April 22nd, 2007 at 07:35 am » Comments (1)

So where were you on that first “April 22nd Earth Day” back in 1970?

I was in Delhi NY getting the first of a series of Associate degrees – Sure wish I still had pictures of my friend Glenn’s VW bug and how we “decorated” it for the 1970 occasion.

What could be better this Earth Day than to combine recycling and crochet

That is why I knew I had to save this site to tell you about for this 37th anniversary of the April 22nd Earth day.

Not only does Cindy of MyRecycledBags.com tell you how to make yarn out of grocery bags and sacks but she offers free patterns for several.

Here are just two of the bags I found at Cindy’s Site – you can choose to crochet with recycled jeans or crochet with grocery bags or whatever else you want to reuse in honor of Earth Day.

Now for the time to make them all (there is plenty of stuff around here to recycle) I think I will crochet with denim first.

Happy 37th April 22nd Earth Day

Wheat

April 8th, 2007 at 06:05 am » Comments (1)

After doing this bit of Research, it was pretty easy to see why the Craft Yarn Council did not publish any standards for Steel Hooks in its Yarn Standards.Com charts

Most Steel Hooks Look like this:

However, for those who appreciate Gentle on your hands and wrist, it is so cool that Clover will be bringing the Steel Soft Touch to the US so they can be more available (now only one supplier has them and it is in the Japanese packaging.

This will be great for those who like to do wire work as well.

Now back to the chart… It is fairly simple to see why good pattern editors (and designing authors) ALWAYS include the diameter of hooks and needles used – rather than just a “generic” letter or number.

I always prefer to base my Steel hook references and suggestions on metric measurements because all “brands” are made outside the US, in countries that base their engineering on M
etric standards, not Imperial.

If you would like details on Clover’s Soft Touch Steel hooks, including the thread sizes they recommend for each of their hooks, please visit our on-line retail shop ItsAllJustString.com

In a perfect world, these manufacturers will someday agree on “Size/Measurements” but probably not anytime soon.

Wheat’s US-Metric Steel Crochet Hook Reference* Updated: 2008-09-14 © 2000-2008 WheatCarr
R o w 0	Col 1 Steel MM	Col 2 Clover	Col 3 Clover SoftTouch	Col 4 Pony	Col 5 Boye	Col 6 Bates	Col 7 Inox	Col 8 tulip Skacel	R o w
1	0.40mm	–	–	–	–	–	No 16	No 24	1
2	0.45mm	–	–	–	–	–	–	No 23	2
3	0.50mm	–	No 14	–	–	–	No 15	No 14	3
4	0.55mm	–	–	–	–	–	–	No 13	4
5	0.60mm	No 12	No 12	No 14	–	–	No 14	No 12	5
6	0.70mm	–	–	No 13	–	–	–	No 11	6
7	0.75mm	No 10	No 10	No 12	No 14	–	No 13	No 10	7
8	0.85mm	–	–	no-name	No 13	–	–	No 9	8
9	0.90mm	No 8	No 8	no-name	–	No 14	–	No 8	9
10	0.95mm	–	–	–	–	No 13	–	No 7	10
11	1.00mm	No 6	No 6	no-name	No 12	No 12	No 12	No 6	11
12	1.05mm	–	–	–	–	No 11	–	–	12
13	1.10mm	–	–	–	No 11	–	–	No 5	13
14	1.15mm	–	–	–	–	No 10	–		14
15	1.25mm	No 4	No 4	No 8	–	No 9	No 10	No 4	15
16	1.30mm	–	–	–	No 10	–	–	No 3	16
17	1.40mm	–	–	–	No 9	No 8	–	–	17
18	1.50mm	No 2	No 2	No 7	No 8	No 7	No 8	No 2	18
19	1.60mm	–	–	–	–	No 6	–	No 1	19
20	1.65mm	–	–	–	No 7	–	–	–	20
21	1.70mm	–	–	–	–	No 5	–	–	21
22	1.75mm	No 0	No 0	No 4	–	No 4	No 6	No 0	22
23	1.80mm	–	–	–	No 6	–	–	–	23
24	1.90mm	–	–	–	No 5	–	–	–	24
25	2.00mm	–	A-0	–	–	–	No 4	2/0	25
26	2.20mm	–	–	–	–	–	No 16	3/0	26
27	2.25mm	–	–	2/o	–	–	–	–	27
28	2.30mm	–	B-1	–	–	B	–	–	28
29	2.50mm	–	–	3/o	–	–	–	4/0	29
R o w	Col 1 Steel MM	Col 2 Clover	Col 3 Clover SoftTouch	Col 4 Pony	Col 5 Boye	Col 6 Bates	Col 7 Inox	Col 8 Tulip	R o w
* Based on Data Current as of February 2007,   updated to add photos on 2007-May-02   updated to add Tulip on 2007-May-24   updated to add on 2008-Sep-14 * ALWAYS MAKE A GAUGE SWATCH * ALWAYS check/measure the diameter of your hook – Older Hooks often do NOT have the same Diameter as those made today. – * If you find an error, please do email me with the correction.

Incidentally, you can often find reasonably price templates intended for measuring screw sizes at your favorite Hardware store, (mine is ACE then Sears Tool department, since they are independently owned and the people at the ones nearest to me don’t ever laugh when I explain how I plan to use “stuff” – okay they do shake their head a lot, but they always understand what I want, if not why) As soon as I can find it, I will post a picture of my favorite one.

COMMERCIAL: If you want to add Clover Soft Touch Steel hooks to your collection, you can find them at: ItsAllJustString my on-line shop