Crochet hooks, cedar, oak and deer antler!

[valerie williams]

At first I didnt know if I should put this in the Turners forum cause we didnt use a lathe, but then I remembered the time I spent Holding and turning the wood so that Mike could sand it, so here is some pics of the human lathe's work, lol. The strait one is from an oak dowel, the next 2 are cedar, and the one without a hook is the deer antler, soon to be a hook.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/shelain22/thfebhooks7.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/shelain22/thfebhooks3.jpg


Ok, I got the link to how to do pics from here, but till Ihave time to figure itout, here are some photo bucket links so you can see them closer...
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/shelain22/febhooks.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/shelain22/febhooks2.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/shelain22/febhooks5.jpg

[John Hart]

Those are cool!!

I know they're not turned on a lathe...but since you're about to dive into the vortex...these are good for comparison down the road.

Note to Mike: You're a better man than I sir! I hate sanding and you're machining with sandpaper!!!!:eek:

[Jim Becker]

What's kewel about crochet is that you can work with a variety of "shapes" as you so wonderfully illustrate. Unlike knitting...the thang doesn't have to be perfectly straight! (Although it has to be comfortable to hold) Those are wonderful, Valerie!

[Jim Dunn]

Very nice Val and Mike. I think a lathe in your family would cause you two to "fight" over who gets to turn next. Who knows you might get your children involved too.

[Curt Fuller]

Those are some nice hooks, Val. That's probably harder to carve them than to turn them. I've turned a few and carving the actual hook is the hardest part. These were turned for Christmas gifts last year.

[Corey Hallagan]

Those are neat. Man, lots of sanding! Great job.

Corey

[Bernie Weishapl]

Those are awesome Valerie. Wait till you get a lathe and go to town on those. Great work Val and Mike.

[Bill Stevener]

Hi Valerie,
Took a look at your crochet hooks, really great. Ya know, when you first posted on the Creek, one of your first questions was about wood. I noted that some of the finer woods used in the hooks was quite expensive and that a good source to start off with may well be your local wood lot. I had no idea you would take it to heart.:D

OK, now a question for you, as you are the Queen of the crochet world on this forum.
My research has led me to believe, the top of the hook, when formed, should be a tad lower than the main body, looking at it on the same plane. I did notice in your hooks, some are higher, yet some are lower. Dose this make a never mind to you, or is it critical to others, less experienced?? I have kept the hook lower on the ones I have made.

Thanks for your input,

Bill.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:)

[valerie williams]

Curt- Those are lovely! The light colored one with the dark stripes...How do you do that?

Bill- You are right about the hooks for a beginner, IMHO they need to be strait standerd inline hooks. If youare selling to a beginner some good advice would be start with between an I and a K, and use worsted weight yarn, not the thin baby stuff, save that for later! Mike made thesehooks by watching me crochet and marking where my hand was and makeing indentions and curves where my hand rested. Its honestly a matter of personal taste, some will prefer the streamline of bills hook, others want something more elemental, does that make sense? Ok, here is a little info to add to your research, if I am not posed to post these links, please remove them and I will PM them to bill, but I thaught some of the other hook makers would be interested in this.
These are drawings from us patents on hood head shapes.
First is Susan bates, an inline hook, widely prefered...
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c259/hooklady/Bates2402388.jpg
here are boye, firts is early, 2nd is the current shape..
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c259/hooklady/Boye2024794.jpg
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c259/hooklady/Boye2635444.jpg]
The next are British, german, and french designs...
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c259/hooklady/EarlyBritishDesign.jpg
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c259/hooklady/FrenchHookDesign.jpg
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c259/hooklady/GermanHookDesign.jpg
Like I said, the inline hook like the first one is what most people want to use. This guy has alot more experience with hooks than we do, he sells alot and if you wnat Jimbos hook, you send him a pic of you crocheting and he makes the hook to fit your hand.
http://www.jimbosfrontporch.blogspot.com/
A few more searches that youwould probably find interesting... Turn of the century hooks, look alot like bills, sell like hotcakes! On ebay, look for graydog(I have seen them go for over 400 bucks for 1 hook!!!:eek: ) Fancy kitty and sailormagic. All of those are wood hooks and sell nicely, you will get an idea of what the crocheters want. And as far as takeing your advice to heart, of course I did, you guys are the experts, im just a puppet on a string for now.(trying real hard not to get frustrated)

Again, if any of these links are illegal, I apologize I just wanted to help a fellow creeker, kinda makes me feel good to offer something other than a question, lol.
huggs
Val

[valerie williams]

Oh yea, did you know that you can get a hook guage at any local yarn store? It will tell you what size hook you have and is a musthave if youare makeing hooks. Patterns call for certain yarn and certain size hooks, and if you dont get it right you will end up with a baby sweater instead fo an adult medium(I know this from experience!)

[John Hart]

Please don't take this the wrong way Val....But just in case your Photobucket site goes bye-bye some day, SMC will still need these valuable pictures....So I stole them!!!:D

Bates
32439

Boye
32440

Early British Design
32441

French Hook Design
32442

German Hook Design
32443

[valerie williams]

Oh John, I am a very thick skinned southern gal, steal away and do not worry about hurting my feelings! I just need to do a little more reaserch on how to do the picture thing correctly(when I have time, 4 kids can be a little demanding of mamas time, lol)
Thank you for doing that. I do appreciate it.
Huggs'
Val

[Bill Stevener]

Hi Val,

Thanks for your quick and very informative response. OK, for the most part it seams to be a mater of preference. Along the lines of choosing a turning tool. Kinda depends where one is at and what one is looking to achieve.

I have admired the Turn of The Century style hooks and have tried to incorporate some of the design features in the hooks I turn, as you noticed when I first presented them to you. I have and will continue to look at Gray Dog's work, outstanding. I to enjoy the carving part, however for some reason don't apply it as much as I did in my earlier (younger) years.

Your posting of examples, is very relative to the subject. One part is the turning activity and the other end just gets to the point.:D

Thanks again, you have been very helpful, and John saw it fit to maintain your information in the archives, for all with a similar question in the future.

Bill.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:)

[valerie williams]

your welcome:p

[Curt Fuller]

Curt- Those are lovely! The light colored one with the dark stripes...How do you do that?

Val

The light ones are hard maple with the lines burned with a fine wire while they're turning.

[Scott Loven]

Val, how about some pictures of the things you make with your hooks?
Scott

[Ernie Nyvall]

Those look great Val. I've got to get one of those hook size thingamajigs.

Ernie

[valerie williams]

Earnie-Assumeing youare not familiar with a craft store... Find the yarn(always in a back corner) Hooks will be near, It actually says knitting needle guage, but there is crochet hook sizes on the flip side. If you cant find one that is crochet as well, alsone as the knitting sizes have MM as well, you can use this http://www.southwestohiocrochetguild.com/hooks.htm
and I used this to size the ones we made from dowels before we had one of these. http://serendipity.gpvm.com/straight.html#hook4 you have to scroll up, but it will convert the inches to mm, then you go to the forst one and convert to a letter, see, its easy:) heres what they look like, in case you go looking for one
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/shelain22/68_2.jpg


Scott-see post #8 on page 2 http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/shelain22/myblankie2.jpg
It would keep me from haveing to look all of those up again, and I cant get the pic resizer to work, :confused: