Hooks

Let’s talk hooks

There are various types of crochet hook that come in a large range of sizes and can be made in a variety of materials. However all hooks have the same anatomy.

Hooks are made up of the head, throat, shaft, thumb rest and handle.

The head of the hook can be shaped either inline where the hook is a cylinder with a notch removed for grabbing the yarn or not inline which sticks out slightly past the rest of the cylinder. The different types of head change the way the yarn is controlled and grabbed and it’s personal preference as to which works better for you.

The diameter of the shaft is what determines a hooks size and therefore the size of your stitches, both the UK and US have their own sizing systems which are contradictory to each other in some ways so it has become more common to use mm for hook sizes, here’s a handy chart that may help for some patterns that don’t yet use mm 🙂

There are multiple kinds of handles that can be found on crochet hooks often if any material is added over the top of the original cylinder this is referred to as an ergonomic hook, popular materials for these types of handles are rubber, wood and many people use polymer clay to create home made handles for their hooks.

Common materials for hooks are aluminium, bamboo, steel – most common for thread hooks, plastic – these can be straight hooks or moulded to have a more ergonomic handle such as prym hooks, or wood – often handcrafted very beautiful and a higher price tag.

There are many brands for crochet hooks some of the most popular include clover, knit pro, prym and furls.

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