Audrey's Knitting Needle Tutorial!

We have been very fortunate to have  a guest speaker today!!  Audrey, a dear friend, inspiring crafter, and world-class relcaimer, has agreed to share her knowledge and skill in creating her own knitting needles!! 

If you've ever wanted to give this fun craft a try, it is truly worth it, and with Audrey's instructions, completely doable for anyone at any crafting experience level! 

Here are Audrey's wonderful instructions!

To make my DPN’s: I used common household bamboo skewers. Sharpened both ends in a pencil sharpener, sanded the shaft and points until smooth, and then polished them with a white crayon and a sheet of notebook paper.

Materials:

Dowel rods or skewers (chopsticks could work too)

Sandpaper: 100 grit – 400 grit (3-4 different grits)

Plain paper

White crayon or wax

Knob or button to top the needles. (In a pinch a rubber band)

Pencil Sharpener

Choose Your Weapon

When choosing your dowel rod you may find it helpful to have some sort of measuring device. In this way, you can get exactly the size you want. I did not measure mine at all, so whenever asked, “What size needle is that?" I told people “skewer”. Please learn from my mistakes. It will make me feel better.

If you purchase your dowel rod from a large chain store, they can cut it to your specified length. I used kitchen scissors, and had to deal with splintering.

Getting to the Point

Once you have your rods cut, you will run them in a pencil sharpener. Do the same to both ends for double pointed needles, just one end for standard needles.

True Grit

Next is the sandpaper. In this step, you will sand the needles using progressively finer (higher #) grits. By doing this you will get the rid of the splinters and burs in the wood. Be sure to sand the shaft and the point, paying special attention to the tip. The tip and the point receive the most activity when knitting and it would be a shame if your yarn kept being snagged. I found out how frustrating it could be to have to go back and sand each of my DPN’s. I have already made all the mistakes for you.

The Debate

This part is optional. I have seen some who do not polish their needles, yet I cannot tell you which way is best. If you choose to polish your needles, here’s how. Rub the entire surface of the wood with a white crayon. Then use a sheet of paper to smooth the needle, just the same as when you were sanding the wood. Once again, pay careful attention to the point and tip. 

 

The End

This is the last step, unless you have made DPN’s. This must be my favorite part. Finding that special something, that tells the world “This is custom!” Make your needles as unique as you want them to be. Glue a river stone, glass bead, or drawer pull to the end. Shove on a plastic toy or pencil eraser. Let impatiens rule your life and twist a rubber band to it. I have done that.

Congratulations

You now own, custom, one of a kind, original, not to be found in stores anywhere, hand crafted knitting needles.

When I asked Audrey to share a bit about herself with you all, here is what she said!

Name: Audrey

Husbands Name: Brian

Age: 36

Occupation: Stay at home mom/Homeschool mother

Hobbies: Knitting, crocheting, cooking, gardening, and sewing

Number of Teeth: 28

Allergies: Cats, mold and people who don't cover properly

Favorite Food: Sushi

Favorite Color: Green

Favorite Movie: The Wizard of Oz

Favorite Animal: Cat

Favorite Candy: Chocolate peanut butter cups

Her husband was able to add a bit more about her, so that you all can see a piece of the amazing gal that she is.

Audrey grew up in Brooklyn and Coney Island NY. As an adult her family moved to Hillside NJ where she attended Kean College. She earned a BS in business management with a minor in technology. She met her husband, Brian, in college and got married in 1995.

 

In college she worked for Adolph Gotcho as an assistant purchasing agent and later moved onto working for American Products as a purchasing agent and expeditor. She additionally held jobs as a sales rep in a sporting goods store, as a teacher’s assistant in a grammar school, as a worker in a laundry mat, offered a job making costumes for the renaissance festival and co-owner of an organized recreational camping business.

 

For most of her married life she has been a full time home builder (mom). Audrey began homeschooling her children in Kindergarten and continues to homeschool them today. The managerial skills she learned in college and her business life greatly help her run the home school.

 

Being a housewife and a homeschool mom she has taught herself how to hand sew, machine sew, crochet, knit, become computer savvy, repair almost everything broken in the home, cook like a short order chef, learned how to cut corners and save money, and much more.

THANK YOU Audrey!! :)  We surely do appreciate your contribution to the group!

(a few tips after trying this with the tutorial!!  You can find pre-cut dowels in some craft stores, so you may not have to cut them yourself!  You could also use candle wax or beeswax to finish off your needles if you would like to do that instead!)

Ladies (*and gents*), be sure to leave her a comment if you found this to be fun, informational, interesting, or any other number of adjectives!  :)  Thanks

Comments

[Debbie]

I have made needles in a similar fashion to make needles for a homeschool knitting class I taught. Instead of white crayon, I used wood preserver oil and very fine sandpaper. I coated and sanded the needles about three times. I tested with yarn after each sanding to make sure they were smooth. I let the kids make sculpey clay tops. This is a wonderful project for people to try.

[Joy Sanchez]

Thanks so much. I work part time for the YMCA in the afterschool care department. Yesterday some of the kids saw me knitting and were very excited and wanted me to teach them. I can't afford to buy needles and yarn for the 8-10 kids who were interested so this is a great idea for me. Plus the kids can make their own needles before beginning their knitting lessons!