Waxing needles

I just rub my wooden needles with waxed paper and they take enough to not give snags anymore. Coggie

Practical, sensible, but not very fanatical. It is what a calm grandmother would do.

Some of us are a bit fanatical. Some of us talk about being fanatical about knitting, and some of us are fanatical about knitting, but talk like calm grandmothers.

Here is the fanatical advice. If your wooden needles are rough enough to "snag" as opposed to just "grab", then very likely sanding them with a bit "extra fine" sand paper will improve them even more. If you bought some of those "El Cheapo" rosewood needles, they do need sanding, even if you have not abused them - yet. Extra fine is something of a relative term, and today I am using 1000 grit emery paper on rosewood. It leaves a pretty smooth finish.

Aaron

Sorry Aaron, at 37 I am a bit young to be a grandmother and being pratical, I guess I use what I have on hand. You use wax for skis, I use wax paper, I can make mine portable without added weight to my bag. I have never really had wooden needles that need sanding, but I will keep that in mind for when I do. Coggie

I often buy needles on sale over the Internet, without a chance to touch and feel. Some of those do need sanding prior to use. Some of my needles need sanding after I abuse them : )

I am a lot older than you are, and I still ski. I bought the ski wax for someone that is even older than I am, then I got to playing with it, realized that it was just the thing for aluminum and wooden knitting needles. I would not buy F4 wax just for knitting needles, but I would certainly use the last bit in a tube on my knitting needles. I would even go down my list of family and friends and think who might be packing away their ski gear, and willing to give me the end of their tube : ) The stuff dries out over the summer so it is not going to be good next year.

I was just offering a way to use up left overs before they go bad. If you do not have those kinds of left overs, use something else. For years that was my job. I helped the folks at US DOE reduce waste by recycling, and reusing things that other people thought of as waste. In fact, I wrote the book on it. See for example, "Pollution Prevention and Waste Minimization Guidance for Environmentally Restoration Activities" prepared by Regulatory Integration Division (EM-431). Sometimes, I revert to that voice. Sorry!

Aaron

Hi Coggie! :o)

In *theory* you are a bit too young to be a grandmother, however.... technically, you are old enough. ;o)

For example: When my second nephew married, his wife was a young lady who just had a baby (someone else's who walked away when he found out she was pregnant). She was 15 years old. At the wedding reception her mother made a rather inappropriate toast saying "Well I was 15 when I had Darlene, and Darlene is 15 and she just had Sherry... so I guess when I'm forty-fife Sherry might have a baby and that will make me a great-grandmother." (so she was 30 when she became a grandmother) A few uncomfortable chuckles were heard around the room... afterall, this was a brand new baby she was talking about who would possibly get pregnant and have a baby when she is 15.

I am pleased for Sherry, to say that she got married just before Christmas... she wasn't pregnant, and she was past the 15 year old mark. In fact she is 26 now! Knocked her grandmother's prediction out of the water. :o)

Yeah, I know. My best friend is 37 and she has a grandbaby. She was 16 and her daughter was 17 when she had her son. But.......... I have a 17 yr old and NO WAY!! I would kill him :) Coggie