My room mate, Erin, has been talking for a while on wanting to make her own knitting needles for a blanket she is knitting. We finally got around to making some with our friend Karisa and the help of her husband, Brad. So for $1, we each made a set of needles. I will say that Brad made them much faster than I did. It took me a little bit to get the hang of it when I revisited the project on my own, but once I did it was so simple.. So if you try this out you may want to buy an extra wood dowel to practice on.
Materials: Wood Dowel (Get them in every size! They are available practically everywhere and are so affordable), Belt Sander, Table clamps, Steel Wool, Small nails, Wire Cutters, Drill & Small drill bit, Table Saw, Gorilla glue.
Steps: Cut your wood dowel into two 12 inch rods*. Secure Belt Sander to table by using table clamps. Sharpen one end of each dowel by going with the motion of the sander. Rotate the dowel in your hand as you are holding it against the sander at different angles. This may take some practice. After sanding, finish off by rubbing the whole rod with steel wool to make extra smooth.
For the end of the needles: I cut small, one inch blocks of wood and sanded the sides on the belt sander. Be very careful! Hold on to the block very tightly, I suggest using a clamp to hold the block for extra grip. Once you have reached a shape you like, drill a hole into the top of your needle and the bottom of your block piece. Cut off the flat part of your tiny nail and stick into needle and topper by securing it with gorilla glue.
*Twelve inch is just a suggestion, feel free to try out different sizes. Erin bought two rods and made them each into huge needles to make one pair.
I personally love the ends to these needles that I made (one pair doesn’t have an end on purpose) so I even made drawer pulls using the same process but with larger blocks, be looking out for a DIY for that! I am also working on crochet needles…so there will be lots of projects coming soon.
I think I’ll stain some of my needles and I am currently in the process of making needles in every size. The possibilities are endless.
Homemade knitting needles trump store bought needles. Hands down. Thanks to Erin for the great idea!