Bow (object)

Yoshi standing atop a crystal with a bow on it

Bows are objects appearing in Yoshi's Woolly World and Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World. They are pieces of string in a shoelace knot, usually attached to some portion of the terrain. Bows are common throughout the game, being a means for Yoshi to progress by removing terrain in the way, opening shortcuts, and finding secret items; specifically, Yoshi can lick a bow to unravel the entire portion of the terrain it is attached to. In some cases, beads will pop out from the terrain that gets removed. After fully unraveling it, Yoshi automatically swallows that portion of the terrain to create a big yarn ball. Some bows are hidden until Yoshi gets close to their position.

In Knitty-Knotty Windmill Hill, among the bows scattered throughout the course, there are two that begin flying like butterflies when licked. Shortly afterwards, they attach themselves to a surface; licking them again in this state causes Yoshi to unravel the block of yarn that surface pertains to.

Additionally, bows play a key role in Mega Baby Bowser's boss battle. The non-black giant yarn balls he throws have bows on top of them. These bows allow Yoshi to unravel the oversized yarn balls to create three big yarn balls. Since the transition prior to the fight takes away Yoshi's yarn balls, eating these bows are the only way to have yarn balls during this phase of the battle without using Mellow Mode in Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World. Some of the yarn balls land upside down, and their bows do not appear in such a state. When Mega Baby Bowser uses his jump and stomp attack, the impact jostles the yarn balls, flipping some of their orientations and therefore making certain bows accessible or inaccessible. Yoshi can flip an upside down yarn ball bow-side up if he uses a Ground Pound while using the "Power up Ground Pound!" Power Badge.

The role of bows in revealing objects and sometimes moving to locations after being found makes them reminiscent of Pull Patches from Kirby's Epic Yarn.