Crochet World - USA (2018-08)

42 Crochet World CROCHET-WORLD.COM AUGUST 2018

It All Starts With a Humble Hook

By Randy Cavaliere

The love affair we have with crochet starts simply

with an unpretentious piece of bent metal, molded

plastic or carved wood: the hook. This modest and

usually inexpensive device is on equal par with the

myriad of yarns that captures our hearts and hands.

The origins of modern crochet are debatable and a

timeline can’t be defined before the 16th century, but

the hook as the integral tool is indisputable.

The word “crochet” is an old French word meaning

“small hook.” Hooks, new and old, vary by material,

color, length, diameter and purpose. The most

common are standard, steel, Tunisian and jumbo

hooks. The use of one hook or another is dictated

by the type of stitching (for example, standard or

Tunisian), the fiber content, the yarn weight and the

crocheter’s personal preference.

Photo by Nancy Nehring

Regardless of its size or purpose, all crochet hooks

have similar characteristics. The anatomy of a hook

hasn’t changed much over time. Today’s standard

hook (see illustration) features the head (A), which

may be slightly pointed with an “inline" sharply

cut throat (B) (the head protrudes slightly over the

shaft). The shaft (C) is where the size of the stitch is

formed. Susan Bates and Boye hooks have thumb

rests (D); depending on the shape of the handle,

other brands don’t always have this feature. The

rest of the hook is the handle (E). A Tunisian hook’s

longer handle ends with a stopper so the stitches

don’t slide off.

Standard American hooks are identified by a letter

and number; the millimeter measurement is the

diameter of the shaft. Sizes range from the nearly

imperceptible head of the size 16/0.6mm steel

hook to the gigantic size U/50/25mm hook. There

are even larger custom sizes for huge crochet

display pieces.

You can look back in time on Nancy Nehring’s

website, http://www.lacebuttons.com, to see old and

A

B C

D E

Fig. 1