#yarncrafts — Public Fediverse posts

Which Hooks Are Actually Worth Your Money?

Every crocheter starts with the same innocent thought:

“A crochet hook is a crochet hook.”

Three months later you’re researching ergonomic handles at 2 a.m., reading 47-page forum debates, and wondering if a Japanese hook will somehow improve your life.

The answer is…sometimes.

Today we’re diving into the most popular crochet hooks on the market, who they’re best for, and whether they’re worth adding to your collection.

Best Hook for Complete Beginners

Boye Aluminum Hooks

Why beginners like them:

• Cheap
• Available almost everywhere
• Durable
• Great for learning basic stitches

The downside:

The tapered head can split yarn for some crocheters, especially when working with softer acrylics.

Crocheter Rating: ★★★☆☆

Wallet Rating: ★★★★★

Likelihood You’ll Still Be Using It In Five Years: 40%

The Hook Everyone Eventually Tries

Clover Amour

If crochet hooks had a popularity contest, Clover Amour would probably win.

Why people love them:

• Comfortable ergonomic handle
• Smooth glide
• Distinct colors by size
• Excellent for long crochet sessions

Many crocheters describe their first Clover Amour purchase as a “gateway hook.”

One turns into three.

Three turns into the whole set.

Crocheter Rating: ★★★★★

Likelihood You’ll Accidentally Start a Collection: 98%

Best for Arthritic Hands

Furls Odyssey

These are the luxury sports cars of crochet hooks.

Pros:

• Extremely comfortable grip
• Beautiful designs
• Reduces hand strain for many crocheters

Cons:

• Expensive
• Losing one feels like losing jewelry

Crocheter Rating: ★★★★☆

Panic Level When Dropped on a Hard Floor: ★★★★★

Best for Speed Crocheters

Tulip Etimo

These hooks have developed a near-cult following.

Many experienced crocheters claim they can crochet faster with Tulips than with any other hook.

Why:

• Very smooth finish
• Excellent hook shape
• Consistent tension

If Clover Amour and Furls had a very efficient Japanese cousin, it would be Tulip Etimo.

Crocheter Rating: ★★★★★

Likelihood of Becoming Your Favorite Hook: High

Best Budget Ergonomic Hook

Susan Bates Soft Ergonomic

Many crocheters overlook these because they’re less flashy than some of the premium brands.

Pros:

• Affordable
• Comfortable
• Inline hook design

Perfect for:

Anyone who wants ergonomic comfort without spending premium-hook money.

Most Divisive Hook

Inline vs. Tapered Hooks

This debate has been going on since approximately the invention of yarn.

Inline Hooks

(Susan Bates style)

• More defined throat
• Better stitch consistency for some crocheters
• Popular with amigurumi makers

Tapered Hooks

(Boye style)

• Smoother stitch flow
• Easier for beginners
• Often preferred for garments and blankets

Ask ten crocheters which is better and you’ll get twelve opinions.

Hooks That Look Amazing But Aren’t For Everyone

Resin Hooks

Wooden Hooks

Handmade Turned Hooks

They’re gorgeous.

They’re photogenic.

They’re Instagram famous.

But depending on the finish, they may not glide as smoothly as metal hooks.

Sometimes pretty and practical aren’t the same thing.

The Hook Hall of Fame

If I were building a crochet starter collection today:

🥇 Best Beginner Hook: Boye

🥈 Best Overall Hook: Clover Amour

🥉 Best Premium Hook: Tulip Etimo

🏆 Best Luxury Hook: Furls Odyssey

💰 Best Budget Ergonomic Hook: Susan Bates Soft Ergonomic

Let’s settle this once and for all:

What’s the best crochet hook you’ve ever used—and which one do you absolutely refuse to buy again?

The Weirdest Crochet Hacks People Actually Swear By

Washing Acrylic Yarn in Hair Conditioner

The Hack:
Soak scratchy acrylic yarn in hair conditioner to make it softer.

Why People Swear By It:
It genuinely can make some acrylics feel softer. Entire tutorials exist for it.

The Potential Disaster:
Nobody seems entirely sure how much conditioner is too much.

Use too much and you can leave residue behind.

Now your afghan smells like it just got back from a spa weekend.

Freezing Yarn to Kill Odors

This one pops up occasionally in stash groups.

The theory is that putting yarn in the freezer will remove musty smells from thrifted yarn.

The problem?

Freezers don’t magically remove odors.

They just create cold yarn.

Now you have cold, musty yarn.

Putting Acrylic Projects in the Dryer Until They “Bloom”

The internet occasionally refers to this as “killing” acrylic.

Some crocheters deliberately heat acrylic to soften it and improve drape.

Sometimes it works.

Sometimes your project goes from “beautiful drape” to “gravity’s strongest supporter.”

There is a very fine line between:

“Look how soft this is!”

and

“What happened to my cardigan?”

Spraying Projects with Fabric Softener

The logic seems reasonable.

If fabric softener softens clothes, surely it softens crochet.

The downside?

Residue.

Lots of residue.

Some crocheters report projects feeling coated rather than softened.

Your blanket should not feel like it has been marinated.

Vinegar Fixes Everything

There are people who recommend vinegar for:

• softening yarn
• setting colors
• removing odors
• blocking
• laundry

At this point vinegar is basically the essential oil of crochet.

Sometimes it helps.

Sometimes your craft room smells like a fish-and-chip shop.

Store Hooks Inside the Yarn Ball

This one sounds clever.

Until six months later.

A crocheter on Reddit reported finding multiple hooks hidden in yarn skeins after using this method.

Future You becomes an archaeologist.

“Ah yes, a 5mm hook from the Late Granny Square Period.”

Use Bobby Pins, Paper Clips, Safety Pins, Hair Clips, Barrettes, and Literally Anything as Stitch Markers

Crocheters are inventive.

The issue is that every substitute marker eventually finds the one strand of yarn it can snag.

It’s almost a law of nature.

“Just Crochet Tighter”

This advice gets handed out constantly.

Gaping stitches?

Crochet tighter.

Amigurumi holes?

Crochet tighter.

World hunger?

Probably crochet tighter.

The result is often hand cramps, wrist pain, and a hook that barely fits into the stitches.

Ignore Dye Lots

This isn’t really a hack.

It’s more of a gamble.

Every crocheter eventually learns that “close enough” can become:

“Why is half my blanket a completely different shade of blue?”

Glue It

Every so often somebody suggests using fabric glue instead of weaving in ends.

I need everyone to sit down.

Because that little blob of glue is now the hardest part of your project.

Forever.

You have essentially installed a tiny rock into your blanket.

Crocheters are some of the most creative problem-solvers on Earth.

Which is wonderful.

It’s also how we ended up soaking yarn in conditioner, freezing skeins, baking acrylic in dryers, and storing hooks inside yarn balls.

Sometimes innovation changes the craft.

Sometimes it creates a very soft blanket that smells vaguely like Pantene.

What’s the weirdest crochet hack you’ve ever tried—and did it actually work?

Crochet Trends We Need to Bring Back

There are crochet trends that come and go every year.

One year it’s giant bees. The next year it’s chickens wearing sweaters. Then suddenly everyone is making bucket hats and granny square cardigans again.

But every now and then, I stumble across an old crochet pattern and think:

“Wait a minute… why did we stop making these?”

Some crochet trends deserved to fade away quietly into history. (I’m looking at you, scratchy acrylic toilet seat covers.)

Others? Those deserve a comeback.

So today, let’s take a nostalgic trip through some crochet trends that have been gathering dust for far too long.

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1. The Mighty Pineapple Doily

For decades, no respectable crocheter’s home was complete without at least one pineapple doily.

Or twelve.

They sat proudly on coffee tables, dressers, end tables, televisions, and any flat surface that wasn’t moving too fast.

Back then, crocheters didn’t ask:

“Where should I put this doily?”

They asked:

“What object in my house has not yet been doily-fied?”

The pineapple motif is actually beautiful, and modern yarn choices could make these stunning again.

I vote we bring them back.

2. Crochet Bedspreads That Took Three Generations to Finish

You know the ones.

Thousands of motifs.

Miles of thread.

A project that began sometime during the Eisenhower administration and was finally completed shortly before the invention of Wi-Fi.

These bedspreads were works of art.

Today we’re all looking for “weekend projects.”

Meanwhile our grandmothers were casually crocheting something that required the dedication of a medieval cathedral builder.

Honestly?

Respect.

3. Kitchen Towel Toppers

If you know, you know.

A crocheted ring attached to a kitchen towel was practically required equipment in many homes.

The towel never fell off the stove handle.

It always looked neat.

And somehow every crocheter knew how to make one.

I rarely see them anymore, but they’re still incredibly practical.

Not every crochet project has to be decorative. Sometimes it’s nice when it actually helps.

4. Filet Crochet Wall Art

Before people decorated their homes with inspirational signs that said things like:

“Live. Laugh. Laundry.”

Many crocheters were creating detailed filet crochet pieces.

Flowers.

Birds.

Lighthouses.

Scripture verses.

Entire scenes worked into thread.

These pieces required patience, counting, and occasionally the ability to resist throwing the pattern across the room.

But the results were incredible.

5. Granny Square Vests

I know.

Some of you just flinched.

Stay with me.

Yes, many vintage granny square vests looked like someone lost a fight with a patchwork quilt.

But modern yarn colors and updated shaping could make these surprisingly stylish.

Fashion is cyclical.

The evidence?

Bucket hats came back.

Anything is possible.

6. Crochet Christmas Decorations

Before every decoration came from a big-box store, many families had handmade ornaments.

Crocheted snowflakes.

Angels.

Tree skirts.

Little bells stiffened with starch.

Every decoration carried a story.

Some were handmade by moms.

Some by grandmothers.

Some by great-grandmothers.

And every year they came back out of storage.

There’s something special about decorating with memories instead of just decorations.

7. Just Doilies… On Everything

Let’s be honest.

The doily wasn’t limited to tables.

There were doilies on televisions.

Doilies on dressers.

Doilies on pianos.

Doilies on armchairs.

If someone stood still long enough, there was a real chance they’d end up wearing one.

It may have been excessive.

But it was also kind of charming.

Why These Trends Matter

When we look at old crochet trends, it’s easy to laugh. And honestly, we should laugh a little. Some of them are wonderfully ridiculous.

But they also tell the story of the people who came before us.

The crocheters who learned from their mothers.

Who learned from their mothers.

Who learned from theirs.

Every pineapple doily, every bedspread, and every towel topper carries a piece of that history.

Today’s trends will eventually become tomorrow’s nostalgia.

One day, a future crocheter will find an old photo of a giant emotional-support pickle wearing sunglasses and think:

“Why on earth were people making these?”

And we’ll smile because we know exactly why.

Because crochet has always been about more than yarn.

It’s about creativity, tradition, family, and occasionally making something completely ridiculous just because it makes us happy.

And honestly?

That’s a trend worth keeping.

What crochet trend do you think deserves a comeback?

Tell me in the comments. I’d love to hear which vintage crochet projects you remember—or maybe still make today!