Make Your Own Giant Knitting Needles

With giant knitted blankets, throws and cushions all the rage, everyone wants to try this incredibly fast craft. However, when trying to find the needles, quickly the costs added up. One of my friends even bought a "Knit your own blanket kit" for over $1,000! And this was for a basic knitted pattern, nothing fancy, and no cables at all. In fact, I have never even found a giant cable needle. Time for a trip to the hardware store!

This instructable includes instructions for giant knitting needles.... 3 types.

1. Long blanket needles
2. Shorter giant needles (easier to handle for smaller projects like cushions)
3. Cable needle! Gotta love knitting cables.
   
   
   

Specific items for these needles:

1m dowel rods.
- Long needles - buy 2 of these in the thickness you desire. Mine pictured are 35mm rods.
- Shorter needles and cable needle - buy 1 of these. Mine pictured are made from a 25mm rod.

Drawer pull handles - wooden or plastic.
- the main thing is that they sit flat and the bottom of them is roughly the same size as the end of the rods.

Screws
- These often come with the drawer pull handles but if they don't, you need a screw that will pass through the entire knob and into the rod, so at least 5mm longer than the knob is tall.

Tools required:

Knife for whittling (I used a Stanley knife, but whatever you prefer)
Wood glue
Sander or sand paper (180 grit)
Drill - with 2 drill bits, one the size of the whole in the drawer pulls, the other larger for countersinking your screw heads.
Screw driver - use a hand one, not a powered one
Saw - I used a drop saw, but a handsaw would work as well (For the shorter needles)
Pencil and ruler (For the shorter needles)

Long needles:

Using your knife carefully and slowly whittle the ends to a point as shown. Take your time here. And do whittle away from yourself.

Shorter needles:

Measure and mark a section 6" long from the end of the rod. Then measure another section at 14". Cutting the rod at these marks should give you a short section that becomes your cable needle. The longer sections become your needles suitable for knitting scarves, cushions and the like.

Whittle the ends carefully as per the instructions for the long needles.

Cable needle:

Exactly the same whittling process as above, only this time, whittle both ends of the rod.

Using sandpaper or a sander with 180 grit paper, sand the points of the rods so that they are smooth.

With a damp cloth, wipe the needles clear of sanding dust. Allow the needles to dry completely before the next step.

Drill a hole the whole way through the drawer pull. This is easily done by drilling through the shallow hole they come with. Using a wider drill bit, countersink the holes on the drawer pulls so that the screw can sit flush with the ends. (This step is not shown, but the final countersunk screw is)

Apply wood glue to both the end and the knob. Using a manual screw driver, attach the ends to the end of the rods.

Wipe off any excess glue with a damp cloth.

Shown are the needles with a standard 4mm needle (used for knitting with DK 8ply yarn).

Your giant needles work best with either super chunky yarn, or my preference, carded but un-spun wool. This is easily purchased (designed for spinners on their wheels) and usually cheaply.

Casting on 10 stitches, and knitting 10 rows yields a square the size of a standard cushion. (You would need 2 of these to stitch together for a cushion cover. 30 stitches is wide enough for a lap blanket or throw, then just knit until it is as long as you desire.