I recently made a purchase on Etsy for crochet hooks, and I am so totally impressed with them, that I wanted to write a review to share with you.
I purchased a set of 14 carbonized bamboo crochet hooks from suhangsupplies. Now, anyone who has used regular bamboo hooks can tell you that they have a lot of "drag" to them. In other words, friction. I have two regular bamboo hooks I bought at the LYS that I loathe. Seriously. They seem to make my work 10 times harder. But I REALLY want to love bamboo! It is a renewable resource, and natural material, and it just makes sense to me that it would be better for me to use bamboo instead of the aluminum I've been using.
Enter carbonization. When the bamboo is carbonized, it hardens quite a lot. And smooths out (or perhaps they were just sanded? Not sure on that one.) Anyway, when I received these hooks, and took them out of the pack, the first thing I thought was, "Oh my, these are NOTHING like the hooks I already have!" I have been seriously impressed with how hard and smooth they are.
They also have a really deep throat, and a really pointy tip. These two things are very hard to find together. I have some Boye hooks with decent tips, but really shallow throats, so the yarn slips off about every third stitch or so. This is why I refuse to use them! :) I also have some Susan Bates aluminum hooks with a nice, deep throat. I love them way more than Boye, but the tips are just not as pointed as I would like for some projects.
If you've ever wanted to try bamboo hooks, or if you tried regular ones and hated them, then I strongly recommend you try these. I got 14 hooks, size 3mm to 10mm for $19 plus shipping. I think it's safe to say I have a new favorite hook!
I get people asking me which type of wool they should use, and if a certain type will work for them, and so forth. So I want to talk about the different types of wool that I use, and their individual qualities. This should help you when picking out a base for a custom, or knowing, when you see a yarn in my shop that you like, whether or not the base would be a good fit for your child.
Merino:
This is the gold-standard for softest, next-to-skin wear wool. It has about a medium ruggedness, though. So if your toddler likes to slide on his knees outside, then this may not hold up well enough. For toddlers who do not spend a lot of time doing this, however, merino should work fine. It will, from time to time, need a good shave with a sweater shaver.
Gaia and BFL:
I put these two together, because they have a lot of the same properties. These are both excellent bases for newborns and younger babies who are not very active yet. They both have a sheen to them, but BFL almost looks metallic sometimes, the sheen is so high. They are both super-soft, with gaia being a bit more silky. They are not, however, very durable, which makes them not the best for active toddlers. They both tend to get fuzzy with use, requiring shaving. These are my two favorite bases to work with. They feel so good on my fingers, and slide so delightfully on my hook!
Licorice Twist (LT):
This is another extra-soft base, good for newborns through toddlers, although for very active children it will require more frequent shaving. LT is a three-ply yarn, meaning it is made up of three strands, one of which is superwash. This superwash strand takes dye differently than the non-superwash strands, resulting in a candy-cane, or barberpole effect. This yarn is my favorite for the way it looks. A softer option for toddlers, as the superwash makes it a bit more durable than other soft bases, like gaia or BFL. The pic above is LT.
Blackberry Ridge (BBR):
For toddlers, this is my all-time favorite base, hands down. It is super-durable, and does not fuzz or pill at all, requiring no shaving. However, it is nice and soft against the skin. Now that my little girl is walking, we will be using a lot more of this base, especially for longies and capris, since they have knees and I'm sure she'll try to wear holes in them! lol
Mountain Meadow (sometimes MMR or MMW):
This is a good toddler-friendly base, as well. Very durable, but still requiring shaving, and not as soft as BBR. I tend not to buy yarn in this base, because it costs more for some reason, and in my opinion isn't as good as BBR.
I think these are all the bases that I use in Rows and Roses. I am trying to type this up between two screaming kids throwing food, so please let me know if I left anything out :)
I wanted to share with you my first experience in making pseudo-rolags for spinning. This was a fun project, and the fiber I used was dyed by me.
I used some Falkland wool that I dyed purple, added a little silk that I dyed pink, and then just a hint of Firestar for some glitter.
I pulled just a little from each, and laid them out, over-lapping each other a little.
I wasn't sure if I was doing it right; I don't know anyone in real life that is into stuff like this, and everything I've learned, I've either figured out myself, or watched on youtube, or read about in a forum. I wanted to blend the fibers a bit more, but I don't have any hand-cards or a drum carder, so alas, this was the only way to go for me.
The wool was very fluffy, and easy to draft (pull out in pieces), and the silk was yummy and smooth. But the Firestar, being a synthetic fiber (read: plastic) felt a little weird as I was pulling out strands. I laid everything out as well-blended as possible, and then pushed the sides up together a tiny bit to create a little density. I figured this would help once I started to spin it.
I took two knitting needles, and put one underneath and one on top of my fiber. Then I rolled the fiber up into a tube, and slipped the needles out.
Voila! Pseudo-rolags!
I ended up using these rolags to spin some Clemson yarn. I spun a long purple single, and plied it with an orange one (made of merino), and got about 76 yards of some gorgeous yarn. The silk and Firestar made the purple ply so shiny and shimmery. It will be perfect for a hat for the coming football season!
I haven't photographed the Clemson yarn yet, as I just finished it yesterday, and then it rained :(
They're not calling for rain today, tho, so I will take it outside and get a really good pic, and post on my facebook page.
Thanks for looking!
