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  1. #1
    Jean Marie's Avatar
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    I just bought some crochet hooks

    with a cushioned handle. The stainless steel or aluminum hooks, not sure which they are, are hard on the hands especially if you're crocheting sc for each round.

  2. #2
    spoula's Avatar
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    Hi Jean Marie, I thought steel hooks were the ones used for thread. I have some very old ones mostly size 10 very tiny.
    I have some aluminum hooks too they are in color. I don't need any more hooks but I would like to know if your new hooks will help your hands to not get tired. I was crocheting a hat the other night and I was struggling pulling the yarn through the loops because I wanted really tight stitches the next morning my wrist hurt.

    Spoula

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    Nova55's Avatar
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    Yes, the stainless steel ones (all silver, no colored) are hard on your hands and wrists. If I ever go back to doing lace I'll be sure to get one with a soft cushioned handle. But in my experience, the real issue is how tight the stitches are - the tighter the stitches, the more likely your hands and wrists are going to ache.

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    spoula's Avatar
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    Hi Nova55, My steel hooks are really tiny and I don't use them too much any longer as my eyesight is not what it used to be for that tiny hook. I know better then to crochet for hours and make the stitches too tight. I had a bad experience a few years ago by doing that and had to wear a brace on my hand for quite awhile. It hurt like the dickens.
    I knew I was pulling the yarn yesterday really tight to make a design I was trying out to see for a hat. I had to stop because my wrist hurt and I didn't like the design after all. I changed the design from a star to a spiral but when I got to the desired circumference I wanted somewhere toward the end it looked more like stripes. I think I will try again as the hat is really cute. I added shells at the bottom and now I have to pull out several rows to get back to the 1/2 rows with different colors. I think I spend more time pulling out and starting over then completing some thing all at once. Oh well that is ok for me as I read that doing crochet it relaxes you and makes you feel good. Yea!

    Hope all is well with you and your Mom.
    Spoula

  7. #5
    Jean Marie's Avatar
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    I didn't know if they were steel or aluminum crochet hooks. I meant the aluminum hooks are hard on your hands especially if you're doing sc in the round. I'll use a smaller steel hook (a silver one) only if the stitch is too small to get the hook through and I need a smaller hook to get the yarn through. The hooks with the cushion handle I bought are ergonomic aluminum crochet hooks. They are Boye hooks. The receipt says SIMP CRCHT ERG. I can figure out the last 2 words are crochet ergonimic but what is Simp stand for? The cushioned handle crochet hooks help so I'm not squeezing the aluminum crochet hook handle.

    I also have a J hook and a K hook that have a wider thumb rest. They are silver Boye hooks and I think they're aluminum. The real small silver ones I guess are steel. I've used a couple of the real small silver hooks on the round loom to get the yarn over the peg and bent them in the process that's when I didn't have a tool to get the yarn over the pegs. They were ones from my grandma. I have other small silver ones from her and the K hook with the wider thumb rest is also from her. The J hook I saw and bought was when I went thrifting with some of the ladies from church. The hooks that have the wider thumb rest are nice. They don't have a cushioned handle but the wider thumb rest helps. I have other crochet hooks and the plastic ones size L and size P are nice too.

    I also have the 3mm crochet hook that has a nice handle that was in the tote bag that redhead Patty painted along with other things. It's a plastic handle with a thumb rest. I don't know who all got a tote bag. Maybe you have a 3mm crochet hook that was in the bag too.

    Don't forget to exercise your hands. I read a post that said something like 'I know that you might think it's a waste of time to exercise your hands but pay attention to your body.' I also read something about looking down when crocheting can cause eye strain. They're right. I had got a eye strain from crocheting. I believe there's a eye exercise too. Maybe it's closing you're eyes tight first and then opening and closing your eyes fast a few times. It also said that after looking down at your crocheting to change your view and look at something far away, look out the window or something. They say to exercise your hands, shoulders, wrists, probably your neck too, every 30 minutes. sorry it's so long.

    ps They also say to have your arms close to your body when crocheting and have a pillow to rest your arm on when crocheting.
    Last edited by Jean Marie; 08-25-2019 at 12:22 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jean Marie View Post
    I didn't know if they were steel or aluminum crochet hooks. I meant the aluminum hooks are hard on your hands especially if you're doing sc in the round. I'll use a smaller steel hook (a silver one) only if the stitch is too small to get the hook through and I need a smaller hook to get the yarn through. The hooks with the cushion handle I bought are ergonomic aluminum crochet hooks. They are Boye hooks. The receipt says SIMP CRCHT ERG. I can figure out the last 2 words are crochet ergonimic but what is Simp stand for? The cushioned handle crochet hooks help so I'm not squeezing the aluminum crochet hook handle.

    I also have a J hook and a K hook that have a wider thumb rest. They are silver Boye hooks and I think they're aluminum. The real small silver ones I guess are steel. I've used a couple of the real small silver hooks on the round loom to get the yarn over the peg and bent them in the process that's when I didn't have a tool to get the yarn over the pegs. They were ones from my grandma. I have other small silver ones from her and the K hook with the wider thumb rest is also from her. The J hook I saw and bought was when I went thrifting with some of the ladies from church. The hooks that have the wider thumb rest are nice. They don't have a cushioned handle but the wider thumb rest helps. I have other crochet hooks and the plastic ones size L and size P are nice too.

    I also have the 3mm crochet hook that has a nice handle that was in the tote bag that redhead Patty painted along with other things. It's a plastic handle with a thumb rest. I don't know who all got a tote bag. Maybe you have a 3mm crochet hook that was in the bag too.

    Don't forget to exercise your hands. I read a post that said something like 'I know that you might think it's a waste of time to exercise your hands but pay attention to your body.' I also read something about looking down when crocheting can cause eye strain. They're right. I had got a eye strain from crocheting. I believe there's a eye exercise too. Maybe it's closing you're eyes tight first and then opening and closing your eyes fast a few times. It also said that after looking down at your crocheting to change your view and look at something far away, look out the window or something. They say to exercise your hands, shoulders, wrists, probably your neck too, every 30 minutes. sorry it's so long.

    ps They also say to have your arms close to your body when crocheting and have a pillow to rest your arm on when crocheting.
    SIMP=simple??? Perhaps. Hope you like them. I bought a set some time back thinking I'd like them, but it turns out I use more of the shaft than the handles allowed me to use. So my teenage daughter uses them and prefers them!

  10. #7
    Nova55's Avatar
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    Hi Spoula!
    It's not unusual that as we age (like me!), either the arthritis or the eyes prevent us from using the steel hooks - the stitches are just so small! But I started having issues with carpal tunnel a long time ago, so I wear wrist splints to bed every night. Now I'm having issues with arthritis at the base of my thumbs. Getting old sucks. I find that I can still use smaller hooks (3mm or 3.25/3.5mm) as long as I'm doing something with looser stitches. The tight stitches needed for some patterns or amigurumi end up killing me! I love doing amigurumi but I realize that long breaks are needed so my hands can recoup. Good luck on the hat, and please post a pic when you're done.

    Hi Jean Marie!
    Thanks for the tips. I agree that exercising your hands and giving your eyes a break every now and then is a good thing to do. I know that the soft grip hooks are considered ergonomic, but personally I think that's bunk. The only things I can see them helping with are 1. protecting your hands from the cold metal. Some people are very sensitive to the cold, so this would help; and 2. If you have a habit of gripping the hook tightly, the cushion could ease this. But truly ergonomic - no. JMO!

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    Jean Marie's Avatar
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    Hi Nova55,
    What is JMO?

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    I am under the impression that hooks small than a "B" size are in steel, as aluminum that thin would just bend. If I was mis-told, please correct me!

    I don't know how crafty all of us are, but from time to time in my Pintrest feed, I see tutorials on how to use polyclay to make your own ergonomic or cushiony hooks, just form it around the handle (and I imagine one could change the width, size, etc. - I've never made any yet!)

    @Jean Marie: I am going to guess that "JMO" is "Just My Opinion" other examples are "IMO" in my opinion, or "IMHO" in my honest opinion ... I have a feeling these acronyms may need to be used more and more in this interesting current world.

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    Hello ramblyambly, I think you are correcrt about the steel size. I have one that is a 10 and one that is a 14 that is as small as I have. I have several hooks from France and the UK they had numbers on them but I grew up using Letters on my hooks so I didn't really know what size they were. I found this on the Internet that helped me.

    This is a PDF file
    .
    Hook size.pdf

    Hope this helps others.
    Spoula

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