Making My Own Knitting Needles

[JouJou]

I think the price of wooden knitting needles is ridiculous... So, I am going to make my own, but my only question is, does anyone have any advice as to what I could use as a stopper at the end of my needles?

 

I know about clay, and I don't really want to do that because I've heard it weighs the needles down. Plus, I don't want to worry about baking it and going to all the extra trouble.

 

-Stephanie

[RunningMommy]

I've made my own and I LOVE them. Do you have a Michael's or A.C. Moore close by? I just went to the woodworking section of the craft store. They have all the dowels there and then they have these packages of wooden odds and ends. I bought a package of 8 square wooden blocks and they worked out great.

 

Here's the best pics I have of them:

 

I would suggest taking a needle gauge with you to measure the dowels and see what sizes you want. It's cheaper to buy the long individual dowels (about 29 cents) than to buy those big packages of all the same size. Out of one long dowel I was able to get one set of 12" needles, one set of 5 DPN's and 2 cable needles.

 

I just wrote the needle size on the end of the stopper with a wood pen. A good place to look for inspiration is Etsy.com... do a search for knitting needles and you will find some great homemade ones.

 

Really, you can use anything YOU like as a stopper. Buttons, glass beads, etc.

 

Hope that helps

[RunningMommy]

BTW, I'm thinking this is probably where you got the idea to begin with but just in case I thought I'd post it... Just scroll down to the bottom, there's a great how-to video

 

http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/knitting-tips

 

Some more links for inspiration...

 

http://www.3gcs.com/adcock/free%20patterns/handmade_knitting_needles.htm

 

http://whipup.net/2006/07/19/make-your-own-knitting-needles-dowel-fimo-and-pencil-sharpener/

 

http://www.littlecabbage.com/diy/needles.html

 

http://knittersreview.com/article_how_to.asp?article=/review/profile/061109_a.asp

[JouJou]

Wow, thanks for all the great links! I looked for links and couldn't really find anything... I got the idea because my dad and I had talked about making crochet hooks a while back, and when I started knitting, I thought, hmmm it would be so much easier to make a knitting needle, you just make the end pointy instead of making a hook on the end. So, that is what struck my inspiration. I am thinking of getting some lacquer or stain and making them colours or go with a natural wood colour, like cherry wood or something. I have to say cherry wood is my favourite lacquer of all, I love the deep mahogany colours it gives the wood.

 

I was also thinking of buying a some of these for the stopper on the needles and then lacquer them all a nice colour.

 

-Stephanie

[shortylam]

Any ideas on how to make circular needles? I start to like them a lot because they're light-weight and take less space than straight needles. My favorite brand is Clover and they make really good needles. But the down-side is the cost: a pair of Clover costs about $9

 

So if anyone knows how to make them circular needles, please let me know. I would really appreciate your help.

[brenmichelle20]

BTW, I'm thinking this is probably where you got the idea to begin with but just in case I thought I'd post it... Just scroll down to the bottom, there's a great how-to video

 

 

 

http://knittersreview.com/article_how_to.asp?article=/review/profile/061109_a.asp

 

The last one here that running mommy wrote about I read, it has a clear and neat way to make circulars, I may try that to make my 12" circulars in bamboo or actually wood dowels ....

[RunningMommy]

Wow, thanks for all the great links! I looked for links and couldn't really find anything... I got the idea because my dad and I had talked about making crochet hooks a while back, and when I started knitting, I thought, hmmm it would be so much easier to make a knitting needle, you just make the end pointy instead of making a hook on the end. So, that is what struck my inspiration. I am thinking of getting some lacquer or stain and making them colours or go with a natural wood colour, like cherry wood or something. I have to say cherry wood is my favourite lacquer of all, I love the deep mahogany colours it gives the wood.

 

I was also thinking of buying a some of these for the stopper on the needles and then lacquer them all a nice colour.

 

-Stephanie

 

 

Oooo, I really like those! Now I've got tons of ideas running through my head

[RunningMommy]

Any ideas on how to make circular needles? I start to like them a lot because they're light-weight and take less space than straight needles. My favorite brand is Clover and they make really good needles. But the down-side is the cost: a pair of Clover costs about $9

 

So if anyone knows how to make them circular needles, please let me know. I would really appreciate your help.

 

This site shows how to make circs but I think it looks like a LOT of work. I guess if you have all the tools on hand it would be cheap but I don't have a drill or chisel lying around LOL

[shortylam]

Wonderful information! Thanks a lot RunningMommy

[Adreeyen]

This site: http://stringthings.blogspot.com/2005/04/circular-needles.html has an easier way to make circulars. The pictures aren't showing, but the text is pretty explanatory.

[shelbyolivia]

You can get gorgeous wooden needles at knitpicks. They have the circulars wher you buy th epoints, about $4 and then the wires, about $4, they interchange with other points too, making them very economical. So you get a wonderful, and they are so pretty too, set of needles for about $8, and like I said, the wires only have to be bought one time since they screw onto the points. I hope you take a look at them, they are worth it, although knitpicks has had slow shipping lately.

Eileen

[Angeleyz14]

Also a little bonus info....

caught a knitty gritty episode...vicki had a vase full of rice that she ran the chopsticks up and down in to 'smooth' them out, then saved the rice for next time it was needed.

you might want to check out www.diynetwork.com under knitty gritty to see if you can find the info:D.

 

My co-worker only uses needles she has made from dowels:lol.

 

Also the way I tend to buy my wooden needles is with ACMoore's tuesday 50% off coupons.