Buying your first crochet hooks
Before you can start to learn to crochet (and realise how much you love it), you need basic equipment. If you are anything like me, you might not want to spend much money at the start just in case you don't actually enjoy it (although that will never happen). I also don't like having to find and go to stores, so try to get everything online.
There are lots of posts and videos on buying your first hooks that go into lots of detail about the different types of hooks and sizes. My advice is - go cheap or go home. The hook sizes might be slightly off, and they might not be special ergonomically designed for extreme comfort (and for breaking your bank account), but they will work, and you will get a better feel about how you like to crochet so you can spend more money later once you are addicted to crocheting.
Hook sizes can also be confusing because there are so many sizes to choose from, and it's confusing to know which sizes you might need for the projects you have in mind. Therefore, I would advise buying a set that comes with a range of sizes.
I bought my first set of hooks from Amazon for £4.99. This was a set of 22 hooks sizes 0.6mm to 6.5mm although so far I have only used 10 of them. If you do find a cheaper set that doesn't come with as many sizes like this, the sizes you want to have for most beginner projects are between 3.5mm - 6.5mm. (Link to the hooks I bought.) You probably want to go for something with decent ratings just to ensure the hooks won't have strange ridges that tear up your yarn as you work, but I wouldn't worry too much about sizing. You can always buy a knitting needle gauge to measure your sizes later if you are worried about the sizes being off.
The only other tool you will need is a yarn needle. (A blunt needle with a big eye). These are easy to get for £1-2.
If you want to go the laziest, cheapest route, skip the rest of the post.
You might also like to buy some accessories to go with this, although they are not totally necessary yet. I bought a kit (link to the kit I bought) because I thought I would need it but the only thing I've actually used is the yarn needles, stitch markers and tape measure. If you don't buy this kit you will probably need to buy stitch markers at some point (I think you can use a ruler instead of a tape measure).
That's all the tools you need to get started. I will give advice for choosing your first yarn in the next post.
There are lots of posts and videos on buying your first hooks that go into lots of detail about the different types of hooks and sizes. My advice is - go cheap or go home. The hook sizes might be slightly off, and they might not be special ergonomically designed for extreme comfort (and for breaking your bank account), but they will work, and you will get a better feel about how you like to crochet so you can spend more money later once you are addicted to crocheting.
Hook sizes can also be confusing because there are so many sizes to choose from, and it's confusing to know which sizes you might need for the projects you have in mind. Therefore, I would advise buying a set that comes with a range of sizes.
I bought my first set of hooks from Amazon for £4.99. This was a set of 22 hooks sizes 0.6mm to 6.5mm although so far I have only used 10 of them. If you do find a cheaper set that doesn't come with as many sizes like this, the sizes you want to have for most beginner projects are between 3.5mm - 6.5mm. (Link to the hooks I bought.) You probably want to go for something with decent ratings just to ensure the hooks won't have strange ridges that tear up your yarn as you work, but I wouldn't worry too much about sizing. You can always buy a knitting needle gauge to measure your sizes later if you are worried about the sizes being off.
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| My first crochet hook set. (I've managed to lose one hook) |
The only other tool you will need is a yarn needle. (A blunt needle with a big eye). These are easy to get for £1-2.
If you want to go the laziest, cheapest route, skip the rest of the post.
You might also like to buy some accessories to go with this, although they are not totally necessary yet. I bought a kit (link to the kit I bought) because I thought I would need it but the only thing I've actually used is the yarn needles, stitch markers and tape measure. If you don't buy this kit you will probably need to buy stitch markers at some point (I think you can use a ruler instead of a tape measure).
That's all the tools you need to get started. I will give advice for choosing your first yarn in the next post.
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