hook sizing question

[rebeccav]

okay, in the new woman's day mag, there are 2 different hat patterns that i was thinking of making, they both call for a M hook.

well, my only M, is a crystallite. don't they run larger? my crystallite L is the same size as my aluminum N...

:?

what do you all think of this?

[Julie]

Oy! :oops

I found a link for Brittany hooks, the M is 9.0mm, the L is 8.0 mm.

I found this link (http://www.planetshoup.com/easy/tips/convcroc.shtml) which says an M is 9 and an L is 8.

I can't find ANYTHING which tells me the size of the Crystallite crochet hooks. I won't be surprised to know that I'm just overlooking it, I usually do. :rolleyes

[Julie]

According to Boye (http://www.wrights.com/products/catalog/boyeline/crochethooks.htm) sizing, you're right, the aluminum N is a 9.0.

What's up with that?? :ohdear

[threeolivemartini]

bates differs from boye and the crystalites seem to have sizing unto themselves LOL.. i guess that is where swatching comes in handy ...

[rebeccav]

:bang
i KNEW someone was going to tell me to swatch! :frog
i've gotten away without having to do it yet... the only thing is that i am using chenille thick&quik --- and we all know how chenille loves to be frogged.:eek2 i don't want to waste (IMO) my yarn on a swatch :blush
i'd rather my project turn out too small and give it away to a youngster :p

[threeolivemartini]

i hate swatching jsut as much .. so i usually dont do it .. when in doubt i usually use the bigger needle of my choices.. instead of the smaller..

[Julie]

I don't mind the Crystallites having a different size, if only there was a chart that mentioned what they are! :irked Swatching isn't fun, but sometimes you just can't get around it. I'm just glad it wasn't me that took the bullet and caused all the head bashing. :p

[HollyM]

Ok,
I found my Crystalites which are still in the package because I hate them <img border=0 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v84/crochetville/Loco.gif" /> It says the L is 8mm, M 9mm, N 10mm, P 11.5 mm

I also have a size check card (Bates) and the Crystalites won't quite fit into the hole they are supposed to. If I go up one more hole, there is a little wiggle room. So it seems like the L is really an L 1/2 <img border=0 src="http://img28.photobucket.com/albums/v84/crochetville/ohdear.gif" />

Now, onto the only Boye hook I own, the N. On it, it says it's 9mm. If I try to put it in the sizing card, it rattles around in the "N" hole, way too small. I can't get it to fit in the M hole because the head & the thumb rest are bigger than the shaft.
Using the bottom part of the hook, it actually fits in the L hole perfectly.

To confuse things even more....I have a L, M & N hook from
<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=28140&item=8128844443" target="_new">this</a> Ebay seller. They are true to size going by the sizing card. Visually, the Boye N matches her L. Go figure. Anyway, I love her hooks. They feel like a Bates hook and they are super smooth. Unfortunatly she doesn't sell very often, you have to keep checking back. If she ever puts up a P or a Q I'd grab them in a <img border=0 src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v84/crochetville/heartpump.gif" />

Actually, what I really wish, was that Susan Bates would put out bigger metal hooks. Plastic ones just don't cut it for me. They always seem to have just a little more drag and it really slows me down. It's not that there are bits that need sanding, just something about the material that doesn't glide through the yarn.

So that's my novel for the day!

Holly

[rebeccav]

oh my! maybe we need to make some sort of chart :loco

[Donna]

i don't want to waste (IMO) my yarn on a swatch :blush
i'd rather my project turn out too small and give it away to a youngster :p

Rebecca!
:nono :nono :nono :nono :nono :nono :nono
Swatch yarn is not wasted yarn! :ohdear And if you don't swatch, you'll be wasting all your balls of yarn (not to mention your time, which is very valuable! :( ) because your project won't fit. (I know you could give it away, but still.) Did you not read the link I gave you before to The Joy of Swatching (http://crochetme.com/issue_1/joy_of_swatching.html), hmm???? And I don't mean just gloss over it, read it! :read Now get your rear end over there! :ohdear

And you just try swatching a few times. Then you will understand. You'll see. It's wonderful! :cloud9 You'll learn more about yarn from swatching than you can from any book. :sherlock

[threeolivemartini]

i had a thought too .. most patterns give the hook size and mm size so just match up what works.. i know all my hooks (except my turn of the centrury ones) are makrked with a size and a mm size on them .. so just use the same mm sized hook so it calls for a P .. and then says 10 mm .. so use the hook that is 10mm instead of worrying about the letter.. or the closest to the 10mm you have..

[rebeccav]

okay okay okay okay... i'll go read the article
:fall

[Donna]

I hope I wasn't too hard on you, Rebecca! :hug You know I love ya, girl! :heart I wouldn't be so tough with ya if I didn't. :)h

[deneen]

I use the Crystalites a lot and usually have to go by the mm size instead of the actual hook size. I didn't realize the sizing difference until I bought a pattern that listed both hook size by letter and mm. I didn't even do the swatch--I just went by the mm size and it worked out well.

Deneen