All About HOOKS

Hooks
Please click on thumbnails to see larger pic.

This section is divided into two. If you're looking for a sizing chart, you can find that at Sizing

If you want to see my latest acquisitions, they are here on page 2.

Here is a picture of my hooks taken end of 2006. Some of these have since been passed on to my daughter and others, but most are still in various places around my house.

Buying hooks can be confusing. Did you know that there are dozens of different kinds of hooks? I'm going to take some time to show you a few. I'm sure I will just touch the surface of this subject, but at least it will be a start.

There are two basic hook types. I call them Bates and Boye, but they are really inline and tapered. This refers to the head and throat of the hook though sometimes you will hear me say the "hook part" which might refer to the head or the throat interchangeably. Sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference. Most crocheters, however, have a strong opinion of which is better, meaning which one they prefer to use, often exclusively. I am a Boye or tapered gal. I rarely use Bates, but I am not opposed to using them. It is just my preference at this time. I don't even promise that won't change through the years though it hasn't yet. Everything does, doesn't it? :-)

Here is a wonderful photo of the difference, used with permission from Hooklady. You can visit her blog for more info.

I recently Jan. 2008) had occasion to try and explain the difference between the hooks and took multiple pictures of both Boye and Bates so I thought I'd add those here as well. I tried to take photos from different angles so you can hopefully see how they differ. Sometimes it is hard to tell, depending on the manufacturer.

Hooks also come in different sizes and can be made from different materials. I will cover steel, aluminum, plastic, brass, Corian, and wood. The steel hooks are the tiny hooks, usually used to work with thread. The larger the number, the smaller the hook. In other words, a size 10 hook is much smaller than a size 1 or 2. I had a number of interesting hooks in my collection. Here are pictures of a few.

If you clicked on the thumbnails you saw that last hook a price on it. 15 cents. The price is right on the hook. I have a number of these with different prices on them.

The "larger" hooks (in other words, not the tiny steel hooks) can be made of many different materials. The ones I have come across are usually made of aluminum, wood, brass, Corian (or similar material), or plastic. They can be sold by letter or number or millimeter. In this case, the larger the letter or number, the larger the hook. In other words, a J hook is larger than an F hook, a J hook can also be called a #10 hook, while an F hook is a #5 but that doesn't necessarily mean 5 mm. Note that size may be slightly different from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Some hooks have the size noted right on the hook - sometimes they show the letter size, sometimes they show the size in mm, which is really confusing to me. My preference is to see the letter size. In fact, I keep a sheet in my box with a translation so I can tell which hook I'm using. If you have a hook with the size stamped on it rather than engraved into it,  you might like to mark it in some other way because if you use that hook a lot, the stamp is going to wear off. If you make mostly afghans as I do, hook size is not a big factor and I usually just eyeball the hook and say, yeah, that's about the right size for this yarn. The hook and the yarn have to be compatible. If you are making something where it MUST come out the proper size, then you need to check gauge, but that's a whole different topic.

The big thing is to remember which hook you started with (you might consider keeping it with your work or attach a card with the pertinent info on it) so you don't start with one hook, put the project down and use a different hook when you pick it up again. That is bad news for your project which will appear smaller or larger at that point. I had a time gathering all these hooks because they were all over the place. :-)

Not all hooks have the size written on or embedded into it. This is especially true of custom made hooks.

Some manufacturers color code their hooks (see Skacel below). I can't remember which size the hook with the brown top is or what size the green one or the orange one is supposed to be, but it is nice for you young folks with a memory. Much easier to grab a brown hook then to have to look through them all to read the size.

Which brings me to the manufacturers of hooks. There are sooo many different brands. I can't possibly name them all, but I'll show you some of what I have and give you a general run down of those I'm aware of.  :-) I recently gathered all my hooks in one place and took a photo.

Firstly, there are the aluminum hooks.

Boye  - When I first learned to crochet, I bought hooks at T G & Y. They had Boye hooks. That was the only kind I knew existed for many years. I still have just about every hook I've ever owned, as you can see from the prices embedded into the hook.

The aluminum Boye hooks have the rounded hook head and tapered throat. As noted before, I find that most people are either an inline hook person or a rounded hook person. I call these Boye or Bates people because for a long time those were the two main manufacturers of which I was aware.

Susan Bates - These are also aluminum hooks which you usually can buy at local craft stores. Susan Bates also has the "silvalume" hooks. Not sure what the difference is.

As I said previously, avid crocheters use these two basic hook head/throat types when they talk about what kind of hook they use. The Boye has a more rounded head and tapered throat while the Bates has what is called an "inline" throat. If you compare the two, you'll see what I mean. In the photos, I'll show you a few hooks. When I consider a new hook, the first question I ask is usually does it have a "Bates" hook or a "Boye" hook. These hooks can be made in any of your conventional materials such as aluminum, wood, steel or plastic as well as some unconventional ones, like Corian.

Inox - This is my personal favorite for daily crocheting. I like the all grey aluminum ones that were made in Germany, though the last few I bought were not up to standard. The Inox hooks seem to just glide through my work. They have a "Boye" style hook. I have been unable to find the original Inox hooks lately. I believe a similar hook is now being manufactured under the Prym label. They look similar but I'm not certain of the situation. Perhaps the company changed hands or something. I really don't know. I also rec'd an Inox hook in one order that said "Mexico" on it, so I am very careful whenever I find these to be sure they are the made in Germany. In any case, the last ones I bought did not have the Made in Germany stamp on them nor the letter size. On one side was the number size (e.g. 5.0) and the other side simply said INOX. My original had the letter size on one side and Made in Germany on the other but did not say Inox. For collectors, these differences mean something. For the non-collector, you just choose a hook that feels good when you're crocheting!

Here is a picture of a different type of Inox - with a white handle.

Skacel (Addi) - These are nice because they are color coded. If you can remember what color a "G" hook is, for example, you'll never have a problem finding it in your stash. They have some "in-between" sizes as well as the major letter sizes. The hook is a "Boye" style. The "bottom" of the hook is aluminum or steel, and the top is a bendable plastic. In the picture the hook looks gold, but it is actually silver.

Below is a sample of the Skacel steel hooks.

Caron - I bought a set of these nice aluminum hooks which are similar to the Inox hooks. The set contains a #7 hook, which is the "missing" size in a lot of sets. This was one of the first #7 hooks I had ever seen. It is not as common as the other sizes. The hooks work very well and I would probably count these as my second favorite of the general hook manufacturers. They are just slightly longer than the Inox.

The hook is a "Boye" style.

Bronze - I have a hook which is just beautiful. I got mine many, many years ago through a friend. I recently found hooks that are made in a similar design so I suspect this hook may have come from there though the site says their hooks are silver and gold and I am pretty sure mine is bronze. Check out Celtic Swan www.celticswan.com ]

Clover - I have one Clover hook. It's shorter than the normal hook. It is aluminum.

Then there are the wood hooks. There are rosewood, tonewood, birch, walnut and I'm sure many more. These are usually more expensive than aluminum hooks.

The Brittanys have an inline hook.

The hooks in the pictures above are Brittany hooks.

The hooks below are all wooden hooks made from different materials. Yes, the top one is "bowed". It was made by a "real person". If I recall correctly, the top three were made for me by Pam Kempkes in Minnesota.

Then there are the plastic hooks.

Balene is one of these. They were hard to find at one time, but I've seen them several places so maybe they are making a comeback. :-)

Sail hooks are also plastic. I am not sure about the availability of those.

Here are some miscellaneous plastic hooks from my stash.

These are the Crystallite hooks. They are brightly colored but from what I understand they break easily. I never cared for them and, in fact, gave most of them away.

In Jan 2007 I received a set of the Glitter Hooks as a birthday gift from my friend Melinda. These hooks are so beautiful! They're very light. To tell the truth if I never used them, I could just sit and stare at them all day. I love the sparkle. This set consists of K, L, M, N and P. As I get older, I love the large hooks because your projects go so quickly and there are still so many things I want to make. :-)

Speaking of larger hooks, they are almost a category in themselves. There are now hooks of just about every size you can imagine. If you can't find it, ask one of the folks who do custom hooks and I am sure they will find a way to accommodate you. I have seen L, M, N, O, P, Q and S hooks and sizes in between those and above. Most manufacturers now make at least a few of the larger hooks. They can be made with many different materials, just as any other hook and, in fact, may be easier to make since they don't need the fine detail of the smaller hooks. I've never made one, so this is just my observation, not personal experience. I personally have many of the larger sizes, most purchased within the last five years or so.

These large hooks are great for multiple strand projects. My Boye plastic N hook is shorter than the Bates of the same size and works better for some projects. Many of the larger hooks do not have sizes on them, but my Susan Bates N and P do. Here's a peek. Note that the Bates hook also has a thumb rest. Some hooks do and some don't. For my custom made hooks I had the choice.

The pictures below show a very different style of hook, made of plastic, with a Boye style end. They are called Handy Hooks. The yellow is an N, the red is a K, and the orange is a Q. The words Accento Craft Inc. is on one of them. I found them in early 2008 at Lacis for $2.50, but I got mine many, many years ago.

We mustn't forget afghan hooks! Here's a few. For those who don't know, the afghan hook is a longer hook with hook on one end.

A new hook has come on the scene called MOEZ. These are long hooks in large sizes. They are color coded. I have a red tipped one, but haven't had a chance to take a picture yet. Note that the web site is NOT moez.com, which is a completely different sort of site.

Another fairly new hook on the scene is the cro-hook, which has hooks on both ends.

I am sure there are dozens more I have not named.

If you don't have a specialty store in your area, check the web. Also, if you or your spouse has carpentry skill, try to fashion your own hooks. Be careful though! If any one of us who has HAS (hook acquisition syndrome) finds out we'll be wanting you to make us some! Hee Hee. I have some very special hooks which were personally made for me by Henry Dzielinkski in 1997. Thank you, Henry! I love them! Here's a picture:

Now here's a neat idea. Travel hooks. They are the size of a regular hook, but with a hook on each end so you have fewer hooks to carry yet have all the sizes you might need. These have the rounded hook.

If you are a hook collector, don't forget to go to www.ebay.com and search for the specialty hooks, like Graydog and, of course, my Corian hooks. Gorgeous. Also, if you just do a search using something like google.com you will come up with many sources for hooks of all sizes.

Hooks page 1  |  Hooks page 2  |  Hook Sizes  |  Hooks Page 3

All About Storage - Organizing

02/23/08
 

The buttons above were my first at the Cabana. I keep them for sentimental reasons. :-)

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