All about hooks

All About Hooks

© 2012, 2016 Sandra Petit, http://www.crochetcabana.com

Buying hooks can be confusing. Did you know that there are dozens of different kinds of hooks? I’m not going to attempt to cover every single option as there are so many manufacturers and individuals who make crochet hooks, both as a hobby and as their primary source of income. However, I will try to give you an overview to help you maneuver through the maze.

Parts of a Crochet Hook

First, you should know the parts of your hook to aid in discussion with other crochet fanatics.

Obviously the head or hook is an essential part of the entire tool and what makes it different from knitting needles. While some people do refer to it as the “hook,” it is often called the "point" or "head" to distinguish it from the hook as a whole.

There are two basic hook types. I call them Bates and Boye, but they are really inline and tapered. This refers to the shape of the head and throat of the hook. Sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference between inline and tapered hooks. Many crocheters, however, have a strong opinion of which is better, meaning which one they prefer to use, often exclusively. I am a Boye or tapered gal. I do use Bates, but not as often as I use the tapered hooks. I have a good number of both in my collection. Neither is really better than the other, it is simply a matter of personal preference.

You’ll notice a difference in Bates and Boye hooks as to the size of the shaft. Bates has a shorter shaft, whereas Boye has a longer shaft.

Not all crochet hooks have a grip (also called the thumb rest). Some are straight or made in other ways, such as the wooden or clay hooks.

The handle is often the part of the hook where hook designers let their creativity flow. Many small business owners take aluminum hooks and add clay handles in various colors and designs. Some places add a topper to the hook. It might be an animal like an owl or some other popular item. There are hooks with bamboo handles. There are hooks with rubberized handles such as the Etimo which are kind to your fingers, similar to the way in which your feet prefer to walk on carpet than a hard floor.

Materials

We know that hooks vary in diameter, circumference and length which makes a difference in the size of our finished products. Hooks vary also in material. This may or may not affect the size of your finished product, but it may well affect your enjoyment of the process if you are using an uncomfortable hook or one that doesn’t work well with the yarn or thread being used.

Some of the common materials from which hooks (or parts of hooks) are fashioned include various types of wood, plastic, rubber, clay, Corian, steel, brass, gold, silver, and aluminum. The difference in material may also greatly affect the price of the hook.

I have in my own collection hooks made with walnut, rosewood, cherry, maple, eucalyptus, holly, bamboo, plastic, Corian, steel, bronze, aluminum and some with rubber, clay or bamboo handles. I don’t know the material used for many of the hooks I own, but I appreciate each of them for their own unique qualities. I have two favorite hooks - My L hook made of venaro rose Corian is precious to me as is my Inox made in Germany aluminum hooks. Both of these are irreplaceable as they’re no longer made.

I received an e-mail from someone who told me she has a bone hook from her grandmother. A quick online search showed a few bone hooks available for purchase (Feb.2013) but they are rare. The descriptions of the items I saw did not say what type of bone it was.

Why choose one material over the other? Well, from my view I like to have many different types around. To a degree the type of hook that works best for you in most circumstances will be a personal choice. but I can give you a little insight into them.

Metal hooks are generally cold and hard, but also allow the yarn to slide easily off your hook. This can be good or bad depending on how fast you crochet and how skilled you are.

Wood or bamboo are warmer to work with. The yarn may slide over the hook well too if it is smooth and well made. Many wooden hooks have a straight body without a grip or thumb rest.

Corian feels cold to the touch when you begin using it, similar to the metal hooks. If you need a warm hook because of a health condition like arthritis, you might want to stick to wood or rubber coated hooks.

Plastic hooks vary among the type. I have found some plastic hooks to work very well and last a long time while others don’t work so well and break easily.

Sometimes how the hook works depends on the yarn or thread you are using. Some threads just seem to work better with a particular hook, so if you are having trouble just switch to a different hook of the same size. You might find a difference.

Similarly hooks with a clay handle give a lot of variation in color and design. They can also be made with thick handles which are nice for those who have trouble gripping small handled hooks. If there is a 3D design on the hook handle you may find this uncomfortable until you get used to it. Then again, some folks just like to collect hooks for the beauty of them and have a few that are for show and not extensive use.

There are pros and cons to working with a hook with an added handle as opposed to hooks made in one piece. There is no standard among them in that sometimes the shaft of the hook is short and sometimes it is longer. If you are having your hook custom made you might be able to specify how you want your hook. Otherwise you just have to try different hooks and see which suits your needs. I prefer a longer shaft myself. The little short ones don’t seem to work well for me.

Sometimes you can get hooks custom made for you through a crafter on Etsy or Ebay type sites. Here is a hook fashioned after Doctor Who's sonic screwdriver.

Smaller hooks, used for crocheting with thread, are made of steel, and are usually called “steel hooks” to differentiate from those used with yarn.

I have a number of interesting steel hooks in my collection. One has a price on it--15¢. The price is right on the hook! I have a number of these with different prices on them. I have also noticed in videos on YouTube that some other crocheters have these antique hooks which they use in their tutorials.

Specialty Hooks

Besides the normal hooks shown here, there are specialty hooks you can purchase. 

The Afghan hook is used with the Tunisian crochet, also called afghan stitch. It uses the same basic sizing system as a regular 5" to 7" hook, but it is generally much longer, 10" or 14" long. You can also get afghan hooks with a flexible wire so you can hold more stitches. It is similar to the knitting system of using circular needles.

The hook used for Crochet on the Double and Crochetnit has a hook on both ends of the tool. The hook is the same size on both ends.

A fairly new tool on the market is the Knook. It is generally made of bamboo and has a hole at the top where you thread cord. It is used to "knit" with a crochet hook.

You can also get lighted crochet hooks for use when you need to focus the light on your stitches. This could be useful if you lose power and are crocheting in the dark, if you are riding in a car at night, or just if your vision is poor. 

Size

An important consideration when purchasing hooks is size – both in length and in circumference. You can find very thin hooks, generally in the steel hooks, and hooks all the way up to 3” around. They might be 5” long and on up to a few feet though most are up to 14” or so.

The very thick hooks could be used for working with very thick yarn or multiple strands of yarn. The Go Girl big hooks are some of these. You can find other similarly sized hooks at Etsy and other places. These would be especially good to make rugs which wouldn’t need to be washed very often.

Hook sizes can be confusing because manufacturers don’t always use the same exact scale and private or custom made hooks have no standard to use.

Besides that, U.S. and European hooks are labeled differently. (They also use crochet terms differently.)

So many people make oversized hooks now that the mm size for those may not be accurate for these.

	“Letter Size” “Number Size” Size in Millimeters A ? 2.0 B 1 2.25/2.5 C 2 2.75/3.0 D 3 3.25 E 4 3.5 F 5 3.75/4.0 G 6 4.0/4.25 7* 7 4.5 H 8 5.0 I 9 5.5 J 10 6 K 10 1/2 6.5 L 11 8 M/N 13 9 N/P 15 10 O 12 in between size Turn of the Century 13 P 16 15 Q 15.75/16 S 35 19/20 T 22 U 25 V 28 W 31

Below is a list of the hooks that are normally used with the particular yarn or thread. Doesn’t mean you can’t use a different one if you so choose. It’s just a general guideline. The first chart is the regular hooks. The second is steel hooks.

	Yarn U.S. Hook Size Range Sock, fingering, baby B-1 to E-4 Sport E-4 to 7 D.K. 7 to I-9 Worsted, afghan, Aran H-8 to K-10 1/2 Chunky, craft, rug K-10 1/2 to M13 Super bulky M13 and larger

	Hook MM - U.S. U.K. Hook Suggested Thread 00 3.5 3 0 3.25 0 5 1 2.75 1 2 2.25 1.5 3 2.1 2 4 2.0 2.5 5 1.9 3 6 1.8 3.5 7 1.65 4 10 8 1.5 4.5 10 9 1.4 5 20 10 1.3 5.5 20-30 11 1.1 6 30-40 12 1.0 6.5 30-60 13 .85 7 40-80 14 .75 80-100

Happy crocheting!
Sandie