My favourite hooks

I am following the marchmeetthemaker hashtag on Instagram and today the prompt is 'tools', so I thought it was a great time to talk about my hook of choice. 
When crochet is a large part of your life, it is imperative that you look after your hands so that you can continue to craft in comfort. It's so easy to get into the crochet groove and, in a semi-hypnotic state, end up having a relaxing few hours (or days!) crocheting, but in the long run it isn't good for your wrists, elbows, back, or anything really! It doesn't really matter which type of hook is your favourite, so long as it is comfortable to work with. I always recommend to my beginners that they try out a number of different hook styles as everyone will have their own preference. Personally, I find that handled hooks make for an easier grip and therefore cause less strain on the fingers and so I would always recommend some variation of handled hooks to anyone who does a lot of crocheting. 
If you looked inside my hook bag, you would discover that my go-to hooks at the moment are the Clover Amour range. I have them all from 0.6 to 15mm and incase you are wondering, the 3.5 and 4mm are the most well used. The chunkiest - sizes 12 and 15mm - are my most recent addition. 
Handles are really useful on the very small sizes as they ensure you have a substantial shaft to grip onto, even with a small hook. However, it is also great that the Amours now go up to super bulky as it is amazing what a difference the rubberised handle makes, even on the large sizes. In fact, the handle section is contoured so that it is actually smaller than the hook, which definitely adds to the ease of use, as bulky hooks are usually quite unwieldy to hook with. I don't even mind the plastic hooks on the largest Amour sizes (over 6.5mm). Usually I am a metal hooks all the way kind of girl, as they are very smooth and snag free, but the plastic on these tools is very smooth and shiny, making the hooking action very nearly as good as the metal hooks on the smaller amour sizes. 

If I haven't yet persuaded you to give the Amour a go, you may be swayed by the gorgeous rainbow colours of the handles. It is amazing how a pretty rainbow can turn my head, and, yes, I may be superficial, but I just love using pretty hooks, especially if they happen to match my crochet! I especially love these neons in the chunky sizes. If all this talk about their good looks is making me seem a little shallow, I do have to point out that there is a practical side to the different shades, which is that it is easy to pinpoint which hook you need to use instantly, without needing to read the number on the shaft. 
So, these are my hooks, which now have chewed up ends, smudged handles and which I have used so much that they feel like an extension of my fingers. I'd love to know, what are your favourite hooks?  

-->

Periwinkle Necklace

image by Britt Spring

Another new pattern up on the Love Crochet site - Periwinkle necklaces, simple and addictive! Easy to customise to your own desired length and they look fabulous in lots of different weights of yarn. This yarn is Wendy Supreme Cotton 4ply which is lovely for crocheting with - strong and smooth. 

image by Britt Spring

A little project for the weekend...?!

new issue

Cover, image by Lucy Williams, cowl Emma Varnam

New issue alert! 
Issue 63 of Inside Crochet is out now and it's a corker this month! I love the cover image for this issue, taken by Lucy Williams, which features a beautiful cowl by Emma Varnam.

Rooster by Shannen Nicole Chua, Image Claire Montgomerie

The Rooster on the cover is a project perfect for Easter, designed by the very talented Shannen from Sweet n' Cute Creations and made by me for my littlun - that's her little hands in this picture. She loves him, he now has a new home in her doll's house! 

Eggs by Nicki Trench Image by Claire Montgomerie

Talking of Easter, there are some very cute eggs to make with the pattern in Nicki Trench's column this month, which the littlun has also taken to playing with - in the basket they are pictured in above. I think this will be a popular egg hunt on Easter Sunday this year, mixing the crochet and chocolate eggs up so that she doesn't get a tummy ache!

Folk Art Jewels by Esme Crick, Image Lucy Williams, Model Frankie Moore, styling Claire Montgomerie

One of my favourite shots in the magazine this issue is the above Folk Art Jewels shot, project by Esme Crick. I do SO love that ring (and yet another of the littlun's fave things to play with!) and I am particularly enamoured with a breton stripe, red lip combo. So wish I could get away with a casual red lip every day...

Hirst blanket by Loopsan, image by Claire Montgmerie

Finally, there are tonnes of projects I adore this month, but this blanket is going to be so popular with our readers this spring, what a perfect new baby present or lap blanket. San Bee of Loopsan has a great eye, I adore every pattern she submits to the magazine. When she submitted this idea, I instantly saw it in the colours of a Damien Hirst spot picture, so I sent her some yarn in a selection of gorgeous hues, and she picked out the perfect selection to produce this little stunner. I am going to make one as soon as I have time - it is great for using up scraps, just buy yourself a base white or cream yarn and have fun with colours from your stash! 
Don't miss this amazing issue - there is also the final part of a gorgeous blanket CAL and a basic broomstick crochet tutorial amongst tonnes of other great stuff, even if I do say so myself...!

popcorn flower blanket

This blanket was returned to me in the post from DK books recently and I am really rather pleased, as it is lovely! Littlun agrees and has taken to hiding under it, snuggling under it and wrapping it round her while she pretends to be a rather colourful ghost!
It was originally published in Crochet, from DK books, a bible I commissioned for, consulted on and contributed to. It is rather fabulous, as I have highlighted here, so if you are looking for a how to crochet guide, do check it out. (And yes, that is it on the cover!!)

This image is by the wonderful Britt Spring, who is leaving the UK to return to her native Australia later this month, and I will miss our monthly photoshoots immensely. More about that soon...

2013 in review

So far this year, I have had quite a few conversations about when it is best to stop saying "Happy New Year!" In a way, it feels quite clumsy to carry on saying it to everyone you see for the first time this year. However, on the final class of my beginners crochet course last week at City Lit one of my lovely students told me a lovely story, with the moral being that you should always say it to anyone you haven't seen, even if it is in August! 
So now I feel confident instead of awkward saying it and, with that in mind, I am going to start the year off right, if late, with a "Happy New Year" to you all and a little review of last year, especially because the last part was so eventful in both exciting and worrying ways - hence my lack of posting about it. The City Lit class on Friday was a catch up session as I had to cancel the actual class at the end of last year due to ill health. I am hopefully finally on top of it and having a medical action plan for at least the next year or so is making me take stock, look after myself and my family and to celebrate some of the wonderful things I have done and have planned. Hopefully without stressing too much over them! So this is a sort of montage of what I got up to last year - some parts will be elaborated upon as I hoped to do originally over the next few posts.

BOTTOM PICS, from left to right, top to bottom: shot from The Knitting Collection, taken by Britt Spring; view from Gawthorpe Hall on a trip to the textiles collection; shot from Inside Crochet taken by Britt Spring; drawing at the anorak summer fair; shot from Inside Crochet taken by Britt Spring; at DK books; the beautiful Midland hotel, morecambe; at shoot location; The Knitting Collection; photoshoot coffee break; Pauline Turner's library; Home London; drawing at babyccino shopup; Eric; at shoot location; student's work at Pauline Turner's anniversary celebrations; my Jess headband from The Knitting Collection, taken by Britt Spring; Toft at the Stitch and Knit show; my throw on the cover of Crochet, which I consulted on, contributed to and commissioned for; shot from The Knitting Collection, taken by Britt Spring; swatch for the Gawthorpe collection project; teaching how to crochet at City Lit; judging the textiles prize at the Stitch and Knit show; photoshoot action shot. TOP PICS: fragment from the amazing Gawthorpe textiles collection; party bags, Alice in wonderland party; beautiful double rainbow while judging student's work at Pauline Turner's house; my beginner students' grannies.