Hooks vs. needles

[Miss Crochet]

In Germany crocheting is seen as VERY hick: doilies and dishcloths. The fact that there's really gorgeous threadwork and funky dishcloths actually just goes unnoticed - the magazines are marketed at an older generation and their covers usually boast pictures of old ladies in pastel cardigans, brandishing cutesie dishcloths.

In Ireland the whole handicraft thing has begun to experience a bit of an upturn, thanks to our economy's catastrophic nosedive. Neither craft is seen as particularly 'cool' though: I'm not even sure if they're taught at schools any more (I went to a convent school and was taught by nuns, who made sure we could knit, sew, crochet and cross-stitch as a matter of course. There are very few nuns still teaching nowadays, so I don't know to what extent these crafts are seen as an integral part of the curriculum )

 

As for the hooks vs. needles debate: it doesn't bother me, either. In Ireland a crochet hook is often referred to as a crochet "needle". Apparently the really fine Irish crochet was actually done with a darning needle, bent at the tip, so it was in fact a needle. In German the work for a crochet hook is Häkelnadel, which literally means crochet needle. I do get slightly irritated when (a) someone asks me what I'm knitting, and when I politely tell them what I'm crocheting, they shrug and say "Hey, it's all the same, anyway!" (no, it's NOT!!) and (b) when people say, "Oooh, that's a cool dishcloth!" when I'm working on a beautiful, intricate afghan square in delicate cotton.

[Craw]

I bet the reverse side of yarn shop snobbery was the owners' experiences of having a crocheter enter the shop and see something for $15 / skein and saying, "Why, I could get that same color in K-Mart for $1.99."

 

Exactly! If crochet is seen as the "cheap" craft in this country, it could be because too many of us use only the cheap craft yarns for our beautiful projects! If money is a concern, then I guess I sort of understand, but if all I could afford for everything I made was the bottom of the barrel cheapo acrylic stuff, I'd put my hooks and needles away until I could save up for something better. I'm not going to waste my time making that beautiful sweater or blanket in some horrible, scratchy, smelly acrylic.

[Triskele]

I find it mildly annoying and have to restrain myself from correcting those who say it. (I usually mutter "Hook! Hook!" under my breath) The people in my group who say it regularly are those who know how to both knit and crochet so maybe it's just carry-over. Then again, I do both and I'm very careful to get it right. I respect the differences between knitting and crocheting. And I really do hate it when people ask me what I'm knitting when I'm actually crocheting. <sigh> I try to just smile, tell them it's crocheting and hope they'll ask me how it's done!

[kazily]

I don't mind if my hook is called a needle by a layman. Technically, there is more to my *hook* than the hook at the end of it, so when I think about that, my hook is a lot more than just a hook anyway. The throat is important, as is the "stick" or "needle" attached to it for holding comfortably. The thumb rest is pretty helpful too.

 

Screwdrivers have many different ends to them for different uses but to me they're all a screwdriver. I'm sure to a Dr, their instruments have specified names but to the layman, they're all scalpels, drills or whatever.

[SpinachBrit]

I've never had that happen to me, but yes, that would irritate me.

[DCMerkle]

This has been an interesting thread to read. My hubby says needles when it's hook and I can't get him to say it right, So, I just tell him to remember the phrase, "By Hook or By Crook."...lol It worked!

 

DCMerkle

[curlysue]

It bothers me more than when some one calls crochet knitting.