Tag Archive | Crochet hooks

Comfy Hold on your Crochet Hook

Mar27

The way you hold your crochet hook is a very personal thing.  The most important thing to remember is not to grip it so hard that your hand muscles and fingers become exhausted.  To me, that takes the fun out of crocheting!!  Just a light but secure grip is all that is needed.

I guess first it is helpful to dissect a crochet hook.  You have the point, throat, shaft, thumb rest and handle.  The shaft and thumb rest is where your fingers will always be when crocheting.  The point and throat are where you actually make your stitches and the handle is basically there for balance.

Hook Description

 

My grandmother originally taught  me how to crochet but being the only left-handed person in my family, she could only teach me how to hold the hook like a right-handed crocheter.  Actually,  I have found that holding and working the crochet hook in my right hand and controlling the yarn with my left hand really is much easier for me because the hook movement is just a repetitive motion but keeping the tension and working with the yarn requires more control.  Using my left hand for the more intricate work (which is my stronger and more coordinated hand) works great for me!!

You will probably crochet using either a Pencil Grip or a Knife Grip.  I use the knife grip when I crochet and find it very comfortable and easy for me.  With my right hand, I place my thumb on the front of the thumb rest which will be facing me, place my index finger onto the shaft and hold the back of the thumb rest against my middle finger.  The handle will just lay against my ring finger and the palm.  There is very little movement of my fingers on my right hand when I crochet.  I slightly move my index finger along the shaft to help hold the loops in place as I make my stitches and that is it.

Knife grip using right hand

Now my left hand does a lot more work for me.  I personally like to wrap the yarn around several fingers to get good tension on the yarn.  I will place the yarn under my pinky finger, over my ring finger, under my middle finger and over my index finger.  My crochet piece will be held in place using my middle finger and thumb with my ring finger and pinky helping to hold ever so slightly.  My index finger on my left hand does all the work.  I yarn over onto the hook with my left index finger, push the point of the crochet hook through the proper loops using my right hand and bracing with my left middle finger, guiding with my left thumb, and using my left ring finger and pinky as support.  I have great success crocheting in this manner.   I don’t know if this is the motion a true right-handed crocheter uses but I have found this a very workable method for me and I am a very left-handed individual.   I even use my left foot to push the pedal on my sewing machine!!

Yarn weave through my left hand fingers

 

Doing a Stich

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep practicing and work on what is really comfortable for you when crocheting.  Hopefully, this will give you some guidelines whether you are right or left-handed for holding your hook and work.  I know there are some good directions for left-handed crocheting if this method doesn’t work for you.  Give it a try, you might like it!!

  • TIP:  If you are really a beginner or if you are trying to teach a youngster how to crochet,  I would suggest that you only wrap the yarn over your left index finger as your tension guide until you get the feel of both hands and yarn working together.   After you feel comfortable with practice, then proceed to weave the yarn around the additional fingers on your left hand.

HAPPY CREATING!!

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The Hook Says it All

Jan26

What exactly is a crochet hook?  They have been defined as a needle with a hook at one end used for drawing yarn or thread through knotted loops.  Whereas in knitting, you use two needles to complete a project, in crocheting you basically use only one hook to make your stitches.

The size of a crochet hook is measured by the thickness of the tool’s shaft which will ultimately relate to the size of the stitches created.  So in a nut shell, the larger and thicker the crochet hook, the larger and thicker your stitches will be. With that in mind, you will more than likely need a thicker yarn when crocheting with a larger hook.

You will find several different systems used to determine the size of a crochet hook.  The American (letter/number system), Continental (metric system) and UK system.  Check out Crochet Hooks You for a very informative crochet hook conversion chart, click on sitemap and then click on chart.   Most of the time, the more common aluminum hooks are imprinted with both the letter/number size and the numeric metric size.  This is useful because some patterns say to use a size G or specify a 3.25mm crochet hook.  Just remember, the higher the number or farther down the ABC ladder, the larger the hook.  Oddly enough, steel hooks are really the opposite.  The higher the number, the smaller the hook.

Karp Styles Crochet & Knitting is a wonderful website giving you intricate details about various hooks and their qualities.

I know it is important on some patterns for you to be exact when it comes to your hook size and yarn weight so that your gauge matches with the pattern requirements and your crochet project fits perfectly. However, depending upon the pattern and the outcome you want, it can be fun to experiment using different size hooks with different weights of yarn.  Keep in mind, if you take a thread pattern and want to use a 3ply yarn even if you use the recommended hook size, you will probably need to purchase more yarn than what the pattern calls for.  Don’t be afraid to crochet “out of the box”!!

Crochet hooks are available in a wide variety of materials too; aluminum (probably the most common and readily available), plastic, acrylic, steel, wood (bamboo, rosewood, birch, and other exotic woods). Laurel Hill Online has a wide selection of handmade crochet hooks.

If you are a beginner or are wanting to teach a child how to crochet, probably a large sized aluminum hook (N – 9.00mm) would be a good one to start with.  They are light, have a large tip for grasping the yarn, and the yarn will work off the hook with minimal effort.

However, if you’re a crochet “junkie” like me, then maybe it is time to treat yourself to an exotic wood crochet hook or put that request on your wish list.

HAPPY CREATING!!

Disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links – “small commission earned”