At last: the croquet set that won't trip you at dusk

Seeing well enough to play croquet at dusk is no problem with these homemade wickets. Their white PVC pipe legs stand out much more clearly than their thin wire counterparts.

Designed by William Stanley of Buellton, California, the simple, lightweight wickets and end posts can be built in just a few hours. To make complete set of nine wickets and two posts, you'll need two 10-foot lengths of 3/4-inch schedule 125 PVC pipe, 8 feet of 2-by2 redwood or fir, 20 galvanized gutter spikes 7 inches long, 6 feet of 3/4-inch hardwood dowel, a box of brads, and epoxy glue. Materials will run about $15 to $20.Glue the longer dowel pieces into the 2-by-2 tops, then glue on the piping. Add the short dowels with gutter spikes to the bottom of each pipe. To further lock the pipe and dowels in position, add the brads where indicated (predrill small holes to prevent cracking).Using a hacksaw, cut the PVC pipe into 18 pieces 11 inches long and two pieces 18 inches long. (You can remove any lettering on outside with acetone or by lightly sanding.) Check that the dowel fits into the pipe; sand the wood down if necessary, then cut the dowel into 20 pieces 2 inches long and 20 pieces 1 inch long. Hold the 1-inch pieces with pliers and drill holes through their centers so that gutter spikes will pass through snugly. Glue the spikes in position, with heads flush.Just for the fun of it, Mr. STanley added decorative tops to the 18-inch-high end posts. The rooster shown above was cut from 3/4-inch pine. Its comb, wattles, and tail were cut from 1/4-inch plywood, the feet carved from scrap wood. The legs are short pieces of 1/4-inch dowel covered with a plastic drinking straw. One leg dowel extends down from the body into a 3/4-inch dowel in the end post.

Just for the fun of it, Mr. STanley added decorative tops to the 18-inch-high end posts. The rooster shown above was cut from 3/4-inch pine. Its comb, wattles, and tail were cut from 1/4-inch plywood, the feet carved from scrap wood. The legs are short pieces of 1/4-inch dowel covered with a plastic drinking straw. One leg dowel extends down from the body into a 3/4-inch dowel in the end post.