Crochet Hook Size Confusion

[NewGal]

I bought some yarn and a hook today to try crocheting. I tried to match the hook size to the yarn, but I'm confused by the labels, package info and what the book I have says.

 

I am in America, so these are American sizes.

I am NOT working from a pattern, just want to try learning some stitches. So there is NO pattern to refer to.

(I'm saying it like this because I posted on another board and even though I thought I was clear, people kept referring me to "the pattern" and mentioning other countries' sizes.)

 

Okay, here's the problem:

 

I bought some yarn and a crocket hook today. I tried to get the best size for the yarn, but I'm not sure I did. One place on the label has a little picture of a crochet hook and "5mm" by it. Another place on the label has the same picture, but "6mm" by it. Both are very clear, so it's not like one has a mark on it that may be changing the way the number looks.

 

I bought a 5.5 mm hook. Got everything home and looked at a book I have with some info on crocheting. The book has a crochet hook size chart. for 5.5mm, it says "US size I" (meaning the letter between H and J, not the numeral before 2). The crochet hook package says it's 5.5 mm but "US zie 19."

 

Can anyone out there explain the discrepancies? What size hook should I be using? Why are there two metric sizes on the same yarn label? Why is the US size on the hook package completely differenct from the sizes in my book? Which size is correct?

 

Whew! Thanks.

[ctawq]

I bought a 5.5 mm hook. Got everything home and looked at a book I have with some info on crocheting. The book has a crochet hook size chart. for 5.5mm, it says "US size I" (meaning the letter between H and J, not the numeral before 2). The crochet hook package says it's 5.5 mm but "US zie 19."

 

Can anyone out there explain the discrepancies? What size hook should I be using? Why are there two metric sizes on the same yarn label? Why is the US size on the hook package completely differenct from the sizes in my book? Which size is correct?

 

Whew! Thanks.

 

 

I think I can help with one thing "US zie 19." This mean "I" or "9", You will find the hooks have two identifiers like ... "H" or "8"

Does that help?

:cat:yarn

[acraftylady]

Sometimes your pattern will state a different hook size than what the label says too. I use a lot of red heart WW and use and I hook with it for my DC triangular prayer shawls and I think the label says I for the red heart. I used a bigger hook in the beginning when practicing so I could see the stitches better and that helped me.

 

What yarn did you buy? Usually you can go on the makers site for the yarn and fiund out what hook size is reccomended, read heart, bernat and all of them have sites and you can browse the yarns. Mary

[Granny Square]

Here's a little reference post for you

http://www.crochetville.org/forum/showthread.php?t=38391

 

I think back in the 'olden days' there were several numbering systems, which of course didn't agree. I have a little cross reference card that also says an 'I' is an english size 6. So, I guess it's better to go metric, there's no question.

 

If you are just swatching you should be OK with either 5.5 mm 'I' or 6.0 mm 'J'. It's just a recommendation...you might achieve better results with one or the other based on your tension.

[KER828]

If you have a Worsted Weight yarn (WW) you should be just fine with the "I" hook. The most important thing once you start following a pattern (If you do) is to do a gauge swatch. The pattern will tell you X # of stiches and X # of rows = 1 inch or something like that. If the yarn and hook you use don't give you that gauge then you would need to adjust your hook size until you get the gauge.

 

Since you are not using a pattern and just learning on your own you can do whatever you want knowing that if something is bigger than you want it then you can reduce your hook size or change yarn to make it smaller.

 

I admire you for forging ahead on your own - I've done that a little but I'm analytical enough to need to know why a pattern works before I can just wing it!!

 

Good Luck!

[crocheting turtle]

I agree with Granny Square. The hook sizes on the yarn labels are recommendations. It's a good practice to go with the metric if one is given. You can always translate it using a chart. Good luck.

[NewGal]

Thanks ctawq and Granny Square, for answering the questions I was asking.

 

ctawq, your little bit of info was exactly what I needed to take a look at the crochet hook packaging one more time. It did say I9 and not 19, so that made sense finally, because that matched the 5.5mm.

 

Granny Square, telling me that there were different conventions that may have changed also helped greatly by letting me know that these things aren't absolute.

 

I also bought a hook for filet crochet, 1.5 mm. Size is 7, which matches the yarn i got for it, but which in the book is 1.65 mm. I don't know why it doesn't all match nicely, but I'm going to chalk it up to "different conventions."

 

I finally figured out why my yarn label was showing two different metric sizes. One, the 5 mm, was for the yarn. Another seemed to be what I should consider the yarn to be for the "free pattern" that was printed inside. I hadn't realized that a pattern was printed on the label and don't know why they can't choose one that uses the same size that the yarn really is, but I don't plan to use it anyway.

 

I finally opened the hook package and gave crocheting a try. Gor the base row done, I think. The book showed a chain stitch and a slip stitich, and they looked the same to me. I'm left-handed and the book only has right-handed pictures, so I can't quite tell which I'm actually doing. Tried a second row, single stitch and botched it, will try again today.

 

Thanks.

[kookaloo_starr]

As you're a left handed crocheter you might want to have a look at this page http://www.crochet.org/lessons/lessonl/lessonl.html if you click on the blue text for each stitch it will open up another window with a "how to" including pics.

youtube videos can a helpful learning tool too!

have fun!

[Granny Square]

Hang in there!! I can't imagine learning the basics from books; of course back in my day they didn't have You Tube videos .

 

A slip stich and a chain are very similar. A chain is made into the yarn only, not into another stitch, so you make a little 'rope' if you keep going. A sl st is made into another stitch. Slip stitches take up the least amount of space of all the stitches; they are most commonly used to join the last stitch to the first one in a round, or anywhere where you need a stitch with little height.

[magiccrochetfan]

You might want to look for the book Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet. It has clear directions with illustrations for both left and right handed, for all of the stitches. It also has a good stitch pattern dictionary and several project patterns. You may find it for sale at a Hobby Lobby or Joann's (I've seen it at both) and your local library may have it as well.

 

Welcome to the Ville:hook

[HappyOldCro]

The only advice I would have is stick with the MM sizes, that is why I have accumulated 3 types of hooks, Boye, Bates and Pony (English or International). I have even found discrepancies between the Bates and Boye (both American) hooks. When a pattern calls for an L hook, I use both to see which one gives the correct gauge. Gauges are important so we don't have to keep pulling the work apart.

When it gives the MM size, (and alot of American books don't) then it is so much easier.

[DawnofMarch]

Hang in there!! I can't imagine learning the basics from books; of course back in my day they didn't have You Tube videos .

 

I myself feel that a video is the best way to start learning Crochet if one does not have a person close to them that can teach them.

 

My sister had bought a book to teach crochet and only now (a year and a half after I started to crochet) am I finally able to clearly understand the book itself, and just started to do a pattern from it. I don't know if it's just the wording used in the book or the lack of good pictures showing what to do, but I never would have been able to really learn from the book from the get-go.

[acraftylady]

I use this leisure arts booklet and it worked great for me since it had left handed illustrations. Then I took some classes but then after that I bought the leisure arts videos and started using the you tube videos for various stitches. Mary