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Rocky-Brook Needles
Rocky-Brook Needles is a family operated business that is located in rural New Brunswick, Canada, along the scenic Saint John River. My name is John Fisher and I am the owner. Producing knitting needles came to us by circumstance, not planning. It's funny how things happen. Our original line of work was designing and producing kitchen cabinets and custom mill work. A customer came to me one day and asked if I could make a pair of hardwood knitting needles for her, as a favor. This was during the spring of 2007 and at that time I didn't even know knitting needles were available in wood. I made that first set of needles out of some hardwood dowel I had laying around the shop. The size wasn't accurate and they weren't very straight, but the customer thought they were great. Eventually we started receiving more requests for our homegrown knitting needles from local knitters. As more needles were ordered I started gathering more information about wooden knitting needles and started thinking about ways we could make them better. I built new equipment in the shop that would allow us to make our own dowel from rough lumber. This allowed us to make our own metric size dowel from different species of wood.
Approximately four months after producing the first pair of needles we had the art of making perfect dowel down to a science. Our needles were getting fantastic reviews and it was suggested that we should consider taking the next step and making them available to retail stores. It seemed like the right thing to do. Since that time we have continued to move forward and have devoted our shop to producing and designing products for the knitting community.
When we first made our needles available to retail stores they were only available in Birch but since then have added Walnut and Cherry. Originally we produced only Straight needles in just five sizes. We now offer Straight, Double Point and Cable Needles. Soon we will be introducing our line of Circular Needles. Our Straight needles are now available in nineteen sizes and four different lengths. One of the largest selections on the market! Our Double Points are available in eighteen different sizes and three different lengths. Once again, one of the largest selections available.
We have also introduced a unique Yarn Swift designed right here in our own shop. One of the most durable and functional swifts you will find on the market. Our new line of Shawl Pins are receiving rave reviews and because no two are made the same, they are becoming a collectors item. Let's not forget our Knitting Spool, the Lil' Knittin' Knobby. Made of solid hardwood, both comfortable and easy to use.
From beginning to end our needles are genuinely down to earth handcrafted. This is a fact that customers really appreciate. We start by hand selecting kiln dried, rough sawn lumber from local mills that guarantee reforestation practices. We do not purchase ready made dowels from overseas where there is no guarantee the supplier practices renewable forestry. We turn the rough sawn lumber into perfectly round dowel in our facility. We have complete control over the quality of the dowel being produced. Each dowel is inspected by hand for defects in grain or chips that may have occurred during the turning process. Once the dowel is cut to length we begin the process of shaping the tips of the needles. Each tip is shaped by hand with specialized equipment that was developed on site. No less than five sanding operations take place during the shaping of the needle points. This provides us with what we call a "relaxed tip" that allows the tip of the needle to blend into the shaft of the needle. This type of tip allows for easier knitting as the yarn is able to glide from point to shaft with ease. Once the tip is shaped, the entire needle is hand sanded with no less than five different grits of paper.
We take extreme pride in the finishing of our needles. We start by removing any dust left behind from the shaping process and then apply one coat of natural Tung Oil. Once the oil is dry, we sand lightly and buff to a smooth finish. The Tung Oil seals the grain of the wood and provides a water proof finish as a base for the wax to be applied to. A minimum of two coats of high quality wax is then applied by hand to the needles. The wax is an all natural custom blend made on site. We use a specialized process to cure the wax and produce a high quality finish.
Each set or pair of needles is packaged by hand. During packaging they receive their final inspection. All packaging used by Rocky-Brook Needles is made of recycled paper products. We use absolutely no plastics in the packaging of our needles.
Our needles are not only a pleasure to use but they are also one of the most environmentally friendly knitting products on the market. We are very proud to say we maintain less than a 4% waste factor during the crafting of our products.
Contact: rocky-brookneedles@nbnet.nb.ca