Clover Amour big hooks
A while ago I was lucky enough to be sent some new crochet hooks to try and review. The lovely people at Clover sent me a total of 16 hooks (all of their Amour range), a set of stitch markers and a mini weaving machine! Where to start?! When I open the package my eyes lit up and I was like a kid in a sweet shop. So many colours and shiny things! Ooooh the excitement!! After I calmed myself down (it took a while) I got to crocheting.
[caption width="720" id="attachment_1378" align="alignnone"]
My new coasters using sizes 6.5mm and 7mm[/caption]
I've decided to split up my review in order to cover all areas adequately. I genuinely wanted to use each hook before I write about it so I have a lot of crocheting ahead before I complete my review (it's a tough life). Today I'm looking at the larger plastic hooks from size 6.5 to 15mm.
For those not familiar with the technical points of a crochet hooks here's a handy diagram (left).
The first thing you can't fail to notice about these hooks are their bright colours. It's like a rainbow in my hook case! It makes the hooks easy to identify quickly rather than having to get every hook out and examine the handle or thumb rest carefully for the size. My only criticism of the colours is that the pink and orange colours are surprisingly similar. And these hooks are next to each other in size (3mm and 3.5mm and 8mm and 9mm). But that's minor and easy to work around.
The easy grip handle really is just that. The handle feels nice and doesn't slip (hence easy grip!). I've found that with bigger size hooks it can be really uncomfortable to crochet for any length of time as I was fighting the hook and having trouble gripping. When you have tendinitis this can really put a dampener in crafting time.
[caption width="721" id="attachment_1385" align="alignnone"]
Left is using the size 10mm and right the 12mm hook[/caption]
The hook itself is easy to use. The plastic is well crafted with the point and groove being very smooth and the yarn (whatever type it may be) slips off easily to create the stitch, but not so easily you loose control. I often work trebles, especially in larger works (I don't know why, it just happens that way!) and when working with a larger yarn I want more room. Clover Amour hooks had no trouble with this. From size 6.5mm onwards the throat and shaft of the hook increase in length every time the hook goes up a size as well as thickness. Someone has actually thought about people using these hooks and the fact that, as the hook gets bigger, so does the yarn used. The hook which often troubles me is an 8mm. I often use either a chunk or super-chunky yarn and so it needs to work with either yarn. So I tested it as such. (See example below: left is Chunky yarn and right is Super Chunky). Those extra couple of millimetres meant it was an easy hook to use, whatever the yarn size.
I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the size 15mm hook. This I tried intending, as with the others, to only create a sample piece to make sure I'd tried each hook equally. However, I found this hook so easy and comfortable to use that I just kept on hooking! (See the W.I.P of the dog rug below) I use the pen-hold when crocheting and when the hook reaches a certain size I have to switch to knife-hold. Whilst I can crochet in this hold I am much slower and not as confident in it. More than just a coaster or a candle jar cover was needed as I so enjoyed using this bigger hook in my more natural hold!
I had decided to test these hooks hard and use some yarn that, whilst it's beautiful, can be difficult to work with. These hooks had no problem with Stylecraft Swift Knit Super Chunky which I've found can split with other hooks. It's very soft and whilst the finished effect is lovely it can be difficult to work. I always thought it was a natural fault in the yarn but now I wonder if it was the hook I was using. What a revelation!
[caption width="720" id="attachment_1383" align="alignnone"]
This was made using the size 9mm hook[/caption]
In case you hadn't guessed I loved these hooks! I'm so pleased I got to try them. Why didn't I before?! To be honest it was the price. When I first started my crochet hook collection with all the earnestness of a good hooker, I wasn't sure how serious I was about it and didn't have money to burn. So I bought Pony crochet hooks. My main reason for this was that they were cheap (£1.15 - £3.99) so if I changed my mind and walked away from crochet I wasn't out of pocket too badly. These served well enough but it was difficult to crochet for any length of time as the hooks hurt my hand. The Clover Amour crochet hooks cost a little more but it's well worth it. UK retailers sell them for £6.19 up to £8.79. I'm sure little shopping around could maybe improve on that but I don't think those prices are unreasonable. When the only fault you can find is the colour then you know it must be good.
Now to try the smaller, metal hooks. I'll report back in a few days.
See you then,
Josie
P.S. these beautiful motif patterns are taken, in part, from 75 Crocheted Floral Blocks.
[caption width="720" id="attachment_1378" align="alignnone"]
My new coasters using sizes 6.5mm and 7mm[/caption] I've decided to split up my review in order to cover all areas adequately. I genuinely wanted to use each hook before I write about it so I have a lot of crocheting ahead before I complete my review (it's a tough life). Today I'm looking at the larger plastic hooks from size 6.5 to 15mm.
For those not familiar with the technical points of a crochet hooks here's a handy diagram (left).The first thing you can't fail to notice about these hooks are their bright colours. It's like a rainbow in my hook case! It makes the hooks easy to identify quickly rather than having to get every hook out and examine the handle or thumb rest carefully for the size. My only criticism of the colours is that the pink and orange colours are surprisingly similar. And these hooks are next to each other in size (3mm and 3.5mm and 8mm and 9mm). But that's minor and easy to work around.
The easy grip handle really is just that. The handle feels nice and doesn't slip (hence easy grip!). I've found that with bigger size hooks it can be really uncomfortable to crochet for any length of time as I was fighting the hook and having trouble gripping. When you have tendinitis this can really put a dampener in crafting time.
[caption width="721" id="attachment_1385" align="alignnone"]
Left is using the size 10mm and right the 12mm hook[/caption]The hook itself is easy to use. The plastic is well crafted with the point and groove being very smooth and the yarn (whatever type it may be) slips off easily to create the stitch, but not so easily you loose control. I often work trebles, especially in larger works (I don't know why, it just happens that way!) and when working with a larger yarn I want more room. Clover Amour hooks had no trouble with this. From size 6.5mm onwards the throat and shaft of the hook increase in length every time the hook goes up a size as well as thickness. Someone has actually thought about people using these hooks and the fact that, as the hook gets bigger, so does the yarn used. The hook which often troubles me is an 8mm. I often use either a chunk or super-chunky yarn and so it needs to work with either yarn. So I tested it as such. (See example below: left is Chunky yarn and right is Super Chunky). Those extra couple of millimetres meant it was an easy hook to use, whatever the yarn size.
I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the size 15mm hook. This I tried intending, as with the others, to only create a sample piece to make sure I'd tried each hook equally. However, I found this hook so easy and comfortable to use that I just kept on hooking! (See the W.I.P of the dog rug below) I use the pen-hold when crocheting and when the hook reaches a certain size I have to switch to knife-hold. Whilst I can crochet in this hold I am much slower and not as confident in it. More than just a coaster or a candle jar cover was needed as I so enjoyed using this bigger hook in my more natural hold!
I had decided to test these hooks hard and use some yarn that, whilst it's beautiful, can be difficult to work with. These hooks had no problem with Stylecraft Swift Knit Super Chunky which I've found can split with other hooks. It's very soft and whilst the finished effect is lovely it can be difficult to work. I always thought it was a natural fault in the yarn but now I wonder if it was the hook I was using. What a revelation!
[caption width="720" id="attachment_1383" align="alignnone"]
This was made using the size 9mm hook[/caption]In case you hadn't guessed I loved these hooks! I'm so pleased I got to try them. Why didn't I before?! To be honest it was the price. When I first started my crochet hook collection with all the earnestness of a good hooker, I wasn't sure how serious I was about it and didn't have money to burn. So I bought Pony crochet hooks. My main reason for this was that they were cheap (£1.15 - £3.99) so if I changed my mind and walked away from crochet I wasn't out of pocket too badly. These served well enough but it was difficult to crochet for any length of time as the hooks hurt my hand. The Clover Amour crochet hooks cost a little more but it's well worth it. UK retailers sell them for £6.19 up to £8.79. I'm sure little shopping around could maybe improve on that but I don't think those prices are unreasonable. When the only fault you can find is the colour then you know it must be good.
Now to try the smaller, metal hooks. I'll report back in a few days.
See you then,
Josie
P.S. these beautiful motif patterns are taken, in part, from 75 Crocheted Floral Blocks.
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