In this chapter you'll get familiar with the best fibers and weights of yarn to use for crochet, especially for beginners. You'll then familiarize yourself with crochet hook shapes and sizes so you can choose several good hooks to start with.

Yarns For Crochet

Fibers for Crochet

Cotton yarns are fabulous for crochet. As in knitting, you will, of course, want to be guided by whatever fiber blend is in the yarn your pattern calls for, but you can be sure to encounter more cotton than you do in knitting.

Keeping in mind the purpose of the item you will be knitting, choose your fiber blend accordingly.

	Fiber	Characteristic
	Wool	Warm
	Merino wool	Soft
	Cotton	Structural
	Silk or blends with cotton and silk	Drapey
	Cotton with acrylic, cotton with wool	All-purpose
	Linen, cotton, silk	Cool in warm weather
	Cotton, washable wool, acrylic	Washable
	Mercerized cotton, high twist yarn	High stitch definition
	Chainette-construction yarns*, high twist yarns	Non-splitting

*Fibers with a chain construction, as opposed to twisted into plies, ensure that the yarn won’t split when you insert your hook in the stitches (a major annoyance for crocheters).

Recommended Yarns for Crochet

Crochet can be done with any weight of yarn, but it is often done with DK-weight or worsted-weight yarn. You can also use crochet thread, which is mercerized (shiny) laceweight cotton, to create tiny, detailed lace projects.

Below are some recommendations for different weights of yarn from a favorite store of mine, Imagiknit, in San Fransisco, CA.

	Type	Weight	Yarn Name	Characteristic
	Mercerized cotton	#20 Crochet thread	Cebelia Crochet Cotton 20	Double mercerized
	Mercerized Egyptian cotton	#10 Crochet thread	Nazli Gelin Garden 10	Available in 56 colors
	Cotton	DK	Cleo	Soft, lots of colors
	Cotton/acrylic	DK	Sarasota	Good yardage per ball
	Cotton/yak/nylon	DK	Softyak DK	Fuzzy, chainette construction**
	Cotton	Worsted	Nifty Cotton	Affordable, lots of colors, high twist
	Cotton	Worsted	Fantasy Naturale	Chainette construction**
	Mercerized cotton	Worsted	Unkeek Cotton	Self-striping, vibrant colors
	Cotton/nylon	Worsted	Cumulus	Soft, light, and lofty
	Cotton/nylon	Worsted	Cumulus Dappled	Self-striping
	Cotton/merino	Aran	Cotton Merino*	Chainette construction**
	Cotton/acrylic	Bulky	Sarasota Chunky	Smooth, easy to crochet with
	Merino wool	Bulky	Malabrigo Chunky*	Soft and warm
	Merino/cotton	Bulky	Luft*	Chainette construction**

*Not machine-washable
**Fibers with a chain construction, as opposed to twisted into plies, ensure that the yarn won't split when you insert your hook in the stitches (a major annoyance for crocheters).

Getting Started With Yarns for This Class

Expect to Use More Yarn in Crochet

Crochet uses more yarn than knitting – about 30% more. Knitters, you might feel slightly panicked as you watch yarn glide through through your fingers at an astonishing rate as you crochet.

Don’t worry, this is just another reason that it’s lucky crochet works well with less-expensive fibers like cotton and acrylic, and another reason to visit that craft store a little more often.

Crochet Hooks

Anatomy of a Crochet Hook

A crochet hook has a point, a throat, a shaft, a thumb rest, and a handle. The throat can be a slash style or rounded.

The point is what you use to insert the hook into a stitch. The throat traps the yarn and pulls it though your work. The shaft is where the stitch or stitches rest while you are creating them.

As hook size is determined by the diameter of the shaft, it’s important to keep your stitches on the shaft and not leave them in the smaller throat.

The thumb rest is where you put your thumb and forefinger, and the handle rests in your palm and fingers to help you manipulate the hook.

Crochet Hook Materials

Crochet hooks can be made of plastic or resin, metal, or wood, and are similar to knitting needles in terms of the enjoyment you get when crocheting with hooks made of high-quality materials.

To start with, a set of aluminum crochet hooks from a craft store is fine. Once you decide you like crochet, you can invest in hooks that are nicer to use.

Crochet hooks make out of steel are very tiny and used for detailed work with crochet thread. When you see that a crochet hook is steel, you can know that it is this kind of very small hook.

Recommended Hook Styles and Materials

I prefer hooks with a slash-type throat, as they always grab the yarn really well. The rounder hooks don’t feel as precise to me.

I also like hooks made of polished wood, but good-quality metal hooks with a substantial grip are great, too. These resin hooks are a lot of people’s favorites, as well.

Large handles make for comfortable crocheting over long periods. Plastic hooks without any kind of grip would be the least fun to crochet with (see green hook above).

See more recommendations for crochet hooks below.

Recommended Crochet Hooks

Here is a selection of crochet hooks that you can buy online. They range from inexpensive starter sets to hand-carved, one-of-a-kind heirloom pieces.

	Set or Individual	Brand	Material	Name	Price
	Set (includes steel hooks)	KoKnit	Bamboo	20 Carbonized Bamboo Crochet Hooks	$11.39 for the set
	Set (includes steel hooks)	Boye	Aluminum	Crochet Hook Master Set	$25.29 for the set
	Set (regular sizes E-K)	KnitPicks	Birch	Radiant Wood Crochet Hook Set	$39.99 for the set
	Individual	KnitPicks	Steel with rubber handles	Amour Steel Crochet Hooks	$7.16 per hook
	Individual	Furls	Teak/camwood/padauk	Streamline Ergonomic Wooden Crochet Hooks	$18.50 per hook
	Individual	Furls	Resin	Streamline Resin Crochet Hooks	$24.00 per hook
	Individual	Furls	Nickel-plated pewter	Odyssey Nickel Crochet Hooks	$36.00 per hook
	Individual	Furls	Seamless PolyResin	Candy Shop Crochet Hooks	$52.00 per hook
	Individual	Furls	8 sustainably sourced hardwoods	Alpha Series Crochet Hooks	$82.00 per hook

Crochet Hook Sizes

Crochet hook sizes can seem confusing, especially if you are used to knitting. Crochet hooks can have a millimeter size, a number, and a letter. Sometimes they have one or two of these but not all three. Some older crochet hooks can have the same millimeter size but different numbers. And the UK numbering system is different to the U.S. system.

The best way to avoid being confused is to focus on the millimeter size of the hook called for.

When matching a hook to your yarn, crochet hook sizes are not quite the same as knitting needle sizes. You will use a relatively larger crochet hook than you would a knitting needle.

Matching Yarns to Crochet Hook Sizes

	Millimeters	U.S. Size	Steel Hook Number	U.S Number	Yarn Weight
	1.4 mm		8		Lace
	1.6 mm		6
	2.25 mm	B		1	Fingering
	2.75 mm	C		2
	3.25 mm	D		3
	3.5 mm	E		4
	3.75 mm	F		5	Sport
	4 mm	G		6
	4.5 mm			7	DK
	5 mm	H		8
	5.5 mm	I		9	Worsted
	6 mm	J		10
	6.5 mm	K		10 1/2
	8 mm	L		11	Bulky
	9 mm	M/N		13
	10 mm	N/P		15	Super Bulky
	15 mm	P/Q
	16 mm	Q			Jumbo
	19 mm	S

1. Crochet hook letters and U.S. size numbers can vary. Rely on the millimeter sizing so you don't get confused.
2. The suggested yarn weights are a range. For each hook on the edge of a yarn weight, you could use the yarns on either side of the line. For a 5.5 mm hook, you could use DK or worsted yarn. For a 6.5 mm hook, you could use worsted or bulky yarn.
3. I compiled this data from the Craft Yarn Council and The Happy Hooker.

Steel Crochet Hooks

Very small crochet hooks for doing intricate lace with crochet thread are made out of steel and have a numbering system different to crochet hooks for “regular” weights of yarn.

Here is a table of steel hook sizes and their numbers so you can organize and inventory your hooks, if, for instance, you have inherited a collection of old steel hooks.

Other Supplies Needed for Crochet

As in knitting, you’ll use scissors to cut yarn, a tapestry needle to weave in ends (although you can usually sandwich yarn to avoid weaving in most ends in crochet), and a gauge checker or ruler if you need to check your gauge.