How to Choose the Perfect Crochet Hook

picking your yarn and hook

So last February I made one of these while binge-watching The Last of Us and honestly the yarn choice matters way more than I thought it would. I grabbed Red Heart Super Saver in that grey heather color because it was cheap and I needed like 6 skeins for a decent throw size. Big mistake if you want something soft, but it holds up forever so there’s that.

You’re gonna need a 5.5mm or 6mm hook depending on how tight you crochet. I crochet pretty loose so the 5.5mm worked but check your tension after like 20 rows because nothing’s worse than realizing halfway through that your blanket is becoming a trapezoid.

the actual stitching part

Start with a chain that’s however wide you want the blanket. I did like 150 chains for something that’d fit across a couch. Then:

• Row 1: single crochet in the second chain from hook, then single crochet across the whole thing
• Chain 1, turn your work
• Row 2: single crochet in each stitch across
• Repeat row 2 until you run out of yarn or patience

That’s it. Just single crochet back and forth forever. My cat kept trying to lay on it while I was working which made counting stitches really annoying but also she looked cute so.

the thing that drove me insane

The EDGES. They kept getting wavy and weird no matter what I did. Turns out I was accidentally adding stitches at the ends of rows without noticing. You gotta make sure you’re catching that last stitch properly and not skipping it or adding an extra one. Use a stitch marker on the first and last stitch of each row if you need to, I should’ve done that from the start but didn’t realize until like row 40.

weaving in ends and joining yarn

When one skein runs out, don’t knot the new one to the old one because that creates a weird bump. Just leave like 6 inch tails on both, start crocheting with the new yarn, and weave both ends in later with a tapestry needle. I had probably 8 ends to weave in total and it took almost as long as—wait no, that’s an exaggeration but it felt tedious.

Some people use the Russian join method or felt the ends together if you’re using wool but with acrylic like Red Heart you just gotta weave them through the stitches on the wrong side.

other yarn options I’ve tried

Caron Simply Soft is actually much nicer to work with and softer but it’s more expensive. Lion Brand Wool-Ease is good if you want something warmer. Bernat Blanket yarn works up really fast with a huge hook but the finished blanket is kinda heavy and bulky, not great for draping.

The grey Red Heart blanket I made is still on my couch though and it’s been over a year so the durability is solid even if my edges look wonky.

how long it takes

Depends how much TV you’re watching honestly. I worked on mine for like 2-3 hours most evenings for about two weeks? Could’ve been faster but I kept messing up my stitch count and having to undo rows. If you maintain a consistent rhythm and don’t have a cat attacking your yarn ball it goes quicker.

The repetitive motion is actually kind of nice once you get into it, very mindless. Good for processing stuff or just zoning out.