Crochet Hook Hair Sticks…

Well, it’s the time of year that I itch most to be crafting somehow.  Normally I’d be doing shows.  However, I have been too busy this year to be able to consider shows.

You might be wondering why.  After all, shows make money, right?  But the truth is, there can be a lot of moving parts at times.  You need sales inventory, materials, time to make your inventory, time to price, setup and sell, time to pack up and go home.  Not to mention wrangling scheduling conflicts with your growing kids’ responsibilities and last-minute school demands.  And not to mention that most of the [good] winter shows require applications mid-summer.

There are a lot of moving parts to doing shows, even when they are lucrative. 

And it’s best when you have a lot of sales inventory to sell.  With an art like crochet, the last fiber art left that cannot be replicated by a machine, two hands will only make so much, so fast.  Usually I’m banking my creations all year for the holiday season.  Meaning I have to have time to sit and make throughout the year, not at the last minute.  And sometimes shows are simply a bust.  You never know.  So you need to be ready for multiple shows to do OK.

This past year, it’s just been best to hock my digital skills and not worry about regular making sessions.  Just sell my articles, sell my graphic knowledge, sell my social media and ad-copy skills.  There’s no overhead in any of that.  No displays to figure out.  No truck to pack.  No tables to haul, or inventory to keep.  Just my mad brainy skills.  Even less waiting for payment in some cases. Although sometimes there’s more drama.  Let’s face it, a pair of mittens don’t often talk back to you. There’s a method to my madness this year, but more on that later.

The fact is, I love to make things.  And I can’t do brainy stuff non-stop without going crazy.  I need my creative outlets to stay sane.

One of my outlets is carving crochet hooks. 

And while I have a couple of ideas I’m dying to try soon on some real hooks, I’m also planning to do some crochet hook hair sticks.  Like these.  Because they’re handy and fun.  I’m always using them to get my hair out of my face.

Before you think, “Oh – you mean use crochet hooks as hair sticks!” – I actually don’t.

Some of these hook shapes will be nice and light-weight and excellent as hair sticks.  But they will not be strong enough to actually hook a real project. The hair sticks I make from bamboo are particularly not hook-worthy.  They’re only pretty.  And they are hard to get a hook shape out of in the first place.

Quality crochet hooks have to be more carefully engineered than hair sticks. 

It’s just a fact.  They have to be more carefully engineered than knitting needles too.  Really good crochet hooks require way more time and way more attention to detail.  Because you have to be able to hook something with them.  Again and again and again.

For. Like. Ever.

See the little hair stick? That’s made of bamboo. It’ll hold hair great. Super light weight. But it would quickly snap if you tried to hook with it. I even had to alter the head a bit just to keep it as strong as it is. No longer an ideal crochet hook head shape.

You must use good materials that are capable of forming a strong hook head, with a proper shape.  A hook at the end of a stick is not enough to make a good crochet hook.  If the wood does not allow you to shape the head properly, then you won’t have a good hook.  Period.  And your end product needs to be able to withstand the torque necessary for the act of regular crocheting.  Otherwise a few stitches in, and that hook head or lip will snap or sheer or chip right off.

And everyone wants their crochet hooks to last longer than that.

But hair sticks do not require the same amount of strength.  They just need to hold hair and look pretty.  Hence the difference between real crochet hooks, and hair-stick wannabees.

Could you crochet with my crochet hook shaped hair sticks?

Some of them, yes they’ll hold up for awhile.  Others, perhaps and maybe not.

Btw, that’s paint in mah hair.

Here’s the deal.

I won’t call something I’ve made a “crochet hook,” unless I stand behind the quality put into it as a tool – to be able to do the job of crochet.  With the right shape and the right strength.

And if I call it a “hair stick,” even if it is crochet hook shaped, it means I’m not comfortable with its strength enough to call it a crochet tool.  And I doubt it’ll stand up to my durability standards for regular hooking use.

So stay tuned.
Let’s see what I get done.