Crochet hook: sizes, types. For beginners and not only

Crochet - this is exactly the type of needlework in which it is possible to fulfill any creative idea of ​​the craftswoman. Clothing with any patterns, openwork, shawls, napkins and lace collars can be crocheted, having mastered just a few basic knitting techniques. Before you start creating, you need to understand the tool that will be used. Types of crochet hooks and recommendations for beginners are described below.

What are the crochet hooks?

For different knitting techniques, the tools may vary slightly:

1. For ordinary knitting, the simplest ones are suitable. There are a lot of them on sale and they differ only in size, material from which they are made, and options for execution.
2. For the Tunisian knitting technique, long hooks with stops or similar in appearance to circular knitting needles are used.
3. For tatting, they acquire long and thin tools along the entire length, with a smaller, unlike usual, head.

Hooks can be made of a variety of materials: metal, plastic, wood. There are also bamboo and bone. How to choose a crochet hook when your head is spinning from all this variety? There are some general guidelines to help you make the right choice.

Criterias of choice

What you need to pay attention to:

• Weight. It may seem that this factor is insignificant when choosing a knitting tool. It seems that all crochet hooks are small, so their weight is small. But this is only at first glance. If you imagine that the craftswoman, keen on knitting, for a long time holds the hook in a bent arm practically on weight, then the extra grams will be noticeable. On the other hand, a too light and thin plastic tool can discourage the desire to create if it bends and springs.
• Workmanship and processing quality. No matter what material the hook is made of, before buying, you need to carefully check how well the surface is sanded, whether the end is too sharp and the handle is firmly fixed.
• The form. In order to enjoy the process, it is necessary to find the “own in shape” hook. Craftswomen with experience already know for sure which knitting tools are more convenient for them, but beginners may have problems with a choice. A good option would be a hook with a handle and a metal rod. In any case, even in the store you can feel how comfortable it is to hold a knitting tool, whether there is any discomfort in the muscles of the hands.

Next, it is important to determine which size crochet hook to choose. First you need to understand what size is and what they are.

Hook sizes

The number or size is the value of the diameter of the rod indicated in millimeters. How to determine the size of the hook if you have a ruler at hand? Over the entire length, this knitting tool may have a different diameter, so it is more convenient to measure the part that goes immediately after the head - the so-called rod. In most cases, if this, for example, is not manual work, but factory manufacturing, the size is indicated on the oblate part of the hook or applied to the handle.

For foreign manufacturers, this number may not correspond to that calculated in millimeters, since there is a difference in the measurement system of different countries. Sometimes, instead of a numeric value, you can observe the designation in Latin letters. The ratio of all sizes is given in the table.

What are the crochet hooks and sizes, we found out. Next, you need to figure out which one to use for knitting, if yarn has already been bought. Usually, thread manufacturers on the label indicate the recommended hook size, but if this is not the case, then there are two ways to figure out which tool to use.

The time-consuming method - empirically

Products from the same yarn, crocheted with different thicknesses of hooks, may vary. A denser thing is obtained with a smaller tool, a looser one - a larger one. It can be noted that everyone has their own experience or lack thereof, everyone has their own knitting style. Therefore, to more accurately find out how the product will look, you can knit a small sample.

It is enough to perform, say, 15 stitches in width and about 10 rows with different sizes of hook. The texture of the yarn, the material of the hook also affects the general appearance of the fabric, so you need to prepare for short experiments.

Below in the table you can estimate what range of sizes of the hook is suitable for a particular yarn.

Beginner knitters will need very little time to understand how to choose the right crochet hook and tool size. Experience is gained quickly, because knitting is one of the most exciting activities.