My Clover Amour Hooks

A while back I was talking about keeping our hands happy when crafting. One thing that can help crocheters with that is using a hook that is kind to our hands.

The Clover Amour hooks first came to my attention when the Vouge Knitting Crochet issue can out in Spring of 2012. There was an ad in there for them and I was extremely intrigued. Oh let’s be honest, I wanted them, badly.

Not only did they have an ergonomic handle, they were pretty colors and they had the lovely shape of the Clover Soft Touch hook which I have always liked. The Soft Touch is a great value hook and the paddle shape of the handle can reduce the amount of grip strength needed to use the hook. I prefer a hook handle that has a bit more “give” to the surface though.

The combination of elastomer and ergonomic shaped handles of the Amour hooks really caught my attention, as soon as I could I ordered a set of them to try out. These were the Yarn hook version. The working end of the hook is a lovely blending of tapered and inline with a nice point on the tip making it easy to work into stitches.

They quickly became my favorite hook to work with. Unfortunately, there was a limit in the sizes with bulky and chunky yarns becoming more widely available, I needed some larger hooks.

I embarked on quite the adventure searching for larger hooks that were commercially available and had a hand friendly handle. The common problem I ran into was that many of the larger sized hooks with ergonomic handles had very little space between the top of the handle and the bottom of the “throat” of the hook. This section of the hook is what determines the uniformity of your loop sizes when making a stitch.

This isn’t a problem if you are only crocheting chain or single crochet stitches, and sometimes was okay with even a double crochet stitch. Too often though, double crochet and taller stitches are impossible on these larger hooks because the yarn-overs are distorted. Then you end up with distorted or “leggy” stitches in your finished project.

Now if you are an experienced crocheter very likely you can compensate for these issues, but generally those compensations lead to other postural or motion habits that can cause stress in your wrist or arms. Ideally, the hook is designed so that working with tall stitches is as easy as the other stitches in your project.

At the Summer 2014 TNNA show I stopped by the Clover booth to compliment them on the design of the Amour hooks and let them know how much I enjoyed working with them. They were just rolling out their steel hook version of the Amour hooks and I took a sample home with me. It quickly became my favorite hook to use when adding beads to projects.

I was happy to hear they were working on coming out with some larger hooks in the Amour line and we talked about the design of the hook.

At the Winter TNNA show in Phoenix they had the larger sized hooks. I was excited to try them out. They had a wonderful little sampling station set up where you could play with yarn with the hooks. I was thrilled to see that all the hooks had plenty of room for multiple yarn-overs. I had a wonderful conversation with one of their representatives who doesn’t actually crochet. I showed him how the longer shaft of the hook made a difference in the tall stitches.

I ended up bringing home a set of the 5 larger Amour hooks to add to my set of Amour yarn hooks; sizes K-6.5mm, 7mm, L-8mm, M/N-9mm, N/P-10mm. These larger size hooks are made with a slightly different material for the handle and the hook itself is a hard smooth plastic that I have found to be very cooperative with every yarn I’ve tried them with. The handle shape is still wonderfully ergonomic and comfortable for both a knife hold or pencil hold.

This last Summer TNNA show they had added 2 more larger hooks to the Amour line-up. A 12 millimeter and 15 millimeter (P/Q) hook. The 15mm hook is a bit short between the handle and throat of the hook, but still very nice to work with. I rarely need to make taller stitches than a double crochet with this size a hook as it is generally used with extremely chunky yarns or multiple strands of worsted weight yarn to get the appropriate thickness.

I was just missing the tiny steel hooks. I decided I needed to add them to my set of Amour hooks this summer. They are super for when I am working with thread weight yarns and they are a great tool for when I am creating projects that need beads. Because they come in smaller sizes than any of my other steel hooks with ergonomic handles, they are very handy for my intricate bead and thread work.

I’ve filled my entire purple work case with my set of Clover Amours. I have a few other hooks in there, as well as the other accoutrement that I need when working on projects or teaching crochet.

These are not the only hooks I use, but they are definitely my favorites. I use a modified knife hold most of the time I crochet, so these handles are very comfortable for me. Everyone’s hands are different though, so you need to find out what works for you.

I’ve seen them available in my local JoAnn’s craft store (and on Amazon), so they are easy to obtain. I recommend purchasing just one hook in a size you commonly use or need. Then give it a try-out for a while to see if they are right for you. You may find yourself falling in love with Amour hooks like me.