I made my own knitting needles!! Circular ones at that! I am so excited that I am so awesome! I was making a this for my daughter and I was down to the last section, when SNAP! the cable broke! I was soo pissed! These circular needles cost about 10 bucks; which may not seem like alot but keep in mind most knitters have several pairs of needles. The longer the cable, the higher the cost. The pair I had was 36"; pretty long. I was working with a bulky yarn, so the knitting was getting really heavy on the needles. I spent the rest of the evening pouting. The next morning I woke up with the MacGyver solution....you. must. make. them.
Lucky for me, the old man who previously owned my house left a few useful items around; one being string for a weed wacker. Like any good (albeit former) elementary school teacher, I know dowels can come in handy for a variety of things. Even luckier for me, I had close to the right size I needed. And of course, the power tools. I used the Dreme.l to shape and sand the dowels, my cordless drill to bore a tiny hole in one end of the needle, and my hot glue gun to secure the string in the hole. I let the needles set, then used a sander to smooth the joins. Lastly, I applied plumber's tape to the joins to prevent snags (though I still need to improve upon that).
Lucky for me, the old man who previously owned my house left a few useful items around; one being string for a weed wacker. Like any good (albeit former) elementary school teacher, I know dowels can come in handy for a variety of things. Even luckier for me, I had close to the right size I needed. And of course, the power tools. I used the Dreme.l to shape and sand the dowels, my cordless drill to bore a tiny hole in one end of the needle, and my hot glue gun to secure the string in the hole. I let the needles set, then used a sander to smooth the joins. Lastly, I applied plumber's tape to the joins to prevent snags (though I still need to improve upon that).
I still prefer metal needles to wood; wood looks better to me but the metal needles knit quicker and don't snag the yarn as much. My jerryrigged homemade handcrafted needles aren't perfect; I need finer sanding paper to really get them smooth and more tape to wrap the joins. But, I have finished her cowl and it looks awesome! You know why it looks awesome? Cuz I'm awesome!
