Big Hook, Little Hook, What Begins With Hook?

Please tell me someone got the joke there.

Anyway, to answer the question: Crochet begins with hook.

If you don't have a crochet hook, you're pretty much screwed. It's impossible to form those stitches at any speed without one. So, you definitely need a hook.

That raises an important question: how do you choose one?


Basically...you look at your yarn, and your project.

Your yarn, remember, should have a hook size on it. (Refresher: This is the size they suggest you use on the yarn.) Your project should also have a hook size suggestion on it. Look at the "Supplies" or "What You'll Need" or wherever you see a list of crafting supplies.

Yes, right there. It says something like "H hook" or "Size B hook". (If it says the second thing, find another pattern, because those hooks are tiny.) Or maybe it has a number like 4 or 13, or 000.

This is the size of the hook. In the US, the hook size is both a number and a letter. For instance, H/8 or B/1. Or 4/E, or 10½-K, or however your particular brand of hook chooses to express these two parts.

You will always find these two sizes together. An H hook will always be a size 8. A 10½ will always be a K.

In the UK, the sizes are a bit different. Okay, they're a lot different. Sometimes there isn't a corresponding US hook to a UK size, and vice versa.

Confused? Me too. Check out this super-helpful conversion chart and see if that makes any sense.

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Why are hook sizes important?

Think about this. What happens if you have very thin yarn and a very large hook? (Hint: you make really large loops with really large hooks.) And what happens if you have very thick yarn and a small hook? (Hint: you make small loops with small hooks.)

Your stitches will come out different sizes if you use different hooks on the same yarn. Keep this in mind for when we start talking about gauge.

Hooks are made from a variety of materials, ranging from aluminum to bamboo to plastic to steel (the steel ones are the itty-bitty ones used with crochet thread).

Having used only aluminum hooks myself, I really can't offer any opinions on which you should get. I'm fond of mine, but you can get whatever style you want. Cheap ones, expensive ones, really pretty ones--it doesn't matter, as long as you're happy.

This was a much shorter post than the last one, because there isn't as much to say. Next post will probably be a "miscellaneous supplies" post, or else a "please find some materials" post. Sorry this took so long--I've been out-of-state with no Internet access. I will do my best to update soon, but NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow and I might be sick of writing by the end of the day. So we'll see.

Thanks for reading!