UFO on hand-made Square needles

Here are those new needles I made, already at work on a panel to the afgahn I plan to send my Mum. It is smoky blue Chinelle paired with Peacock Boa yarn. It looks like water with lettuce being churned in it!

These square needles really are easier to hold and handle, just like the claims say! For once, something is true on the internet!

Until next time...

Square Needles-hand made! Silk painting, and self defense training

Well Ihave been busy yet again! I've finished a a pair of size 13 square knitting needles made of oak dowel. Total cost of this pair was $1.35!! I plan to cast-on a project that has been waiting for these to be compelted this weekend. The end-caps are poly clay-turquoise, white, gold, a touch of purple and black that had been shreded and then smooshed back together to get the mosaic look. I cut thin slices off the resulting cane, pinched them out to get them as thin as possible to minimize the extra weight that it would add, and added them to the scrap clay used to mold the ends. Pretty! I love turquoise.

Then I am trying some hand-paining on silk hankies. I want to crochet a Pixi Purse out of the unspun roving of the silk for a friend who let trim her Mulberry trees so I could feed my silkworms last summer.

Last but not least...I have been learning self defense training with the help of this library DVD: Chuck Norris Private Lessons of self defense. It is fun to learn and is great exercise. Finally! Exercise I actually enjoy! It looks really dorky, but Chuck is super serious and seeminly compassionate on the videos.

Until next time...

Ribbon Stole on my hand-made needles

Here is the update I promised on the UFO I have on my hand-made dowel knitting needles. It's coming along nicely!

The last photo is some stitch detail with the ribbon yarns I am using (which are not what is called for in the pattern, but they are similar-just CHEAPER!!!). Right now it looks like a nice lace curtain! So I may just knit some of these up and use as panels on the patio door! Or even as a curtain to "hide" crap on the shelves in the living room.

Until next time...

Making Knitting Needles Part 4-with WIP

Vuela! They are a little longer than I am used to working with, but they do the job nicely!

This is the beginnings of the Crossover Shawl found in Ribbon Styles. I bought most of the yarn through knitpicks.com, and some I found on sale at a local fabric store last summer. I didn't know then what I would make, but it has a purpose now! The camera really does not due the colors justice, and focusing on it was a hurtle! Click photos for larger version. You too, can make your own knitting needles!!

Until next time...

Making Knitting Needles-Part 3

Here are some more pictures, this time, the endcaps! The pictures on the end are from a commercial cane that was on clearance. I bought it a couple of months ago to make into stitch markers...still have yet to get THOSE done. *snort* But stitch markers will go loverly with these endcaps! I glazed them with the Krylon Clear Glaze. It is a "tripple thick" glaze that gives items a nice glassy look. I used a bunch on a Rune Casting Tray a while back and it looks very nice with the glaze.

The glaze is still a little sticky, so a few more hours I will get started on the project that needed the 15's and post pictures after a couple rows.

Until next time...

More pictures of needles...almost done!

These are the end caps I made from poly clay. I am gonna glaze them so right now they are sitting and drying.






























OOOOo look at that grain detail!! This is the needles all lubbed up with Tung oil. They are still a bit wet, but you can curtainly see the grain detail, especially in the oak (front).









Here is a full shot of them.















And a close up of the finished tips. Pretty damned good aye?! Now they need to dry for a couple hourse and then I will apply a second coat, let dry for an hour or so, wipe them down with a clean cloth, and let them dry overnight. Tomorrow, the caps get clued on and more pictures to come!

Until next time...

Creating Knitting needles

You read it right....I have ventured into making knitting needles out of dowels. I bought oak dowels when I could, but one size they only had in soft popular. Oh well.
I'll take you though the steps.

One is to round the end of the dowel. I used a dremel tool, but you can whittle too. I used a course sanding barrel bit.



Once you have the end rounded, sand down a little further from the end (or whittle).





Then concentrate on forming a ruff-draft (so to speak) tip. You don't want to sand it all the way down to "the perfect point" in this stage. You just want a ruff form. You will be sanding it down by hand with sanding paper and this is how the tip will be perfected. When you get to sanding, you want to start with fairly course sandpaper, and then move to fine and then superfine. This gives the wood a nice smooth, professional finished look.





Take your needle gauge with you to the hardware store when you are ready to purchase some dowels. I noticed that the dowels that are just a smidgen too big for one size, will fit that size after sanding. Here are a pair of size 13's which I thought were 15's, but after sanding...turned into 13's!

Here are size 13's, and size 15 needles. Regular cost retail for these: 7.99 a pair for bamboo or wooden, actual cost spend for these two sets: 1.88 (!!!!). Yes, I do have a project ready to try out the 15's as soon as they are finished. I cut the dowels to around 14-15 inches long. I rounded the ends to make smooshing them into some polymer clay easier. I made polymer clay ends, dusted them with micro-pearl Pearl-Ex powder and they are baking as I type. I'll place more photos in another post as five pictures is the max per post.

You will want to seal the wood before gluing on the end caps with either Linseed oil, or Tung oil, or any other wood finishing oil that you prefer. I would not recommend using any stain, or poly-seal. I have tung oil, so that is what I will be using. You want to apply the first layer, let sit for about 20 minutes, wipe off the excess, let dry for a couple of hours and then repeat and let sit overnight. I dunno if I can wait that long!! LOL

Until next time...