# I finally bought a crochet hook! yaaay **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149 "2011-10-29T03:15:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/41 "2011-10-31T01:34:40Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > I mean, I went from knowing absolutely NOTHING about knitting to cranking out 2 inches of work, in less than 24 hours. Unless you’re a southpaw, then it might be harder 😛 Naw - I taught my southpaw landlord to knit and he made progress about as fast as you are. Really, some people are more knitters and some more crocheters. No big deal. Go with what works for you. I started as a knitter, moved to crochet, and have bounced back and forth ever since. I prefer knitting for some thing (scarves, socks, vests/sweaters) and crochet for others (blankets, afghans, shawls). Then again, I also weave, spin, dye, and tat - yeah, I’ve been into the fiber arts about 40 years now, and have WAY too much stuff and stash. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/42 "2011-10-31T01:44:08Z")
My girlfriend started knitting/crotchting a few years ago, and is now at a pretty solid intermediate level. One piece of advice I’d suggest from following her progress (which perhaps others here can comment about) is to learn to knit “continental style” - my understanding is that it’s more efficient (and therefore faster) than the way most US knitters learn first (and given how time consuming knitting projects tend to be, it adds up to real time savings.) ---
**Author:** ![Elysium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3be4f8/32.png) [@Elysium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysium)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/43 "2011-10-31T13:01:50Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Knitting really just makes sense to me. I do kinda feel like a dumbass because I’m so [O\_o](http://i.imgur.com/GFEsP.gif) about crocheting… but but, crocheting is just _hard_. Knitting is just _easy_. (People are weird!) I did the same thing. My mom crochets and tried to teach me a while back, but it just didn’t click. Then one boring new years eve two years ago I decided I’d teach myself to knit. I used the videos at [http://www.knittinghelp.com](http://www.knittinghelp.com) and within a week I’d learned the basics and really took to it. Some people just take to one or the other. I really want to do some amigurumi but crochet still kind of intimidates me. And Ravelry is the best website! I’m on there here if anyone wants to friend me: [Ravelry](http://www.ravelry.com/people/Phrasework) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/44 "2011-10-31T13:39:03Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > One piece of advice I’d suggest from following her progress (which perhaps others here can comment about) is to learn to knit “continental style” - my understanding is that it’s more efficient (and therefore faster) than the way most US knitters learn first (and given how time consuming knitting projects tend to be, it adds up to real time savings.) If you don’t mind freaking people out. Knitters look at what I’m doing and take a minute to get over the shudders that I’m doing it “backwards.” ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/45 "2011-10-31T14:21:27Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > I’ve been making [giant](http://inlinethumb36.webshots.com/42659/2994455760027528800S600x600Q85.jpg) [granny](http://inlinethumb36.webshots.com/46307/2751783290027528800S500x500Q85.jpg) square [afghans](http://inlinethumb41.webshots.com/44968/2314527800027528800S600x600Q85.jpg) and just about nothing else for years. I crochet while listening to audiobooks, so I don’t want to count or think about anything but which color comes next… Yeah - the big granny squares are the simplest things possible. I made one, many years ago (30+, I was still in college) as a gift for my great aunt; when she passed on my mom got it, when my mom passed on I got it. It is one huge square, about 4 feet or so on a side. I would basically take a skein of yarn and go until it ran out, then join another color. So as it got bigger the number of rings in that color would be narrower. I think I stopped when I ran out of time, not when I ran out of yarn :). Another technique, which is _surprisingly_ easy, is to crochet a Moebius scarf. Which is exactly like the Moebius Strip we all played with in elementary school. You basically make one very long chain, as long as you want the scarf itself to be, join the end to the current stitch, then single crochet all along; when you get back to the beginning, you jump to the _other_ side of the original chain and single-crochet along that side of - and basically keep on going. Change colors periodically so people can get the moebius effect visually. I’ve actually knitted a Moebius scarf but there’s a ridge in the middle of it that’s unpleasant. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/46 "2011-10-31T15:28:47Z")
I need to get back to crochet. I haven’t touched it for a year, but now it’s getting cooler again and I’m thinking about yarn… ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/47 "2011-10-31T16:31:43Z")
It’s not very active, and apparently not well known, but there’s a group on Ravelry, started by **stargazer** , called _SDMB Yarnies_. Join in and see some of the nice projects people have done. Add me to the ‘crochet easy, knit hard’ group. I still force myself to knit occasionally, but I’ve never really gotten the hang of it. Crochet is great because you only really have to worry about one stitch going wrong. If I screw up knitting, it’s 50/50 that I’ll be able to save the whole row (or sometimes more than one). Here’s my latest project, finished last week: [Cuddly Cthulhu](http://cthulhucrochet.blogspot.com/2010/05/cuddly-cthulhu-with-free-pattern.html). I don’t think you could do this with needles. By the way, I’m a middle-aged guy. In case anyone might assume yarn is woman’s work. I just enjoy being able to tell people I’m an amateur hooker. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/48 "2011-10-31T16:40:49Z")
> [@Elysium](#): > > I did the same thing. My mom crochets and tried to teach me a while back, but it just didn’t click. Then one boring new years eve two years ago I decided I’d teach myself to knit. I used the videos at [http://www.knittinghelp.com](http://www.knittinghelp.com) and within a week I’d learned the basics and really took to it. > > Some people just take to one or the other. I really want to do some amigurumi but crochet still kind of intimidates me. And Ravelry is the best website! I’m on there here if anyone wants to friend me: [Ravelry](http://www.ravelry.com/people/Phrasework) Thanks! My name is yarnifluous. I haven’t done much except joined a couple groups in my area… I doubt I’ll go anytime soon. I’m still unraveling and restarting a lot. I’d like to learn how to do some minor disaster recovery; as it is, I basically have to totally unravel and start over unless I notice a mistake immediately. I was looking at a video of right-handed continental style and it looks a lot more efficient and sensical, although I haven’t learned how to do it yet myself. I don’t know why everyone doesn’t learn that way. Tradition, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/49 "2011-11-01T15:34:41Z")
Well after a couple days of being knit-tastic, I watched another crochet video and found it easier to pick up this time. I have three single-crochet rows for a washcloth so far, and no mistakes! I had first tried knitting with the bright blue cotton I bought, but it’s hard because it’s so inelastic. Crocheting it works nicely, though. And I got a nice, thick, heather gray wool/acrylic yarn on sale at Joann’s (plus another set of knitting needles, heh). It knits up pretty fast because it’s so thick, and it’s easier to disguise mistakes than the smaller-gauge yarn I was using yesterday. I’m still gaining extra rows occasionally, I believe due to accidental yarnovers. But I’m learning how to yarn over to add a stitch, or knit two stitches together to subtract one. Still having fun 🙂 My stash is already up to 6 skeins! I plan to use 2 on my scarf, though, and turn most of this cotton into washcloths. Hopefully I’ll be able to produce something worthy of being given away in time for Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/50 "2011-11-01T16:14:11Z")
It all begins with a single crochet hook - the gateway drug. Now she’s slipping further into addiction :D. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/51 "2011-11-01T16:46:33Z")
I know, right? I can afford a minor yarn addiction, though, since I quit smoking 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/52 "2011-11-01T19:04:32Z")
The most annoying thing in crochet, for me, is working that first row into the foundation chain. Until I discovered Foundation Single Crochet ([YouTube link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY6Iy7gdVEM)). There are lots of different webpages with demonstrations and drawings, if that one doesn’t work for you. It has the magic ability to create the chain and the first single crochet at once, which is both easier and saves you from throwing your project across the room when you realize you miscounted the chain. You just do the foundation crochet until you have enough. You can also do it with any other crochet stitch, so there’s foundation half doubles, foundation doubles, foundation triples, etc. You should also learn how to do a Magic Ring ([YouTube link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLuSVyKvoUg)) if you ever do round crochet (like for stuffed animals and granny squares). Far easier than doing a chain ring, and allows you to tighten it up snug. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/53 "2011-11-01T19:28:34Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > I know, right? I can afford a minor yarn addiction, though, since I quit smoking 😃 Yep… and you can indulge your fiber addiction in all sorts of public places where the cigs are unwelcome :). Plus I’d imagine it would be a good way to occupy hands that might otherwise have absent-mindedly been reaching for their former habit. You all have me inspired to dig up something I’ve been working on off-and-on for literally decades. I found it was great to be crocheting while listening to audiobooks. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/54 "2011-11-01T20:10:43Z")
Yay for inspiration, **Mama Z** 😃 I’m noticing that my hands hurt a lot when I crochet. Like the web muscle between the thumb and the rest of my fingers. It sucks, but I’m hoping with sufficient exercise that muscle will beef up and stop whining at me. **Saltire** , thanks a lot for the links! I’ll definitely investigate the foundation stitch later on. That first row is really hard to work for me, because it keeps curling up \>:[ ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/55 "2011-11-01T20:45:50Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > It’s too late for the work you’ve already done, but going forward, by using the [Russian Join](http://www.knittinganyway.com/freethings/russianjoin.htm), you won’t have ends at all. Okay, I tried this and it wasn’t as easy as it looked. Very difficult to get the length just right when you are changing color at the end of a row, for a stripe. Does this need a lot of practice to get the knack, or am I just inept? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/56 "2011-11-01T20:54:35Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > Okay, I tried this and it wasn’t as easy as it looked. Very difficult to get the length just right when you are changing color at the end of a row, for a stripe. Does this need a lot of practice to get the knack, or am I just inept? ☹ It can take some practice to know where to put the join if you want a perfect color change. I might be less inept than you, or just less picky. 🙂 **rachellogram** you might have a death grip on the hook, causing pain. You don’t have to hold the hook tightly. Kind of like a chopstick. Holding it harder doesn’t make it work better, you know? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/57 "2011-11-01T23:16:14Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > **rachellogram** you might have a death grip on the hook, causing pain. You don’t have to hold the hook tightly. Kind of like a chopstick. Holding it harder doesn’t make it work better, you know? That’s not impossible. But knitting doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as crocheting. Maybe it’s a nervousness/inexperience factor causing a death grip, but I think it’s at least partially ergonomic. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/58 "2011-11-02T13:17:20Z")
Found the right shade of yarn and have several rows of my afghan done, so I CAN do it. Wasn’t sure I could; I tried to play pinball a few weeks ago and couldn’t see the ball. It was devestating—for about five minutes. Then we moved on down to the beach, where we went to an Irish Pub and I had a Car Bomb. I can still drink. All is not lost. lol ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/59 "2011-11-02T13:43:01Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Yeah - the big granny squares are the simplest things possible. I made one, many years ago (30+, I was still in college) as a gift for my great aunt; when she passed on my mom got it, when my mom passed on I got it. It is one huge square, about 4 feet or so on a side. I would basically take a skein of yarn and go until it ran out, then join another color. So as it got bigger the number of rings in that color would be narrower. I think I stopped when I ran out of time, not when I ran out of yarn :). > > Another technique, which is _surprisingly_ easy, is to crochet a Moebius scarf. Which is exactly like the Moebius Strip we all played with in elementary school. You basically make one very long chain, as long as you want the scarf itself to be, join the end to the current stitch, then single crochet all along; when you get back to the beginning, you jump to the _other_ side of the original chain and single-crochet along that side of - and basically keep on going. Change colors periodically so people can get the moebius effect visually. I’ve actually knitted a Moebius scarf but there’s a ridge in the middle of it that’s unpleasant. So you keep jumping from side to side of original chain? Trying to visualize how. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149/60 "2011-11-02T13:43:07Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > That’s not impossible. But knitting doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as crocheting. Maybe it’s a nervousness/inexperience factor causing a death grip, but I think it’s at least partially ergonomic. You said yourself that knitting felt more easy/natural. it stands to reason you hold your knitting in a more relaxed way. Feeling awkward/tense = excessive hand grip = pain = tension/awkwardness. It is of course also possible that the hook you have doesn’t sit in your hand well, or that you should try the other “hold.” But I would say about 85% of the time when a new student complains of hand/arm pain, the issue is “brain effort death grip” (the harder you concentrate, the tighter you hold) often combined with the “confusion shoulder clench.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-bought-a-crochet-hook-yaaay/601149.md?page=4)