If it is winter, then make knitting needles?

Yes, dogwoods do not get very big. The main trunk on mine is only 3 inchs
in diameter. I was surprised to lean that they made loom and spinning wheel
parts out of dogwood.

Aaron

"Els van Dam" wrote in message
...
In article ,
wrote:

Historical documents I have just come across, claim that dogwood is the
right wood for making knitting needles. Better than- Dare I say it? -
ROSEWOOD.

Any experience with dogwood knitting needles?

Anyway, I am making some. The green wood is very easy to split and
work,
but hardens as it drys. I cut (straight) stems about an inch in
diameter
into 6 inch lengths. Then split the green wood length wise into needle
blanks and whittled them round to just larger than the intended needle
diameter. I did a whole bunch of blanks in just a few minutes. I'm sure
I
will have to steam the curves out of them, but since they are split
rather
than sawn, I expect them to be very strong and smooth. I will finish
them
when they are dry and hard.

Aaron

I have a red coloured dog wood, but the branches of this bush are very
thin. Other dog woods here in my neighbour's gardens, are off limits.
There must be some good wood sorts around for knitting needles. I have to
browes in my husbands workshop.

Els

--
hate spam not welcome

dOn Sat, 29 Jan 2005 19:16:40 GMT, spewed forth
:

Wooly,
It is not winter down there in TX, so go play in the garden.

Is so. We've had several rounds of freezing weather, including
forecast lows int eh 20s tonight. NOrth of me actually gets snow
*shudder* but where I am usually doesn't see freezing precip.


Actually, the other wood mentioned for knitting needles was hop hornbeam.
Hop hornbeam grows better in the Northeastern US. The other wood I keep
thinking would be good is black walnut.

I used to live in the great white north. I can think of several tree
species that might make suitable knitting tools. Unfortunately none
of them grow around here. The one horseapple I know of is obviously
something brought down by settlers back when.


The dowels at the hobby shops really are not all that bad. You just have to
sort though them and find good ones thta do not have cracks or pits in them.
These days they are made from a tropical hardwood grown in SE asia.

I make knitting needles for the school kids all the time from Big Box
Home Improvement dowels. I found actual oak dowelling last year that
made fab needles - it was still fresh enough that
cutting/pointing/sanding was feasible without producing upteen
splinters.

Black walnut is very valuable wood. Stella
"Wooly" wrote in message
...
dOn Sat, 29 Jan 2005 19:16:40 GMT, spewed forth
:

Wooly,
It is not winter down there in TX, so go play in the garden.

Is so. We've had several rounds of freezing weather, including
forecast lows int eh 20s tonight. NOrth of me actually gets snow
*shudder* but where I am usually doesn't see freezing precip.


Actually, the other wood mentioned for knitting needles was hop hornbeam.
Hop hornbeam grows better in the Northeastern US. The other wood I keep
thinking would be good is black walnut.

I used to live in the great white north. I can think of several tree
species that might make suitable knitting tools. Unfortunately none
of them grow around here. The one horseapple I know of is obviously
something brought down by settlers back when.


The dowels at the hobby shops really are not all that bad. You just have
to
sort though them and find good ones thta do not have cracks or pits in
them.
These days they are made from a tropical hardwood grown in SE asia.

I make knitting needles for the school kids all the time from Big Box
Home Improvement dowels. I found actual oak dowelling last year that
made fab needles - it was still fresh enough that
cutting/pointing/sanding was feasible without producing upteen
splinters.

wrote:
[snip]
Any experience with dogwood knitting needles?

Anyway, I am making some. The green wood is very easy to split and work,
but hardens as it drys. I cut (straight) stems about an inch in diameter
[snip]

It never even occured to me that you could make knitting needles! I'm so
impressed!

Does it have to be fresh wood for making them? Or can you use old wood?

(And is rosewood just the wood from rose bushes? And do you try and
match the size of bought needles?)

--
Penny Gaines
UK mum to three

I haven't tried to make knitting needles, but I collect fallen wood
from the trees around here to burn in my fireplace. The dogwood makes
THE best fire! The wood is very hard and compact, and burns hot and
bright. Another wood that looks the same when it is dead, down, and
barkless, is Sourwood. That wood weighs a ton, so it is REALLY
compact, and looks very smooth. It doesn't burst into flame, but
keeps the fire going a long time by just slowly shrinking.
I have black walnuts here, too. A hurricane brought down a HUGE one
on my neighbor's land, and he didn't want it (at bottom of very steep,
wooded, hill). I called a woodworker I know and he actually bought a
portable sawmill just for that tree. It took him many days to to
glean it all. He also got a huge white oak. He made me a wonderful
black walnut coffee table as a "finders fee". My fireplace mantel is
also from a much smaller one that was cut down for my house.
Someone in our local Arts Council sells knitting needles. Next time I
go in I will see if her label says what kind of wood (I think oak).
Cheers.
Kira

In article , "Stella Fenley"
wrote:

Indeed Black walnut is dear to buy, but maybe you can get little bits of
cut offs from wood working shops. Another wood good for knitting needles
is cedar. I have a set that I bought from an local indian wood worker.
Now let it be know that there are many different cedar woods and some
woods are called cedar but are not cedar at all....

Sorry, I cannot list all the differences here, but a good tree book will
tell you all

Els

Black walnut is very valuable wood. Stella
"Wooly" wrote in message
...
dOn Sat, 29 Jan 2005 19:16:40 GMT, spewed forth
:

Wooly,
It is not winter down there in TX, so go play in the garden.

Is so. We've had several rounds of freezing weather, including
forecast lows int eh 20s tonight. NOrth of me actually gets snow
*shudder* but where I am usually doesn't see freezing precip.


Actually, the other wood mentioned for knitting needles was hop hornbeam.
Hop hornbeam grows better in the Northeastern US. The other wood I keep
thinking would be good is black walnut.

I used to live in the great white north. I can think of several tree
species that might make suitable knitting tools. Unfortunately none
of them grow around here. The one horseapple I know of is obviously
something brought down by settlers back when.


The dowels at the hobby shops really are not all that bad. You just have
to
sort though them and find good ones thta do not have cracks or pits in
them.
These days they are made from a tropical hardwood grown in SE asia.

I make knitting needles for the school kids all the time from Big Box
Home Improvement dowels. I found actual oak dowelling last year that
made fab needles - it was still fresh enough that
cutting/pointing/sanding was feasible without producing upteen
splinters.



--
hate spam not welcome

In article , wrote:

wrote:
[snip]
Any experience with dogwood knitting needles?

Anyway, I am making some. The green wood is very easy to split and work,
but hardens as it drys. I cut (straight) stems about an inch in diameter
[snip]

It never even occured to me that you could make knitting needles! I'm so
impressed!

Does it have to be fresh wood for making them? Or can you use old wood?

(And is rosewood just the wood from rose bushes? And do you try and
match the size of bought needles?)

Wet wood is sometimes easier to work with....Otto will turn bowls from
"green wood" and when we had to cut over one of our (dead) arbutus trees
last year, he even boiled the block of wood from it, for a while to have
it good and wet. Later (he used instructions out of Good Wood Working,
Taunton Press) he got rid of some of the moisture, by putting it in the
micro wave, and keeping controle over the moisture point by weighing it
while he worked on it. The kids all went home with turned bowls this
year. Some got discarded, because of big cracks developing....it is all
trial and error, just like the dyeing adventures.

Els

--
hate spam not welcome

There are very old walnut trees on a nearby lot that are about to be
bulldozed by the builder. I just got premission to salvage the trees. Not
sure what I will find. Maybe just fire wood.

Aaron

"Els van Dam" wrote in message
...
In article , "Stella Fenley"
wrote:

Indeed Black walnut is dear to buy, but maybe you can get little bits of
cut offs from wood working shops. Another wood good for knitting needles
is cedar. I have a set that I bought from an local indian wood worker.
Now let it be know that there are many different cedar woods and some
woods are called cedar but are not cedar at all....

Sorry, I cannot list all the differences here, but a good tree book will
tell you all

Els

Black walnut is very valuable wood. Stella
"Wooly" wrote in message
...
dOn Sat, 29 Jan 2005 19:16:40 GMT, spewed forth
:

Wooly,
It is not winter down there in TX, so go play in the garden.

Is so. We've had several rounds of freezing weather, including
forecast lows int eh 20s tonight. NOrth of me actually gets snow
*shudder* but where I am usually doesn't see freezing precip.


Actually, the other wood mentioned for knitting needles was hop
hornbeam.
Hop hornbeam grows better in the Northeastern US. The other wood I
keep
thinking would be good is black walnut.

I used to live in the great white north. I can think of several tree
species that might make suitable knitting tools. Unfortunately none
of them grow around here. The one horseapple I know of is obviously
something brought down by settlers back when.


The dowels at the hobby shops really are not all that bad. You just
have
to
sort though them and find good ones thta do not have cracks or pits in
them.
These days they are made from a tropical hardwood grown in SE asia.

I make knitting needles for the school kids all the time from Big Box
Home Improvement dowels. I found actual oak dowelling last year that
made fab needles - it was still fresh enough that
cutting/pointing/sanding was feasible without producing upteen
splinters.



--
hate spam not welcome

The wood from a large black walnut (in prime condition) is worth much more
than $100,000.

Aaron
"Kira Dirlik" !! wrote in message
...
I haven't tried to make knitting needles, but I collect fallen wood
from the trees around here to burn in my fireplace. The dogwood makes
THE best fire! The wood is very hard and compact, and burns hot and
bright. Another wood that looks the same when it is dead, down, and
barkless, is Sourwood. That wood weighs a ton, so it is REALLY
compact, and looks very smooth. It doesn't burst into flame, but
keeps the fire going a long time by just slowly shrinking.
I have black walnuts here, too. A hurricane brought down a HUGE one
on my neighbor's land, and he didn't want it (at bottom of very steep,
wooded, hill). I called a woodworker I know and he actually bought a
portable sawmill just for that tree. It took him many days to to
glean it all. He also got a huge white oak. He made me a wonderful
black walnut coffee table as a "finders fee". My fireplace mantel is
also from a much smaller one that was cut down for my house.
Someone in our local Arts Council sells knitting needles. Next time I
go in I will see if her label says what kind of wood (I think oak).
Cheers.
Kira

Wooden knitting needles are easy and inexpensive to make from wooden
doweling that you can buy at hobby shops or lumber yards. Just cut to
length, whittle down the ends, and sand smooth. To get the points just the
right shape, a wood rasp helps. But for $10 worth of supplies and tools,
you can make many needles. If you want to get real fancy, you can varnish
them with a bit of tung oil. You can sand them down to standard gauge or
you can adjust your patterns to fit the gauge generated by the needles that
you make.

Wooden needle tips wear, and different yarns work best with differently
shaped needle tips. If you made the needles yourself, you are more likely
to "dress" your needle points whenever they need it.


Aaron
"Penny Gaines" wrote in message
...
wrote:
[snip]
Any experience with dogwood knitting needles?

Anyway, I am making some. The green wood is very easy to split and
work,
but hardens as it drys. I cut (straight) stems about an inch in
diameter
[snip]

It never even occured to me that you could make knitting needles! I'm so
impressed!

Does it have to be fresh wood for making them? Or can you use old wood?

(And is rosewood just the wood from rose bushes? And do you try and
match the size of bought needles?)

--
Penny Gaines
UK mum to three