DIY Cement Yarn Holder | Knitting & Crochet Helper

I find that when I'm knitting from a ball of yarn, it tends to roll around everywhere unless you put it in a fairly heavy yarn bowl...then the yarn rolls around inside the bowl instead. However, I like to knit on a chair and put the ball of yarn down on the floor next to the chair, where the open yarn bowl just won't work well. This meant that I needed a different sort of weighted yarn holder.

This new holder needed to stop the (centre-pull) ball of yarn rolling around on the floor, but also keep the yarn flowing smoothly upwards from the ball.

The solution was a very simple cement base with a metal rod in the centre, and I've found it extremely helpful to me since I made it. I hope you find it useful too :)

Supplies

- Metal rod: I used hexagonal brass rod 6mm/1/4” in diameter. The length I used was just over 15 cm/6”.

- Pre-mixed cement: I used no more than a few hundred grams of 'Jetcem rapid setting sand & cement'. It doesn't need to be rapid setting but it does need to be able to fill mould about 2 cm deep. This cement mix says it can be used to fill up to 15 cm in one application.

- Pringles tube (or something else you can use as a mould); a Pringles tube is about 7 cm/2.75" in diameter.

- Plastic bucket/tub: for mixing the cement in.

- Ruler & a pen

- Paint mixer/stirrer or other method to mix the cement

- Protective gloves, breathing mask & any other safety equipment

- Utility/Stanley knife

- Flat trowel

- Glue

- Centre punch & hammer (optional)

- Small piece of felt

- Sandpaper

- Marking gauge (optional)

- Masking tape, spray paint & Rustoleum clear protective spray (optional)

Step 1: Prepare the Mould

First, you will need to cut the Pringles tube (or other packaging you are using for the mould) down to size.

I ran a marking gauge around the tube to score a line into the cardboard an equal distance from the base all the way around. You can instead use a ruler and pen. I made my line nearly 2.5 cm up from the bottom of the tube.

You then need to cut along this line. I carefully used a utility knife and cut along the scored line repeatedly until I had cut all of the way through.

Step 2: Centre Punch & Metal Rod

You now need to put a dent in the centre of the base, as shown, so that you'll easy be able to locate the centre later on.

I used a centre punch and a hammer to do this, but you can dent the base fairly easily so could use something like a pair of scissors instead.

You also need to prepare the metal rod; cut it to size, smooth the ends, and ideally make a cut into the rod in the end that will be embedded. You can see in the last photo that I have made a cut into the rod all of the way around at one end. This is so the cement will have a better grip on the rod and it will be more securely held in place.

I cut my metal rod about 15 cm long.

Step 3: Mix the Cement

I was doing a larger cement project at the same time - hence why I mixed so much cement - but you'll need less than a few hundred grams of cement for this project.

Simply stir the cement powder with water, in a plastic container, following the instructions on your packet. It's definitely best to do this outside, and you should wear protective gloves and a breathing mask too.

Then just place the mould on a level surface, fill it with cement, then smooth the top with a trowel.

For my level surface, I set up a scrap wood 'platform' on my lawn.

Step 4: Embed the Metal Rod

Once the cement has begun to harden, push the metal rod into the centre, locating it in the dent in the base.

For me, this was after about 15 minutes since I was using rapid setting cement. You can insert the rod earlier, but it's just less likely to shift if you embed it in cement that is starting to harden.

You'll then need a way of holding this rod upright and still. I used the platform on an upright drill, but you could use a 'helping hand/third hand', or rig something up with scrap wood and tape...whatever works, basically!

Use the trowel (perhaps with a little water) to smooth the cement once again. If you have a brush, you can use that to add a light, even texture all over...but this isn't vital.

Then leave the cement to completely harden.

Step 5: Sand, Paint & Felt

Once the cement has hardened, carefully use a utility knife to remove the metal base of the tube, then the tube itself. Use sandpaper on any sharp edges and rough areas (whilst wearing a protective mask), before cleaning off the resulting dust.

You can then choose to add a painted design if you'd like.

I just used masking tape to cover everything I didn't want to paint - including the metal rod - and then took it outside to spray a 'chrome' silver paint onto it. I did a simple stripe design.

Once that dried, I also sprayed a clear protective coating on top to make sure no paint rubbed off onto the yarn.

And finally, I cut out a circle of felt and glued it onto the base to make sure the cement wouldn't scratch the table.

Step 6: Finished!

And the yarn holder is now complete! To use it, I put a centre-pull ball of yarn onto the metal rod, and set the yarn holder down next to my feet as I knit. The yarn holder stops the yarn from moving around, and it flows smoothly to my hand.

I hope you enjoyed this project :)