I have fallen in love...

[Miss Crochet]

with a hook. Actually, a three-pack. Yes, I'm being unfaithful and have several little stitchy liaisons going on at the one time - a granny square and two scarves. It's true love, believe me. We met on Friday and we have been inseparable since then. They've met all my friends and a good many complete strangers, as I have been waving them around in public - just for the sake of showing off.

 

You see, my fairy godmother ( )sent me - among other lovely things - a three-pack of Boyes hooks. They have been a revelation: up until now I have obviously been crocheting with miniature baseball bats or blunt spoons - at least, that's how it feels. I actually crochet faster! The hooks have a pointy tip, which means they fly in and out of the yarn, as though possessed by a crocheting spirit. And they're pretty colours, too: twenty-five years of dull-grey aluminium are over. Now I have a spanky red hook, a groovy purple hook and, for the days when I need a bit of crochet bling-bling, a gold hook.

 

I'm stunned - what on earth have I been using all these years? Why have continental Europeans been denied the delights of multicoloured tapered-tip crochet hooks???? Obviously our crocheting foremothers decided that we had to learn to crochet the hard way: blunt, cold, nasty, grey hooks - a.k.a. Crochet for Puritans. So my new Boyes hooks have become welded on to my claw; I carry them around in my purse (because now I also have stitch markers - no more paperclips for me) to mark my end stitch, so my hooks are mobile. I take them out for a walk (hooks need air, right?) and preen with them every now and again. Strangely, the general German populace is not as taken with my new tools as I am, though I did see one grandmother eyeing my H hook covetously on the bus.

 

So - I know this was a topic in an earlier thread, but can't find it in a search - what's YOUR favourite hook, and why? Reveal to me the delights of all the hooks I have yet to try!!

[angieInCA]

I'm a Boye Girl

Love them, I can't crochet (well I can but don't like it) with any other brand, they tend to confuse me

[grannyannie]

LOL! I'm surprised that I haven't worn out my boye "H" hook, I use it so much, but now that I have a jimbo chophook, look out! That baby flies!

[beth eathorne]

i love my clover soft touch hooks also like the susan bates, have more of a flat head.

 

to each his own i say if it works for you go for it.

[Miss Crochet]

Ohh - Susan Bates? Flat heads? Must try those!

 

 

...I see I need to do a comprehensive survey!...

[dorothysgirls]

I love my boye, and addi hooks!! I can not use susan bates to save my life I have tried several times!!

[theworm]

I'm a Clover girl.

Love them!

[debbysewing7]

Some ladies at the Ville were discussing the Susan Bates Silvalumes and I went that very day on my lunch hour and picked up a set. I absolutely love them!

 

It's really funny, some can't stand the SB and some can't stand the Boye. I had used Boye for years and still use them but the SB seems to fit my hand/style better.

 

I'm thinking I need to try one of the carved wooden hooks to see what the fuss is about in that area. If they're as good as everyone says, I would have to name them and maybe get adoption papers.

~ Debby

[pat54]

Miss Crochet your stories are a delight.

 

I am definitely a Boye hook gal. I ran out and bought the Susan Bates set that everyone was raving about and I can't use them so here they sit. Hmmmmm maybe I can send them to someone who could give them a good home. Poor things are lonely. Susan Bates hooks are too short for me. They do crochet nice but the hook sits different against the palm of my hand and causes pain, Boye hooks are longer and fit my hand better. I guess a lot depends on how you hold your hook.

[Craw]

The Susan Bates Silvalume are my favorites. They come in pretty colors too. I could never use a Boye hook, it kept getting stuck in the yarn. Maybe I couldn't use them because they were too long for me and the shorter Susan Bates fits my hand better. I too want to try the wooden hooks. I just worry that I'll sit on it one day and c~r~a~c~k! That'll be the end of it.

[Aelita]

I've only ever used Boye and Crystallytes<~~ maybe spelled wrong. I had the plastic ones first then I got the Boye Aluminum and haven't went back to the plastic. I did once when I couldn't find my H hook and the plastic H hook felt smaller and kept slipping off the yarn. If and when I can I'll try out some other kinds.

[MrsD]

I learned to crochet 37 years ago with a size H pink Bates hook. I still have and use it! Can't get used to Boyes. Loved your story, Miss Crochet!

[magiccrochetfan]

Miss Crochet, you are such a good writer! Very funny stuff:lol

 

I am curious now about the brand you were using, if you don't mind my asking?

 

My favorite for yarn are Susan bates with the inline head; I do like the pretty pastel colors. For thread I usually use my old Boye hooks. Well, most of my hooks are about 30 years old:hook

[darski]

I went in the opposite direction and I am also amazed at how fast I can crochet with my inline hooks. I can't make my pointy ones work at all any more and I really don't want to try.

[crochetluvknot]

my fav's are susan bates and my Graydogs wooden hooks

[sorefingers]

Oh Miss Crochet, you are priceless! I giggled so hard reading your post that my son demanded to know what was so funny!

 

I am also a die-hard Boye girl. I love them and their jazzy colours. I detest plastic. I still want to try the chophook, wood, bone and bamboo though.

 

Sore

[sfgwife]

Before hubby made me a set of wood hooks I was a boye girl. I tried many many times over the years to use bates to no avail. The flat end just didn't do it for me. But then again the first hook I even got EONS ago it seems was boye................ Now when I try to use my boye I feel like oh man how did I ever use these. I am very used to my wood hooks now and love the shape and feel of them all cause hubby played around with the handle making area adn I have lots of different ones.

[Hooked]

I prefer metal Boye hooks.

 

I don't like plastic hooks because the yarn "sticks" to them and I don't like the hook shape on the Bates hooks. Although, I am trying the new Clover hooks that look rather like toothbrushes and I'm liking them. The other problem I have with Bates hooks is that the sizes and numbers on the steel hooks are completely different from the sizes and numbers on the Boye hooks.

 

The lighted hooks don't have enough "grab" on the ends, although I like the shape of the handle. The light is a little too bright and glaring sometimes. (I'd love to try to crochet in a dark movie theater with one. )

 

I also tried bamboo and rosewood hooks. Both are much too round, thin, and slippery in my hand. The rosewood hook is too pointy on the hook part and wants to catch the yarn on the way out of the stitch.

 

What I would like to try is a wooden hook with a big handle and a smaller end, but I haven't found one. I did find a wooden handle on ebay for my steel hooks which I am liking. I'll have to post pix of the two doilies I made using it.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations for wooden hooks?

[Elle]

I am a Boye girl as well. I love my Boye hooks. I have some Susan Bates hooks that I like as well, but I always find myself going for my Boyes first. There are some no-name hooks mixed in with my Boyes and Bates hooks, but I never use them. I actually don't know why I keep them in my hook bag, but it makes my hook collection look bigger and more impressive so I leave them in there.

[Miss Crochet]

Thanks for all your suggestions. This is a link to a picture of the Prym hook I have been forced to use thus far

http://www.spinblessing.com/item.php?art=grp:inx195

Apparently INOX (as they used to be known) made stainless steel goods, including knitting needles and crochet hooks. My older hooks are INOX - plain grey steel (or is it aluminium? Gosh, I've had at least one for over 20 years and never thought about it. It must be stainless steel). The older ones are okay but the newer ones, with the plastic handle, aren't very nice at all. For a start: the plastic handle. HOW am I supposed to look cool with a plastic handle? More seriously, I don't like the grip on it too much. And I suspect the steel tip is inferior steel. I can't explain it but I think the cheeky wretches at Prym might even be using ... an alloy because the metal sounds slightly hollow when I tap it.

 

In any case, because it is fused to the plastic handle, it doesn't feel as 'stable' as a normal steel hook does.

 

But this - apart from bamboo - is the ONLY hook available in any shops over here so obviously Inox/Prym have cornered the market. I guess the number of people who crochet over here must be relatively small, as there are no competing brands. In Ireland I managed to pick up a couple of old INOX hooks, the plain steel ones, that were literally gathering dust on a shelf in a yarn store - all the other hooks were Prym as well. It's really very strange because we have a plethora of yarn - all kinds of fabulous stuff - but we crocheters are definitely the Cinderellas of stitching.

 

It's the middle of the night for most of you ladies (and gents) but I have to go off and teach the delights of English grammar, haha. Have a nice day, everyone!

[Kimblee]

with a hook. Actually, a three-pack. Yes, I'm being unfaithful and have several little stitchy liaisons going on at the one time - a granny square and two scarves. It's true love, believe me. We met on Friday and we have been inseparable since then. They've met all my friends and a good many complete strangers, as I have been waving them around in public - just for the sake of showing off.

 

You see, my fairy godmother ( )sent me - among other lovely things - a three-pack of Boyes hooks. They have been a revelation: up until now I have obviously been crocheting with miniature baseball bats or blunt spoons - at least, that's how it feels. I actually crochet faster! The hooks have a pointy tip, which means they fly in and out of the yarn, as though possessed by a crocheting spirit. And they're pretty colours, too: twenty-five years of dull-grey aluminium are over. Now I have a spanky red hook, a groovy purple hook and, for the days when I need a bit of crochet bling-bling, a gold hook.

 

I'm stunned - what on earth have I been using all these years? Why have continental Europeans been denied the delights of multicoloured tapered-tip crochet hooks???? Obviously our crocheting foremothers decided that we had to learn to crochet the hard way: blunt, cold, nasty, grey hooks - a.k.a. Crochet for Puritans. So my new Boyes hooks have become welded on to my claw; I carry them around in my purse (because now I also have stitch markers - no more paperclips for me) to mark my end stitch, so my hooks are mobile. I take them out for a walk (hooks need air, right?) and preen with them every now and again. Strangely, the general German populace is not as taken with my new tools as I am, though I did see one grandmother eyeing my H hook covetously on the bus.

 

So - I know this was a topic in an earlier thread, but can't find it in a search - what's YOUR favourite hook, and why? Reveal to me the delights of all the hooks I have yet to try!!

 

 

What brand are your grey hooks?

[LavenderRose]

I learned on Bates hooks and still prefer them over Boye. I don't like the Lion Brand (plastic)--they have a notch that catches the yarn. I agree that the Graydog hooks are just about the best wooden ones out there, but you gotta be willing to spend some $$ to get one.

 

G3 Studios on eBay has really nice wood hooks--the yarn flows well and he has a couple different grip styles that he sells. One has thumb and finger flats--VERY comfy! His hooks are usually only about 6 to 6 1/2 inches long, so if you prefer longer hooks, you might want to look elsewhere.

[pat54]

I learned on Bates hooks and still prefer them over Boye. I don't like the Lion Brand (plastic)--they have a notch that catches the yarn. I agree that the Graydog hooks are just about the best wooden ones out there, but you gotta be willing to spend some $$ to get one.

 

G3 Studios on eBay has really nice wood hooks--the yarn flows well and he has a couple different grip styles that he sells. One has thumb and finger flats--VERY comfy! His hooks are usually only about 6 to 6 1/2 inches long, so if you prefer longer hooks, you might want to look elsewhere.

 

 

Thanks LavenderRose, I'm going to take a look. I never used a wooden hook before but I just got Jimbo's chophook so I want to try that one. Actually 6 inches is great. Bates are only 51/2 long which is why I can't use them. I don't care for the plastic either. I have a complete Crystallites set and there it sits. I'm going to get on the G3 studios

[Gran]

Just wait, Miss Crochet. More surprises are on their way, well, some Bates, to be exact.

[That Yarny Guy]

Miss Crochet,

 

I know what you mean. I love working with pointy hooks! My work with slip stitch crochet requires a hook with a pointed tip...otherwise you have to use a tremendous amount of force to get that hook in there. That would be no fun!

 

I'm due some new hooks. If I could find some metal pointy hooks in sizes L - Q, I'd be in heaven.

 

David Benjamin

AYarnifiedLife.blogspot.com