A Few Sticks and a Bench Grinder

No one in my house uses the flat sheets that come in bedding sets.  No one.  We have a giant stack of them in our linen closet, so when I discovered this post that puts them to better use, I was very excited and promptly tore the sheet to bits. I was left with a ball of rags that was bigger than my head, but no desire to spend $12 on a pair of giant knitting needles or even $3 for a crochet hook.

So I made my own.

I picked up a 5/8 dowel rod (about the same diameter as size 19 knitting needles and size Q crochet hook) for less than $2 and cut it into three pieces.

After some thinking and consulting with an expert (thank you, dad), I discovered we had a bench grinder in the basement that dad had bought to sharpen lawn mower blades. Perfect! 

Now I have by giant needles and hook for less than $2.  I used the same basic pattern as she did, but did a row of reverse crochet around the edge of the mat to keep it from curling up on the edges. I love it, and I am already trying to think of another project to use up a few more of those sheets that are only being enjoyed by the moths and looking forward to making some nice, chunky scarves and afghans with my new (super inexpensive) needles and hook.