Spalted Wood Makes Beautiful Yarn Bowls; but what makes spalting in wood so special to wood enthusiasts? Spalting is the beginning of decay in wood due to natural invasion of fungal spores. These spores start colonies and grow in the wood forming interesting discolorations as the wood fibers begin to decay. If caught at the right time and stabilized, spalting can result in various stunning effects; enhancing the value of the piece.

​FORM & FUNCTION
We've had a couple requests to “drill some holes in the sides of our yarn bowls for knitting needles…”   While needle holes may add interest to some yarn bowls, they just don’t work with the deeper profile of our designs.
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As form meets function in all of our yarn bowls, we hope to shed some light on how important the ease of use is as well as the natural beauty Bob brings out in the wood. We hope you make the right choice for your needs. If it’s a Large Yarn Bowl by Heckathorn Turned Wood, we’re confident that you’ll share our passion for these fun and functional collectibles.

​SELECTION & VALUE
Every yarn bowl is made to strict gallery grade standards. Bob tries to stock a varied selection with segmented pine bowls (shown here), priced from $70-99; an incredible value considering the hours spent to elevate each piece to “Collectible” status! Each Large Yarn Bowl takes a minimum of fifteen hours of work. After shaping and turning the bowl on the lathe, the bowls are painstakingly hand finished with over ten individual rounds of sanding, buffing, coating and drying. Under optimum weather conditions this process alone takes up to five days. A final coat of museum wax is applied and buffed to resist fingerprints and stains. 

NOTE: You'll find our best-selling Large Yarn Bowls in our Shop Section as well as our ETSY Shop!

​On rare occasions Bob finds some fresh “green” hardwood (Cherry, Pecan and Maple to name a few) from a fallen tree or local tree trimmer. And, although turning green wood bowls on a lathe is easier because it’s in a soft state, the necessary drying process that ensues is risky!
 
After a fresh wood yarn bowl is turned, it is set aside to dry. Depending on the current weather conditions (like relative humidity, barometric pressure and temperature to name a few) the drying process takes one to three months. As the hardwood dries, it has a tendency to warp and crack. Warping usually adds nice character to the yarn bowls; however, Bob feels that cracking; which is easily repaired in the finishing process, is an undesirable feature in some of his collectible art bowls. As his partner, I try to respect those high standards while at the same time viewing the cracks that ensue as the final word from nature!
 
Too often, I’ve watched Bob throw a beautiful yarn bowl into the recycling bin and felt that his lack of control over a few small cracks deprived a fellow yarn crafter of a unique and naturally beautiful piece. After some whining on my part, Finally, Bob acquiesced and started finishing these natural wonders when the occasion arises. Now, I’m able to offer a distinctive piece at deeply discounted price.
 
There’s a lot of value in our “Perfectly Imperfect” Yarn Bowls. Each one takes ten to twenty hours (at the least) to make –the same amount of time it takes to create a first quality bowl. For those who may not be able to invest in our first quality yarn bowls, I consider these pieces to be a special offering from Heckathorn Turned Wood as they are all authentic gifts of nature!

One of the hottest sellers at our new Etsy shop has been my Segmented Pine Yarn Bowls. With demand for these bowls in mind, I created the new shooting star groove design as an alternative to the standard (J) hook design. It just seemed more artistically harmonious and gives easy control of the yarn, while the stars points allow the yarn to be pulled in different directions in a controlled manner.

I use no stains or dyes, sanding each piece to a fine finish so your yarn won’t snag. Choose from small, medium or large with one-of-a-kind variations in wood grain and star groove placement. Each piece is signed and numbered.