crochet tips | ELLIE FIDDES THE ARTIST

What shall I make with this? The results of my test squares.

I ended up trying four sizes of hook. First my favourite is the 8mm aluminium It gave a firm texture, which would be fine for a rug or placemat.

Second is a 10mm hook. The texture if this is coming out feeling good, not too tight with a bit of flexibility.

The third one is a 12mm knooking hook. The texture of this initially came out feeling very soft, but a bit loose and slabbery. However, as I carried on, my tension evened out and become tighter. Hence the fourth hook.

The fourth hook is a 15mm. I liked the result I got from this best of all.

So here are my stitch and row counts from a 10 x 10cm square (4″ x 4″) for the four hooks, and photos in a gallery for you.

8mm hook – 8 stitches, 10 rows

10mm hook – 8 stitches, 8 rows

12mm hook – 7 stitches, 9 rows

15mm hook – 7 stitches, 7 rows.

: 8mm hook work in 10cm square

: 10mm hook work in 10cm square

: 12mm hook work in 10cm square

: 15mm hook work in 10cm square

In searching for a project to use this yarn for I found a crochet version of Claire’s Outland Cowl on Ravelry. I rather like this.

The link for it is here.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/outlander-claires-cowl-crocheted

What shall I make with this? The value of test squares.

I have 650g of super chunky in my yarn stash, which has languished unused for too long, so decided to exlore what I can do with it, or whether I want to pass it on. I tried it out as a first round of a granny square, and it looks good. I like the nubbly texture it has

So now to try and work out what size of hook to use and how far it will go by doing a test square. The recommended hook size is 10mm. I know that I tend to work tightly, so a looser hook might be better.

I always make a test square bigger than the 4″ x 4″ (10cm x 10cm) recommended. This means that I can lay a 4″x4″ cut out square on top of the test piece and count the stitches and rows, without pulling the work out to “fit” the ruler, and getting a false reading.

I am trying three sizes of hook, because I have these immediately to hand. First my favourite is the 8mm aluminium but see immediately that this is a bit small for the yarn. It gives a firm texture, which would be fine for a rug or placemat. But that is not what I want. Still will continue for comparison.

Second is a 10mm hook. It’s actually a knooking hook, but I like this one as it is polished wood, not bamboo. I did try a bamboo hook, but it isn’t as smooth and didn’t move as easily through the work, so I didn’t like the snaggy feel as I worked with it. The texture if this is coming out feeling good, not too tight with a bit of flexibility.

The third one is a 12mm knooking hook. The texture of this is coming out feeling very soft, but it looks a bit loose and slabbery, so don’t think this will end up being the best. We shall see.