Let’s learn how to DIY your own chunky double-pointed knitting needles!
If you love knitting, you love making. If you’re like me, you like making all kinds of stuff, not just knitting. So here’s how to truly knit from scratch, all the way to making your own needles.
Recently I had an idea for a new pattern for a chunky hat, and I wanted to knit it in the round, but I didn’t have any double-pointed needles (DPNs) large enough for the yarn I was planning to use, which was 9.5mm.
What are double pointed needles?
If you’re pretty new to knitting, you might not know what double-pointed needles are. Simply put, they’re needles with a point on both ends. They are used in sets of four and occasionally sets of five, to do circular knitting. That’s where, instead of knitting a flat piece of fabric, you knit a tube. This is really useful for socks, hats, and many other garments. I even used circular knitting to make my wedding dress.
Chunky DPNs are expensive – unless you make your own
I needed these chunky needles, but when I looked online for some, I found out that not only are really chunky DPNs hard to find, but they are expensive! You’re looking in the region of $12 (Australian) for a set. So I decided to make my own, and I made mine for about $3. Create your own DIY knitting needles by following along with my video!
I totally invented a hack – internet win!
I’m not a woodworking pro by any stretch of the imagination, and I didn’t have any fancy tools, but I figured out a really neat hack to make the sharp tips – you use a pencil sharpener!
I don’t know if anyone else has figured this out already, but I’m pretty chuffed to have thought of it myself. It’s the little things, you know?
Let me show you how to make your own cheap and chunky DPNs using a pencil sharpener.
Let’s make some needles
The things you’ll need are:
-A 1.2m length of wooden dowel. I bought a 9.5mm diameter length of dowel from my local Bunnings for $2.74 Australian.
-A pencil sharpener of course. If you’re making chunkier needles, you’ll need a pencil sharpener with a hole large enough to fit your dowel. DO NOT use your best sharpener for this project as it’s hard on the blades. You may even want to buy a new sharpener for this project if you don’t want to risk blunting your regular pencil sharpener.
-A saw to cut your dowel. Or, you can ask your hardware store to cut your dowel for you, into 30cm/1’ lengths. My hardware store does this for free.
-Some sandpaper. I used what we already had at home, which was P180. This is a very fine macro grit apparently (thanks, Google). I know nothing about sandpaper though. The piece I used was already partly worn so less abrasive than what it would have been fresh, and I think that worked well for this project. You want a fairly fine grain to make sure your finished needle is nice and smooth.
-Some varnish or gloss to paint your needles. I used Cabot’s CFP Floor, a polyurethane floor coating. We already had this in our garden shed, and it did the trick.
-A paint brush (for varnishing)
-A ruler
-A pencil
How to make your needles
Cut your wood into 30cm/1’ lengths. I did this myself but as I mentioned above, hardware stores are often happy to do this for you for free.
Next, mark an inch from both ends of each length of dowel. This will give you an idea of when to stop sharpening.
Then, grab your pencil sharpener and start sharpening!
The secret I found for this technique is to go slowly, and be prepared to stop and sand it down if your wood gets snagged. Don’t wait until the wood is really jammed in the sharpener before you stop, or the wood will get rough and the shape of the point will be uneven. We’re aiming for as smooth a point as possible, so your yarn doesn’t get stuck to the wood while you knit.
Keep sharpening until you get to the line you marked an inch from the end. Now, use your sandpaper to get the wood as smooth and snag-proof as you can.
This won’t make an absolutely factory-quality needle, mind you. Your ends won’t be completely uniform with one another, but they will be pretty close and do the job nicely.
Give the whole needle a quick sand. Then finish your needle with a couple of coats of varnish or other finish. As well as preventing the wood from splintering, this gives the wood a nice sheen.
Once you’ve made your set of needles using this method, all that’s left is to start knitting!
I made mine so I could design a chunky baby beanie. Tell me in the comments what you’re planning to make with yours!
I’m no woodworking expert, like, AT ALL, but I enjoy having a crack at it from time to time. If you had fun with this project, you might be interested in reading my tutorial for how to make a 45° Lazy Kate (a tool used for handspinning). I hope this tutorial helped you turn some yarn into fun today! At the very least, I hope you had fun making your DIY knitting needles. If you enjoyed watching the video too, please give the video a thumbs up and consider subscribing to my channel.
