Our homeschool co-op started today and I am helping a friend teach a knitting class.  Today we helped the girls make homemade knitting needles!  She bought wooden dowels from hobby lobby and used a knitting gauge to measure the size needles (8) we needed for our project.  The girls cut the dowels into 14 inch lengths and then sanded down the ends with a coarse sandpaper.  Next, they sharpened one end of each needle in a pencil sharpener.  Then the girls used 3 different grades of sandpaper to smooth the needles.  By the end of the period they were well on their way to having a nifty set of number 8 knitting needles!  She brought rubber bands to place around the end for the knobs.  The girls were very pleased with themselves!  Next week we start working on our project - a Garter Stitch Doll.  It should be fun!