Well that stinks. Away I went to the craft store, where I found 2 options.
They had a set of metal ones for $3.99, but they were kind of heavy and I worried that they would slip out of my work too easily.
They also had a set of bamboo DPNs but they were $9.99! That’s just too much to pay in my book, especially since I was only really missing one of mine, and I made them myself in the first place.
I reluctantly stepped away from the knitting department and went to the wood crafts aisle. I whipped out my knitting gauge and found the dowel rods. Note: if you aren’t a weirdo who happens to have a knitting gauge in your purse, don’t worry! Just go borrow one from the knitting department and put it back when you are done.
Measure the rods until you find one that matches the size needle you need to make. The cost for the rod I needed was a whopping 29 cents, and it was a yard long. That’s big enough to make 5 of my 7″ needles!
Now pat yourself on the back for being so thrifty and go check out!
When you get home, you will need to cut your knitting needles down to size. For these size 8 needles, I just used regular scissors to cut them. For my size 10 and 13 needles I used garden sheers, and they cut right through the wood without splintering it. I cut mine 7 inches long, but, hey, they’re your needles, cut them any length you like!
Now, just use a regular pencil sharpener (or even a box knife) to sharpen the ends. Keep in mind that you are making a crafting device, not a weapon. Don’t make them TOO sharp!
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At this point you may or may not want to run back down to your local yarn shop and spend all that money you saved on some lovely hand-spun baby alpaca yarn in a gorgeous color that will match everything nothing you own!
Happy Christmas knitting!
If you like this post, you might also like my “Feelin’ Crafty” Pinterest Board! And don’t miss a minute of the crafty fun! Sign up for Beulah’s Mooooosletter (that cow is a HOOT!)
Do you knit? What is on your knitting needles right now?
Happily shared at the Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Fellowship Fridays the Clever Chicks Blog Hop and the From the Farm Blog Hop!
Great Idea, but I would have colored them with kool-aid or something. I have a tendency to over do, lol
Kool-aid is a great idea Dawn! I had been playing around with the idea of busting out my Ad markers from college and then trying to set the color with beeswax or something. Kool-aid would be easier and they would smell nice! 🙂 Besides, it would help me know which size I’m looking at without the gauge. When I write the size in sharpie, it always wears off!
I know this is an old post, but if markers and Kool-Aid don’t work for differentiating the needles from each other, you can paint a band around the needles with a single coat of nail polish. It should last nearly forever and shouldn’t interfere with the yarn at all. 🙂
Great idea, thanks!
Awesome idea! I love this! Thanks for sharing at From the Farm Blog Hop! I would worry that any dye or Kool Aid might rub off on my yarn if it were light-colored…but they would be so pretty!
Lisa
Fresh Eggs Daily
If I try this, it will definitely be on a dark colored yarn, just in case!
Great idea. I have always wanted to learn to knit, but couldn’t find anyone to teach me. Thanks for sharing this at Rural Wisdom and Know How. I hope to see you again next week.
I actually learned on the internet! There are great how-to videos on knittinghelp.com and on youtube! If I can learn that way, you can too!
I like this. Like you said it could make for a great gift. I’m glad I found this at the Rural Widsom and Know How Blog Hop.
Thanks for reading!
Just found your blog and so glad I did. I’m a knitter and found this to be very interesting. I have several pairs of needles that have been handed down to me and every once in a while I will still come up one needle short……no prob with that now!! Thank you.
Glad I could help! Knitting is so addictive, isn’t it?
Brilliant! I just shared this link on my blogs FB page!
Thank you very much! I’m off to find it and “like” it! 🙂
Oh! And it just dawned on me. I don’t always want to use double pointed needles, so I could just buy some of those things that go on the end of knitting needles to keep your yarn from slipping off – or cap pencil erasures. I’m so making these this weekend! Thanks, again!
Absolutely! You could glue beads on the end or use polymer clay (if you are more patient than me) but in a pinch, I’ve just wrapped a rubber band around the end and it worked just fine! Happy crafting!
P.S. I love the name!
This is an awesome idea, you are so creative!! I am so going to the store to make some of these! I absolutely love knitting, and it seems no matter how many needles I have I never have the right ones for the project I want to start. I just finished my knitted laptop sweater/sleeve and these DPNs would have come in handy! Thanks for sharing!
Forgive my ignorance (newbie knitter here) but what purpose do double pointed needles serve? Love the idea of making my own, thanks for this post!
Forgive my ignorance (newbie knitter here) but what purpose do double pointed needles serve? Love the idea of making my own, thanks for this post! I just made a scarf for my son, my daughter and I want to make a 12′ Dr. Who scarf next. We’re of of yarn at the moment shoo nothing is in the works right now.
That’s actually a great question. I should have provided an explanation in the post. Double pointed needles can be used for several things. You use a set of 4 or 5 and can knit in the round with them (for seamless socks or hats) or, what I typically do is knit a hat with circular needles until I decrease several times, then I swap to double pointed needles to finish up. You can also use them to make icord (which is a small diameter tube that you may use for several things, but you often see it on the top of hats that have a little knot. One more use off the top of my head is when knitting cables (which look difficult, but aren’t!) a double pointed needle can be used in the place of a special cable needle–basically, you slip some stitches onto the DPN, hold it to the front or back of the work, knit a few more stitches (as determined by the pattern) and then slide the stitches you slipped to the other end of the DPN to knit them back off, creating a twisting effect in your work.
Alternately, if you lose a straight needle, you can put a rubberband around the end of your double pointed needle of the same size and have a substitute until the other one shows back up. (I’m embarrassed to tell you how often I have had to do this!)
Thanks for the question!
Thanks! Forgive my auto correct mistakes! I should know by now to proofread lol. Right now, I can only knight flat, 4 cornered things without sleeve-like appendages but I hope to fix that! I’m saving this one for future reference. Also, in regards to using kool aid to color the sticks, would that possibly discolor your yarn while knitting? I love natural wood myself, especially like how the older sticks look in your photo.
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Personally, knitting is one of my greatest pride and joys. So when I somehow snapped my metal knitting needles, I simply couldn’t find another affordable pair that was of good quality. So when I read this, I came up with the idea to use a pair of bamboo chopsticks, instead of a wooden rod. Voila! The end result was just as good, if not better!! Thanks, Heather!