Making own needles...worth it?

[hedgewick]

I watch Knitty Gritty on DIY (love it) and she showed how you can make your own knitting needles. Have any of you tried this? Is it cheaper than buying bamboo/wood needles from the yarn store? Is it really as easy at it looks?

[feministmama]

It is VERY easy. The only thing is finding the right size for what you want. Some hardware store may have more varied sizes then others so if you're really into it, then try different hardware stores. Local stores havemore stuff than yer avaerage Home Depot mega super store that is more focused on selling big ticket items than little dowels. Also try craft stores. I know Micheals sells bags of dowells in a couple of sizes. The 5/18 size (I think :thinking: ) is perfect for a size 10 needle. I buy lots of these to make for knitting with kids or new knitters. They're pre cut and ready to go. All you need to do is put one end in a pencil sharpener and let your imagination run wild with stoppers for the other end. Some wood oil (like furniture polish or wax) is goos to make them nice and smooth (of course you have to use a little sand paper on the ends after you put it through the sharpener) and you're good to go. Of if youdon't want to be fancy just use a rubber band wrapped around enuf so the yarn won't fall off. A good 3 foot dowell will make one set of dbl points. HAVE FUN!!

[Rennagayle]

For me, it was certainly worth it. I live in a small town, and had no access to double pointed needles, other than ordering them, or driving a couple of hours to the nearest yarn shop. I was anxious to start a project using dpn's, and having no patience to wait for them, I followed Amy's video here on making your own needles (scroll down to last video on the page), and made my own! :D

It was quite simple, and took very little time. The most time-consuming part was finding the right size dowel rods. As feministamama said, they're not always easy to find. I went to two different local hardware stores to get the various sizes of dowels I needed, but I've never had to buy dpn's! I also use them for straights by putting a rubber stopper on one end. The sanding part is a little time-consuming, and you might find once you start using them that you have to go back and sand a bit more, but it's not difficult.

[countingsheep]

:crying: For me... the answer was a resounding NO! Probably because my DH got involved.

There are some lovely wood craft stores that carry some stunning wood. My DH has a wood working lathe. Put those two together and.... disaster! I would imagine that as long as you stay away from the exotic woods and do not try to turn a square block of wood into a round knitting needle you would be OK. If you have a DH like mine... go buy them or order them on-line and save yourself the headache!

Yet another reason to keep my DH away from knitting!

Angela

[dustinac]

I made some DPNs cause I didn't want to pay the price of the LYS DPNs.. and I don't have a Joanns or Hobby Lobby near me... I sanded them down got them the right size.. and then they sat in my stash waiting to be used.. I started my daughter a sweater and when I got to the sleeves it called for 11DPNs so I got to use them for the first time... I didn't like them at all that evening ran to my LYS and bought the 11s I needed to finish her sweater lol.. I just didn't find them very easy to use at all but I might have messed up somewhere or something.. so no more home made ones for me :D