Dpn knitting

Hi, Jan. I'll try ;) But, FTR, my bryspuns and pony's ARE 5.5, infact, pony's are 5.5, and my bryspuns are 5.0... we are talking LENGTH here, not circumf??? (just making SURE we're on the same page!) Noreen

Yes, we are talking length. :-) In my search locally for size 1 DPs shorter than 6", I have only found Brittany birch. The Bryspuns and Ponys I found online are not 5.5". Keep in mind that I asked the question not because I want 5.5" needles but because I really doubt their availability.

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Aaron, when you made the dogwood needles, how did you dry the wood? i'm afraid of warping & cracking if i peel the bark before drying, but if i don't, won't it be nigh impossible to get off? i'm thinking Sugar Maple, dogwoog, butternut & maybe ironwood as possibilities. also have some striped maple, sassafrass (root beer!) alder & others at hand. should i go for dead wood on the tree or prune live ttwigs/small branches & go from there? lee

hi all, dpn ... the short double pointed needles? that is what we have been talking about? as you can tell from the ? I have never knitted with those!! Jenny

Break birch sock needles!?? How tightly do you knit? Are you knitting wind proof socks?

I have had to dress the tips of my birch DPN, but I have never broken one. ( I take 2 or 3 minutes to sand and reform the tips after every couple of pairs of knee socks) I have broken many of the wooden needles that I made from doweling.

Actually, I have come to like steel DPN. The last 4 months have been a march toward finer needles.

Brittany makes some 5"sock needles. I got my from Halcyon Yarn. Also I bought a bunch of Clover 8" Bamboo that were on sale at a local craft shop (CHEAP) and cut them down to 5.5".

Yes, dpn = double pointed needle.

The choice of dpns versus circulars is entirely up to personal taste. Each method has its loyal following. I've used circular for a large project but I'm still firmly in the dpn camp.

=Tamar

I also have 5.5" DPNs. I have longer ones, too.

Higs, Kather> Hi, Jan.

LOL Actually, I broke them by leaving them in odd places, and they got sat on. Sigh! Luckily, they were sets of five, so I still had enough since I usually knit with four.

Higs, Kather> Break birch sock needles!?? How tightly do you knit? Are you

I explained making dogwood needles in detail last year so that post will be in the archive, where ever that is.

Briefly. Dogwood is the right wood for knitting needles, and spinning or loom parts that will contact yarn. It is easy to work and polish to a snag free surface. It wears well against yarn or wood. It is also easily bent (or straightened.)

Cut straight branches the thickness of (my) thumb while the tree is dormant. Use pruning shears to cut to the length that you want your needles. Use a small hatchet or heavy knife to split the branches in half and then in quarters, and maybe again into eights depending on the relative size of the branch and the needles that you are making. Then, take a utility knife and your needle gauge and whittle roundish blanks that are mostly round an a size larger than you want the finished needles. -> They are not going to be real straight! While the wood is green it works very easily; like butter. With a piece of wire tie a bundle of needle blanks together so that they help straighten each other. Every couple of days untie the bundle and flex the blanks so they are straighter, and tie them back together. After two weeks they dry and are straight.

Use a wood rasp and/or medium sandpaper to grind to final shape and diameter. Smaller needles can be chucked into an battery powered screw driver and rotated to get extra roundness. The wood is soft and works easily. Despite being easily worked, dogwood wears better than birch against wood and wool and is less likely to form snags.

Polish with fine sandpaper and steel wool. I finish mine with bee's wax, but this is optional.

The other night, I wanted a new #1 cable needle. Less than 15 minutes after I picked up my pruning shears and headed out the door towards the dogwoods, I was doing cables with a brand new dogwood cable needle. Now, it is drier, harder and smoother.

Aarom

Jenny you should try it once [and more ] it gives wonderful opportunities for adventurous knitting.. mirjam

Hi, Jan. Well, my Bryspun DPN's *are* five inches, and my pony's *are* five and a half... I don't recall where I got my bry's, but I got my pony's from Angelika's yarn store, online... LOL, other than scanning a pic of them along side a measuring tape, I don't know how I can otherwise *prove* their existance to you :D Noreen

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thanks for repeating it though. i appreciate it. i'm going to guess your thumb is somewhat bigger than mine, and go with that ;) lee

What material and what brand are the 5.5"?

I'm sorry Noreen as I didn't mean to imply that I don't believe you have them. But are they still available anywhere? I haven't found any 5.5" DPNs for sale

A dogwood branch only an inch in diameter and 2 feet long will make 3 sets of 5 sock needles with some little pieces left over to make cable needles and crochet hooks. Even branches only half an inch in diameter can be used to make perfectly good knitting needles, so you do not have to cut down a whole dogwood or even disfigure your tree with excessive pruning.

Aaron

Do a search on the internet. You will find sites like

that have severaldifferent kinds of short DPN. I have never shopped at that site. I boughtmy 5.5" birch needles at Halcyon Yarn. But I doubt if Halcyon is thecheapest or has the best selection.Aaron.

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Hi, Jan! That's OK, I didn't think you really were implying a falsehood on my part! Aaron has just replying regarding wooden 5.5 inch dpn's, and my pony's (unbreakable plastic-ky) were purchased from angelikasyarnstore.com

:D Noreen