4078 km later...: Gettin' Knitty with It

So I got obsessed with knitting last fall. There was a groupon for classes at the school of extended studies at NSCAD and I signed up for a knitwear design class that met every Thursday.

This is a swift. It is essential to pro knitting. If you don't want to drop mad $$ on one, most fabric shops will let you use theirs when you buy a skein from them (they are used to turn skeins into workable balls)

SEE!

in the first class we made our own needles - super easy

Materials: Dowels, saw, pencil sharpener, nail file, sandpaper, olive oil, paper towel

Step 1: cut dowel with saw to desired length - tip: bring your needle gauge to the hardware store so you can get dowels in a variety of sizes that fit standard patterns. We cut long needles in 16" lengths. This is also a really good way to expand your collection cheaply - one dowel can produce a long set of needles, along with a four set of double pointed - all in the same size of course.

Step 2: use the pencil sharpener to point the end(s) of your needles depending on if you are doing a standard or double sided set.

Step 3: use the nail file to soften and round the newly pointed ends - you can use sandpaper for this I suppose, but a nail file gives you more control and leverage making it faster and more accurate.

Step 4: use the sandpaper to lightly sand the entire needle.

Step 5: use the olive oil, VERY SPARINGLY, on a paper towel to coat the needle and seal it/make it soft

Optional step: you can get little caps at the hardware store to cap your dowels so your fabric doesn't slip off the ends. I have never made anything large enough on my needles to warrant this, so I don't think they are that necessary for myself.