I don’t talk a lot about crochet.  I’m mostly a knitter, after all.  But I do enjoy a good crochet project from time to time.  There’s something very gratifying about the speed that you can work up a lovely afghan.  And I love the idea that you can use a tool as simple as a little hook to make such beautiful and complicated patterns.

Hooks like this one that I received in the mail from one of great-aunts:

It’s a beautiful  little tool.  It’s wooden, and well worn to satin-y smoothness with years of use.  And the most amazing part:  It was hand-made by my great-grandfather for my great-grandmother.  And (amazingly!) it’s managed to survive all these years.

Can you imagine whittling a crochet hook by hand?  I can only imagine how many times my great-grandfather must have started this hook, only to end up cutting all the way through and having to start again.  (Or at least that’s what I would have done, but then again, I’m a knitter, not a woodworker.)

I haven’t worked up the guts to try crocheting with the hook yet, but it would be perfect for making a lovely cozy blanket with chunky yarn (the hook is about a size US M).  I’m afraid of breaking it all these years!  For now, I think I’ll keep it in a shadow box in my knitting studio, where it will stay nice and safe.