Hey again!
Blogging has been a bit sparse lately, it usually is at times. We are struggling with some behavior issues and some homeschool bumps in the road. Keep us in prayer if you do!
I wanted to share the AWESOME knitting needles my husband helped me make. Sometimes I have these crazy ideas that flood my brain and this time he obliged me and went along with it, I think because it involved using power tools! :)
I have been seeing these gorgeous chunky knit blankets and scarves on Pinterest lately. I tried looking around online for some large sized knitting needles but they were kind of expensive (about $15 for just one set) and they didn't seem to make the huge sizes I was looking for. So I thought to myself, I bet I could make some!
My husband didn't want me snapping any pictures of the "progress" because he said his methods weren't exactly safe, so here's my disclaimer... I don't recommend trying this at home, but here is how we did it!
What you'll need:
3 different sizes of wooden dowel (I used the cheapest kind at the hardware store, poplar). about $10
(I used 5/8, 3/4, and 7/8 inch.)
I pkg of necklace clasps (the screw kind) $2.50
plastic tubing $2.50
super glue
fine sand paper (220 grit) for final sanding
40 and 120 grit sanding belts for initial sanding
belt sander (or table sander if you have one)
vice
Hubs did the initial sanding with his belt sander clamped upside down in the vice. Like I said, not the safest method, but a farm job for sure! We cut the dowel in about 6 inch chunks and using one of my bought needles, just eyeballed the angle for the tips. The knitting tip is a lot more slanted than the tip where the yarn comes back on the needles. I wanted to make the needles adjustable so I could use them at any length so that required drilling a small hole at the "butt" end to insert on of the jewelry clasps. Use the super glue to secure them.
Once the general shape of the needles was made, I hand sanded them to make them really smooth. They will still be a bit tacky at first so to remedy that just rub them together and the wood smooths it self.
Cut the appropriate amount of tubing
(30 inch = 6+6 inches from the needles +18 inches of tube).
(24 inch = 6+6 inches from the needles +12 inches of tube).
(12 inch = 6=6 inches for from the needles + 6 inches of tube).
Glue the opposite ends of the jewelry clasps into the tubing and let it all dry! The whole thing took about 1 hour to do and cost me about $30 only because I had to buy the belts for my husbands sander. You could even make the tubing super long and make one of those beautiful chunky blankets or even knit a hammock with some rope!
You are wonderful! I fell in love with all of the huge knitting projects I've seen, then almost fainted when I saw the price one gal was charging ($175....????). More than one blog out there shows how to make long (like 5ft.) giant needles, and my thought was circulars....so much easier to use. I thank you and your husband!
ReplyDeleteI will pray...He never gives us more than we can handle!
this are really really cool!!! thank you so much for sharing :). one question - would you please share what kind of plastic tubbing did you use and if possible where did you purchase it? thank you :)
ReplyDeleteHi! I just got tubing from my local hardware store, it's in the plumbing section. It's clear and flexible, probably about 1/4 of a inch wide.
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