Ingredients for The Best Crochet Hooks
Crochet hooks are literally an essential part of the hobby, and yet the importance of choosing the right one is often overlooked. You’ll spend hours choosing the right yarn weight, texture and fiber, only to pick up the nearest crochet hook that meets your size requirements.
But picking the wrong crochet hook doesn’t just have the potential to make or break your next project, it could even turn you off the hobby for good.
Today I’ll share ten things I take into account when choosing which crochet hook to work with, from the grips to the tip!
But before I dive in, here’s a diagram to show you which parts of the hook I’ll be talking about:
Go with an Ergonomic Grip
Crochet hooks are easier to hold when they have a thicker handle end. Not only does it make the hook simpler to manipulate, but I find that I can use them for much longer periods than the classic stick-like versions.
Ergonomic grips are usually made of wood, rubber or plastic, but my preference is for the rubber gripped varieties.
Your Handle Needs Friction
To hold onto your grip and move it around using the fine motor movements of your fingers and wrist, you need friction between your hand and the hook. I’ve got a gorgeous wooden handled crochet hook, but it’s so well polished and sanded that it simply slides through my hand when I try to work it.
Having something creating friction means you will find it much easier to hold your hook without having to squeeze really hard, therefore reducing the amount of time you can crochet and increasing the likelihood of you finding yourself with a bit of a strain.
Grip Texture
Your hook’s texture isn’t just about friction, but about how it feels to you personally. Obviously you want to avoid hooks that are abrasive on your skin. But ideally you want something that is so comfortable you can barely feel that it’s there. Rubber really does seem to be a winner on this count too, for me.
Longer Shafts are Better
Crochet hooks vary hugely in terms of the shaft length, which is the space between the hook and grip sections. I find short shafts much harder to work with. I think it’s because they interrupt the natural flow of my stitches. Aborting them before I’m ready to stop working. It also means if you’re using a stitch that keeps a number of loops on the hook, like a puff stitch, that you’ll struggle to make it neatly.
Smooth Hook Heads
Hook heads are usually made of metal, and even if it looks at first glance like your hook is smooth I repeatedly come across hooks that have tiny metal burrs or bumps in the throat or mouth. This means that the yarn catches as you hook through, breaking your motion and often the yarn fibers too.
Avoid this by take a length of yarn and running it back and forth through the throat of the hook before you commit to using a hook.
Switchable Hook Heads
This one isn’t a priority, but I totally love hooks with replaceable heads. They save storage space, and you just unscrew each hook size and replace it with the one you’re currently working on.
Head Shape
Your hook’s head should be tapered at the top and have a fairly deep throat at the hook point. This will make it easier to insert into stitches, and to pick up your yarn as well.
Is The Price Right?
It’s no good creating the perfect hook if no one can afford it, right? I think we have to include a budget when we’re considering what to buy, because for most of us it’s an inescapable fact of life. My method is to look first at whether the hook meets my expectations, and then decides whether it fits into my finances. The one that meets the most of my criteria within my desired budget is the winner.
Crochet Hook Looks!
Aesthetics matter to me. I am more likely to pick up a pretty hook than one that’s plain and boring, and when I’m staring at a hook for quite a lot of my day it might as well brighten it up with its mere existence! Pretty patterns, cool designs and interesting shapes all make a difference to me when it comes to hook choice – but it’s the last thing on the list, and only if all the above points are equal.
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