https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/custom-circular-knitting-needles • Posted by KBS
I have been knitting a bottom up raglan sweater for Xmas using Knitpicks video tutorial here: knitpicks.com/tutorials/Ninas_Design_Your_Own_Sweater_Class__L10071303.html I finished my sleeves and torso and was ready to join the pieces when I realized that I lost the connectors to my knitting cables! With only 4 days left!! *Panic* Instead of going out and buying a super long US 8, I though, why not make one? The materials will make you a few pairs and save you a ton of money! Plus, since the weed whacker line comes in different colors, they're a lot more fun!!
I have been knitting a bottom up raglan sweater for Xmas using Knitpicks video tutorial here: knitpicks.com/tutorials/Ninas_Design_Your_Own_Sweater_Class__L10071303.html I finished my sleeves and torso and was ready to join the pieces when I realized that I lost the connectors to my knitting cables! With only 4 days left!! *Panic* Instead of going out and buying a super long US 8, I though, why not make one? The materials will make you a few pairs and save you a ton of money! Plus, since the weed whacker line comes in different colors, they're a lot more fun!!
Collect all of your supplies somewhere you won't mind a little wood dust mess.
First, we're going to cut the wooden dowel into a comfortable length for a knitting needle. This bit is up to you, however long feels cozy in your hand. I cut the dowel using the xacto knife, I just scored the circumference of the wood as deep as I easily could and snapped it in half at that point. If you score it deep enough it makes a pretty clean break. Use your first piece to measure the second and break that one off too. Now you should have 2 (soon to be) needles!
You're going to need a pretty steady hand for this next step. You could use a vice grip to hold the dowel in place or be dangerous like me but please be careful! Take your 5/64" drill bit and put it in your power drill. We're now going to carefully and slowly drill a hole in the flat end of each of our dowel pieces. You want it to be a centered as possible and about a 1/2" deep. Doing this step slowly will help keep the wood from splitting.
Beautiful! Now we have somewhere for the cable line to go!! You can stop scaring your dog with the power drill monster now...
Figure out how long you want your cable to be. Don't forget to add on the length of the needles!! Cut the Weed Whacker line to the apropriate size, adding about an inch to make up for the part that will be glued inside the needles.
I really wanted to get a picture of this step but it was too small for my camera to handle. To get the smooth Weed Whacker line to grip the glue we need to rough the ends up a bit. I used the xacto knife to make tiny diagonal cuts all around the last 1/2" of each end of the line. Smother the ends in super glue and put them inside the drilled out holes of your dowel/needles. I wiggled them around a bit to make sure the entire inside was coated and filled with glue. Now we wait.... After 10 minutes you can remove any excess glue coming out of the hole. I like to wait a full 20 minutes or so before shaping the needles.
Use your xacto knife to roughly carve the tips of the needles into points, don't worry about precision, that's what the sandpaper is for. If you want, while you have the knife in your hand, carve down the edge of the dowel that has the cable line in it. DON'T CUT THE LINE!! If you want to skip this step it's fine, just means a little more sanding later.
Now we can smooth everything out. Sand the tip of the needles so there aren't any sharp or jagged edges. You'll also want to smooth out the entire length of the wood to prevent any splinters from snagging your yarn. (oh, so smooth)
No matter if you used the knife to smooth the cable edge of the needle or not, you're going to sand it down now until there's a gradual increase in diameter from the cable to the fullest part of your needle. This will make it much easier to slide your stitches over the join. Try your best not to sand the cable.
Finally, wrap the join with your plumber's thread seal tape. This stuff is a little difficult to work with off the roll. I suggest cutting off short strips with your scissors and layering them. Keep the wrap as smooth as possible, you don't want bumps, especially not any thick spots that your stitches won't be able to slide over.
You can now customize them as you please but I suggest at least writing the size on them unless you have a size guide. Now go knit!!!!