Ponderings On Crochet Hooks

Size H/ 5.00 mm

I bet you've never given much thought to crochet hooks. They serve their purpose in our crafts, and as long as our gauge swatch comes out the way we want what difference does it make really? 

I was one of those people until about a month ago....

After an extended stay at my grandmother's house, or Nana as we like to call her, I got into a conversation with her about a project I was working on. Once the conversation got well into way, she started reminiscing on her days as a crochet-er. My project was quickly forgotten as I listened with appreciation to the stories she had to tell. It was towards the end that she paused, asked if I'd like to see what she meant about my crochet hook being my downfall, and proceed to make her way to her bedroom. After what seemed like an eternity, she emerged.

In her hand was a small package containing crochet hooks from different countries and were all different sizes. She shuffled through them until she came upon the hook in debate. It looked like any other hook I had seen, except that the head had a deeper and narrower valley than what I had grown accustomed to. We finished our conversation and she gave me a challenge: Finish 2 projects, one from each hook, and then give my honest opinion about the hooks. I couldn't resist. :)

The sun was created from my Nana's hook, the sad excuse for an owl was from mine.

I set off with 2 patterns, different in difficulty, but equal in time consumption. The hook I was used to using was great. There was no more complaint than my usual, my stitches were sometimes to tight and others to loose, I sometimes pulled up my loop through a strand of the yarn instead of the complete stitch, etc. I was quite pleased with my new little toy. Onward to hook two!

Hook 2 was my Nana's from 50 years ago. We have no idea who the manufacturer is, only the size and that it was made in the USA. I will admit that I was apprehensive at first, but I had been crocheting for almost 6 years and working up things that my Nana could only look at with envy. Surely my hook would win. Oh how wrong I was. Her hook glided through the stitches, never tangled or stripped my yarn, and during the few times that my stitches were to tight, the head was at a perfect angle to glide through those tighter stitches. My hook died a horrible death that day.

I've tried several other projects with my own hooks, and am still reminded of the gentle glide of my Nana's hooks. Those hooks glided through my stitches like a warm knife through butter. My opinion has changed, as well as my desperate pleas to win those hooks from my Nana. :) If any of you happen to come by these older crochet hooks, my advice to you would be to snatch them up at whatever price is being offered for them!