Crochet Meanderings - Hooks

In yesterday's post, my thoughts wandered around all the various ways in which a simple single crochet stitch could vary. Tonight, I was thinking that the variety increases when you think about hook sizes and yarn/thread sizes, as well.

Hook sizes are annoying to anyone of advanced age. I have accumulated hooks by Hero, Boye, and Susan Bates, as well as some with no brand name at all, some going way back to the 1940s. My alpha hooks (A, B, C, etc.) are also made of many different materials: bone, plastic, aluminum, etc.

The problems arise because not all H hooks (or G or I or C or, etc.) are created equal. The bend of the shaft near the hook on one brand is slightly different than the bend of the shaft near the hook on another brand. That difference changes the gauge slightly, but enough to mess up a project if the same brand hook isn't used throughout that project. Often, I need to put a project aside, and along the way, I remove the hook to work on something else. When I go back to the project, if I don't remember which brand hook I used, even if it says it's the same size, I have problems with the gauge.

The solution, for me, is to ditch the brands of hooks I have the least of, and keep the brand of hooks I have most of. But, oh, how a crocheter hates to give up even one hook!

I'm doomed, I suspect, and I need to make sure that whenever I pull a hook out of a project, I plop down a note with that project, saying which brand and size hook I started with.