was extremely helpful for holding my yarn ball. The yarn didn’t tangle once, and it was nice to peer over at his little face for a moment of reassurance.

However, I do want to note that knitting this pillow cover took me a very long time. Unless you’re planning on sitting down for an entire weekend and working until your fingers go numb, I would give yourself plenty of time to complete whatever you’re working on.

Conclusion

Although it took a long time to finish, I’m happy with the way my pillow cover came out. I think having the yarn bowl helped keep track of the yarn, and it looks very cute sitting on my shelf when it’s not in use.