It is our 20th wedding anniversary, who would have guessed it.
I've been away from the blog and the shop for a while. We had family visiting at the beginning of the month and I've been struggling with back pain issues lately too.
So last week I finally got into the shop to make a couple of projects on the lathe. 
Recently my wife bought some rovings (fat unspun yarn) and needed some really big knitting needles and a crochet hook. These items are 25 mm or 1 inch in diameter. The crochet hook was easy, I rough shaped it on the bandsaw and used sandpaper to smooth and shape the final product.
The needles were a little bigger project. I mounted the dowel in my lathe and used chisels to shape the pointed end. I wanted the point to be exactly centred, using the lathe made that possible. Also it was quick and easy to sand the needles to 400 grit before using paste wax for the finish.
On the end of the needles are disks that came from a clearance bin in a craft supply store. Wood glue and one self tapping screw secured the disk solidly. I expect some very warm scarves this winter.
This seems to be the season for yard work and motorcycle rides. I will get into the shop if it ever rains again.
Cheers ianw