I have discovered a new method for making wood crochet hooks that I quite like. I flatten the middle of a dowel using a spindle sander, and flatten the end perpendicular to the middle with a band sander. This sets up the grip and the head of the hook at a comfortable angle. I then thin the neck to the size hook I need, and shape the head.

The bulk of the work goes into hand sanding the final shape. I use sandpaper rolled into tight tubes to access the inside of the hook, and flat sandpaper to smooth the outside shapes. I then use several grades of sandpaper until I’m down to 600 grit.

I’m teaching an amigurumi class that uses blanket yarn to make marshmallow animals. The blanket yarn calls for a larger hook than is in most hook sets, so I’m making the hooks the students will use. The next step is to finish and make them nice and shiny so they slide through the yarn loops.