Crochet hook

The "hook"

A crochet hook (or crochet needle) is a type of needle with a hook at one end used to draw thread through knotted loops. Only one crochet hook is needed to make crochet stitches. The crochet hook's earliest use appears to have been in the late 18th century or early 19th century.

Typical materials for crochet hooks are wood, plastic, casein, or aluminum. Historical examples also include bone, steel, porcupine quill, celluloid, agate, ivory, and fossilized mammoth ivory.^[1] They can have decorative handles. The handle may be shaped to fit the hand for easier use. Some hooks are made with wooden or plastic handles with the hook made of metal and inserted into the handle.

An alternative form is the Tunisian crochet hook, which is much longer than a regular crochet hook, in order to accommodate the multiple loops used in Tunisian crochet. A type of crochet needle with a hook at each end, known as a cro-hook, is used to make double-sided crochet pieces.

Differing size systems

Hooks come in various sizes (measured in millimetres or fractions of an inch), according to the thickness of the needle. There are several systems of letters and/or numbers that describe the sizing of crochet hooks. The size of the hook is usually matched with an appropriate ply or thickness of thread.

Other uses

Crochet hooks can be used in many instances where it is necessary to pull a string through a hole. For example, many knitters use them to fix dropped knitting stitches, and tailors may use a crochet hook to thread a drawstring through its casing. Their use is not limited to fiber arts, either; crochet hooks can be used to maintain dreadlocks by pulling stray hairs back into the main dread.

References

1. ^ Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Crochet by Donna Kooler, Leisure Arts, Inc., Little Rock, Arkansas, p. 13.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Crochet hooks

• About crochet hook parts
• Using crochet hooks