If you’re new to crochet then one of the first things you need to learn is how to hold your crochet hook.
In this article I’ll take you through two common ways to hold your crochet hook and one super secret way that you probably haven’t heard of.
When you’re first learning to crochet you’ll either be teaching yourself from books; blog articles like this one; YouTube videos; a trusted friend or family member or a combination of them all!
It can be confusing when the person in the YouTube video is holding it differently to your gran. So just how SHOULD you hold your crochet hook?!
Well, to know how to hold your hook you first need to know the anatomy of a hook.
Anatomy of a Crochet Hook
A crochet hook is made up of several smaller parts:-
- Point or tip – this is the very top of your crochet hook. Insert this section into your crochet stitches. You might find that some crochet hooks have a slightly pointier tip than others.
- Lip & mouth – this is the hook part. It grabs your yarn to pull it through your work to create stitches. The lip can be longer or shorter on some hooks and the mouth can be angular, wedge shaped or rounded.
- Throat – the throat is angled to help glide your stitches into the working area. Or it helps to hold loops on the hook while you insert it into your work.
- Neck – the neck is the back of the throat and is straight.
- Shaft or Shank – this is the working area of the hook. This is the area that is referred to when the size of the hook is mentioned. It is very important to make sure your loops reach this area as you work your stitches.
- Thumb Rest – this is generally where you grip the hook. Depending upon how you hold your crochet hook your thumb may or may not rest in this area. Some crochet hooks don’t have an obvious thumb rest. This is true of ergonomic crochet hooks or those with an additional covering so don’t worry if you can’t see it on your hook.
- Handle – the rest of the hook is simply called the handle. It can be the same width as the shaft of the hook. But if you have an ergonomic handle it will be much thicker than the rest of the hook.
Now you know the different parts of a crochet hook; lets look at the two most common ways to hold your hook…
How to hold your crochet hook – the Knife Hold
The best way to describe it is you hold your hook in the same way you hold your dinner knife, rather than the chef’s way of holding a knife.
Hold the handle of the hook between your middle finger and thumb, with your thumb sitting on the thumb rest. Close the rest of your fingers around the handle for support.
Either wrap your forefinger around the handle or pressed against the neck of the hook for stability and to hold your yarn down when needed.
I find this the easiest way to hold my hook. However, I got into the bad habit of using my thumb to hold down my yarn (which can cause a bit of stiffness in my wrist if I’m not careful).
Of course everyone holds their dinner knife differently but the image above shows what is generally meant by the knife hold.
How to hold your crochet hook – the Pen Hold
Also known as the Pencil Hold. You’d think that the name would speak for itself. But you might be surprised to learn that there are actually two methods of holding your hook that qualify as the ‘Pen Hold’.
- The first way is how I hold my pen, you hold the handle of your hook close to the hook end, between your thumb and forefinger. Again with your thumb sitting in the thumb rest but instead of the handle sitting in the palm of your hand it rests on the back of your hand. The thumb rest area should rest on your middle finger for support. Either tuck the rest of your fingers up against your middle finger for extra support or curl them up against your palm, whichever feels more natural to you.
- The second version of the pen hold is to use your thumb, forefinger and middle finger to grip the handle, slightly closer to the bottom of the hook. Cup your hand and your crochet hook will sit roughly at a 45 degree angle to your hand. The hook end will point towards your little finger. Your ring and little fingers will be in the thumb rest area to help support your hook and help guide it through your work.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get on with either of these ‘Pen Hold’ methods. I’ve tried but it just doesn’t feel natural for me. Perhaps it is because I was a knitter long before I picked up a hook.
But you should give it a try. I’ve had other crocheter designers tell me they swap between the pen and the knife hold (or vice versa) to help reduce the stress on their wrists.
And that brings us to the final and the most secret way of holding your hook.
Super Secret way to hold your crochet hook
Here’s the big secret that no one wants you to know about how to hold your crochet hook…
THERE IS NO RIGHT WAY TO HOLD YOUR HOOK!
There, the secret is out!
It honestly doesn’t matter how you hold your hook as we’re simply making knots in yarn.
Yes there are crochet snobs out there who will tell you otherwise but don’t listen to them. Let me tell you a story…
When I was selling my creations at craft fairs I often used to sit and crochet to while the time away. On one particular occasion I had a couple of ladies approach my stall and watch me crochet. Eventually one of them said “yes, you’re holding your hook the right way”.
At first I was very pleased to hear this. I had taught myself how to crochet using YouTube videos so it felt good to hear from someone that I was ‘doing it right’.
But think how much damage that kind of statement would have done to my confidence if I’d been holding my hook any other way!
It honestly doesn’t matter how you hold your hook as we’re simply making knots in yarn.
However since then I’ve seen so many different ways to hold your hook.
From the person who holds their hook vertical like a knitting needle and lets go of their hook in order to wrap the yarn around it;
to the person who holds the hook between their legs and uses one hand to put their work over the hook and the other to yarn over.
And do you know what? Every single one of them creates beautiful crocheted items. You wouldn’t know they were holding their hook differently to anyone else!
I’ve decided to take a stand against the crochet snobs of the world! I’m here to tell you it’s perfectly OK if you hold your hook differently to the ways described above. You do you, keep going and ignore those crochet snobs!
Leave a comment and let me know if you’ve ever had a run in with a crochet snob!
Happy crocheting!
