Are Wooden Crochet Hooks Right for You? | Podcast Episode #126

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Curious why so many crocheters love working with wooden crochet hooks?

The perfect crochet hook is in the eye of the beholder. So if you’re on the hunt for the perfect crochet hook, the best thing you can do is try as many crochet hooks as possible. You’ll know it when you find it. The perfect crochet hook will be effortless for you to crochet with. Any sign of frustration from dropping loops, snagging, and dragging, will be a thing of the past.

Special Guest

This episode will help you see the benefits of working with wooden crochet hooks so you can decide if they’re the right choice for you. In this episode, you’ll hear from Rick and Danny, the father-son team behind the family business, Laurel Hill. They share how their hooks are made and why they are the perfect wooden crochet hook for so many crocheters.

Episode Transcript

Brittany:
Well, hey there. Welcome to episode 126 of the B.Hooked podcast. You know it, the place where we love yarn, we love to learn, and we truly believe yarn can do more for us than just make pretty things.

Now, if you’ve been a listener for a while, you know that I adore my Tulip and Furls Odyssey crochet hooks, and I typically shy away from wooden crochet hooks. Well, that’s what makes this episode especially exciting for me because after I had this conversation, I’m hopeful to find my perfect wooden crochet hook to go with my other perfect crochet hook sets.

Perfect Crochet Hooks I must encourage you to keep looking. As I went into this conversation, I had tried three or four different types of wooden crochet hook, had this similar experience with them where there was some drag, and overall they just weren’t enjoyable for me to work with. And what I learned from Rick and Dani today is that not all wooden crochet hooks are created equal. Just because I tried one in the past and didn’t love it — well, it just meant that that particular wooden hook wasn’t right for me and that they’re all a little bit different.

So in just a little bit, you’ll hear from Rick and Danny, my conversation that I had with them. They’re a father and son duo behind the family-owned business, Laurel Hill. Now, they have a variety of different tools and notions and that sort of thing on their website. But I was particularly interested in learning more about their signature hook, the Laurel Hill wooden crochet hooks, primarily because I’m still on the hunt for that perfect wooden crochet hook.

Well, if you’re on this quest as well, or you have an open mind about trying a new wooden crochet hook, I think you’re in for a real treat with today’s episode. Now, we mentioned a few resources, particularly a couple posts that will help you sort of make that visual connection to what you’re hearing when they talk about the hook’s construction and the design. So I’ll have all of that linked in the show notes at BHooked.com/126.

Okay, let’s get to it, shall we? Here is Rick and Danny from Laurel Hill. Well, Rick and Danny, welcome to the BHooked podcast. Thank you both so much for joining me today. Hi.

Rick: 3:10
Well, thank you for having us.

Brittany: 3:12
It is my pleasure. I am just so glad that you all reached out to me about your wooden hooks and just your incredible family business. I am so excited to share your story, but also to get into some of the benefits of wooden crochet hooks, because this is really something that I can’t speak to myself from personal experience. So thank you guys.

Rick: 3:37
You’re very welcome. Again, thank you for having us, and we love to tell our story, and any questions you have in regard to wood or our products, we would love to answer.

Brittany: 3:49
Wonderful. Well, before we get into that, can you each introduce yourself? Tell me a little bit about you and what you do for the business. Danny, do you want to start?

Danny: 4:00
Sure. Yeah, my name is Danny Brown. I’m Rick’s son. Rick started the business a long time ago when I was just a little kid. And I never really even knew what he was doing a lot of time. He was working out of the basement and taking calls and everything.

And when I was in college, I went with him to a trade show. And was that the TNNA show?

Rick: 4:23
Yes, it was, Danny.

Danny: 4:24
And that was in Columbus, Ohio. And it was so cool to just see what dad does. And he was talking about Laurel Hill Hooks, and I have not been that involved until the last year. I stopped working in the corporate world, began traveling a little bit, and then helping with the family business. And yeah, that’s been my story. So for the last year, I’ve been doing a lot of the social media and communications work for Laurel Hill.

Brittany: 4:52
Very cool. Now, Rick, how did it all get started?

Rick: 4:56
Well, we started about 20 years ago. I had a friend who was a distributor of fiber arts tools, and he was having trouble sourcing some actually knitting needles at the time. So I took it upon myself, I have an extensive factory background, and took it upon myself to go with a group to Vietnam and locate the right factory that had the same type of philosophical ideas and after traveling for a while and finding the right fit we started to manufacture knitting needles for this particular company.

Brittany: 5:41
Okay that’s really interesting. So you started with knitting needles first. When did you get into doing some of the crochet hooks?

Rick: 5:51
You know, we actually private labeled for many companies, some yarn companies, some fiber arts distributors, and we really honed our craft. And then we were asked by someone to make a crochet hook. And we made a very basic, simple crochet hook because that’s all we knew how to do.

And then we went to our conventions and trade shows and we were very lucky in that process because representatives from the Crochet Guild of America saw what we were trying to accomplish and they helped us. They would actually take our crochet hook and they would make suggestions. And then we would come back to the next show after making those modifications and watching people crochet, and then they would improve it again.

And this went on for many times in about, after about eight series of improvements, we came up with a crochet hook that we thought would be best for most crocheters.

Brittany: 7:00
Now that’s really interesting. I love that that was a process for you. I’m curious to either one of you crochet.

Danny: 7:07
Danny, the short answer is no, we don’t, we don’t crochet.

Brittany: 7:13
Oh, I would love to teach you.

Danny: 7:15
I’d love to learn. I would take you up on it. Because we don’t crochet, it becomes so important to listen to feedback from our customers. So that’s how we learn is we get feedback from the people who buy our hooks and get back to us. Dad always tells people to tell a friend. We just always try to start a conversation around the hooks. So that’s why a podcast like this is so fun for us to do.

Rick: 7:44
On a personal level, we’re both ex-basketball players. We both played collegiate basketball. We have really big hands.

Brittany: 7:53
Yeah.

Rick: 7:54
And it’s always been very difficult for me. But it’s something that we would love to learn. And I guess that’s probably in our future.

Brittany: 8:07
Yeah, it would be really cool to sit down with the two of you and teach you some of the basics, but I really love how you stress the importance of listening to your customers and listening to feedback because I almost feel like that’s better than having your own idea in your head of what a crochet hook could be because I know from personal experience that the perfect crochet hook is different from person to person.

And factoring in as much of that feedback as you can, I feel like you get a versatile hook that’s right for a lot of different people.

Rick: 8:48
I think you absolutely hit the nail right on the head. And if we came in with our own biases, we see so many times that people are not inclusive. And once they find what works for them, they think that’s the only way.

And our whole company philosophy is to be inclusive to everybody’s styles. And that’s why we offer so many different types of hooks and fiber arts tools.

Brittany: 9:15
Yeah, that’s really great. I love a company that puts their priority in their customers. And you make a pretty bold claim on your website. And I love that about this family business. You call them the best hooks on the planet. And there’s a lot of confidence behind that statement.

I would love to just get your thoughts about that. Where did that statement come from? And how did you… I guess, develop the confidence to know that you have the best hooks on the planet?

Rick: 9:50
Well, it really comes from feedback. Again, being at all those shows and having people use our hooks over a period of 19 years. And it’s not really one thing. It’s a combination of five different factors.

One thing, of course, you need a great design, which was helped by the Crochet Guild of America. We use repurposed wood materials. Wood is just beautiful. We have a unique thumb rest, which makes it comfortable for most crocheters.

And then also, they’re handmade. So they’re sanded and they’re polished. They’re so smooth. They’re so tactile. If you just saw them hanging on a shelf, you might say, boy, those are interesting. But if I can put it in your hand, you want it.

Danny: 10:49
Yeah, we see that over and over at trade shows when we get the opportunity to show them off. And we always make sure to put a set in somebody’s hands because they are, like my dad said, like a highly tactile product that people just love to play with.

Rick: 11:04
And then the last factor is they’re reasonably priced. So we’ve created an affordable luxury. And some people will go so far as to —

Brittany: 11:18
Call them functional works of art. And there’s really something to be said about doing all of that, creating our own art with something that is somebody else’s work of art. And I feel like that’s what you get with wooden crochet hooks, especially those that are handmade.

Rick: 11:47
We’re just so pleased that people appreciate that. And you’re absolutely right. The people that are fiber arts enthusiasts are so visual. They’re so tactile. They’re way more sensitive, I feel, than the normal population.

Brittany: 12:03
Yeah.

Danny: 12:04
Yeah. And this is art. And what a cool tool to use than something that’s been hand polished, hand created from natural products, from wood.

Brittany: 12:16
Yeah, you’re absolutely right. Well, I am a believer at this point. I’m waiting for the perfect wooden hook, to be honest. I’ve tried several of them. I’m not totally opposed to them. It’s just not usually what I lean to. And I feel like that’s because I haven’t found that perfect hook. So I’m going to have to pick up one of yours and give it a go and see how it feels. Okay.

Rick: 12:43
That’s what we’re talking about. That’s beautiful. It’s so nice that you’re open-minded enough to give us that feedback because I think one of the problems is someone might try a wood hook and they lump them all in one category where it’s not like that. There’s specific characteristics that stand out and actually work together to give comfort to the individual that’s doing the crocheting.

Brittany: 13:12
That’s a very interesting point. So let’s get into some of those characteristics so we can help sort of debunk this for people that all wooden hooks aren’t created the same. So if perhaps a listener has tried one and they think, oh, well, that one wasn’t right for me, and they have lumped that into wooden hooks in general, let’s sort of shift their perspective and probably talk about some of those characteristics that you mentioned. First, can you explain a little bit about how they’re made?

Rick: 13:42
Absolutely. They’re made really, well, first I should talk about the raw materials. There’s ebony wood. There’s, these are all Vietnamese woods. There’s Namo say, there’s Trey and their forest Palm, and they’re all hardwoods, but, uh, the Ebony comes from musical instrument factories. And we just use the pieces that are left over in the production of those instruments. So think of like a black piano key, for example.

And then the Namo Se and Tre, they come from the manufacturer of cabinets and we deal with the largest cabinet maker in Vietnam and we buy all their scraps, all the pieces of wood when they’re cut to dimension that can’t be used, we purchase and then we make our crochet hooks out of them.

And then there’s the forest palm, which was the first one we did and what we made our knitting needles out of. And that really comes from a palm tree. And it’s the leaves of the tree, for lack of a better… Frond, I think. The frond, which dies off naturally. And when they die off, we cut them and we collect them and make the crochet hooks. But they just grow back. So it’s a renewable resource.

And then those pieces, here’s where the handmade part comes in. We set up in a cooperative in Vietnam, sort of like a Henry Ford type of way to produce things. So it employs a lot of people and it takes a lot of human energy.

And the tasks to make a crochet hook is of course to size it, to sand it, to polish it, to varnish it, to stencil it, and so on. And each person does one of those tasks and then passes it to the next individual who completes that task until at the end of the line, through nine to 11 steps, you get a perfect crochet hook.

Danny: 16:05
And one thing that I’d like to add there is that we’ve had the opportunity to mechanize this. We’ve been asked, you know, do you want to use this piece of hardware that will just do all those steps — not you know one through eleven or nine or however many steps there are — without the use of all these people, and we’ve declined that.

We like that we have a handmade process. We like that our hooks are hand polished and we like that we employ a lot of people by doing it. So that’s It was a very conscientious choice that really my dad made.

Brittany: 16:40
Yeah, that’s really great. I think that’s something that somebody can really appreciate that too as a customer to know that you’re supporting an operation like that that employs so many people and really puts a focus on the process. I think that’s really wonderful.

Rick: 16:58
Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, we worked really hard to keep that real.

Brittany: 17:04
Yeah. So we have these different wood varieties. And I’m curious, though, the question that pops into my head is, is there a purpose for the different wood types other than just maybe the color differences? Do they work differently? You know, from a crocheter’s perspective, do they feel different when you’re working with them?

Rick: 17:28
They’re really all hardwoods with the same density. The ebony is the heaviest, but you would not be able to tell by holding them. So you touched upon something that was very important, and that is the colors are different.

So we selected woods that would have different various colors. So when you’re using a different color yarn, you would have that contrast, and it would be easier for the crocheter. For example, ebony is a very dark wood, so if they were using a light yarn, it would be easier for them.

And we have Namo Say, which is a very neutral brown honey color. And then Trey would be the lightest one we have. And that would be great if you were using a project that required a darker yarn.

Brittany: 18:22
Okay, yeah, that’s something you might not have thought of before. A lot of the crochet hooks, they sort of look the same when you purchase a set. And you don’t even think about the benefits of having a different colored hook paired with, you know, contrast color yarn, how helpful that could be.

Rick: 18:39
Yeah, the way we learned that is we work with an organization called Knots of Love, and they make chemotherapy caps and some of the people that volunteer their time are older people and they make hundreds of caps. I mean, these people are amazing.

So if they’re going to do a repetitive type of motion over longer periods of time, you want to make it as easy as possible for those people to not have fatigue, not just in their hands, but their eyes.

Brittany: 19:17
Definitely. Yeah, like I said, that’s an aspect you wouldn’t have thought of before. And you also mentioned something that I think is worth pointing out again is the weight to it. I know that’s something that comes up with metal crochet hooks. They tend to be heavier and I feel like you don’t get that with a wooden hook. So what are the weight benefits to these hooks?

Rick: 19:42
You know, for the casual user, I don’t think it’s dramatic, but for someone who really is compulsive in their craft and does it quite a bit, I think that the wood just really does help them.

I don’t have a way to measure that, but I have a pencil in my hand right now, and I have one of our Laurel Hill J-hooks, and they feel very similar. So if you can just imagine holding a pencil, I mean, that’s really all you’re doing. And when I say pencil, I mean if it was nubbed down to six inches.

Brittany: 20:21
Okay, yeah, so it’s about a similar weight.

Danny: 20:24
And it is light. It’s light in your hand. And I can imagine a lot of the metal hooks would be heavier.

Rick: 20:32
I also think that the unique thumb rest of our hook allows the individual to position their thumb and forefinger the way they want to. So you’re not locked into holding it one way. You have some flexibility and if you have some fatigue, you can slide up or down on that thumb rest to make it more comfortable.

Brittany: 20:58
Yeah, have you heard any feedback from some of your customers who are pencil grips or knife grips?

Rick: 21:06
That is such a good question. Again, when we’re at trade shows, we try and actually get a feel for how many do what. And I can tell you, after 19 years of doing this, it’s impossible. I don’t think that there’s two people that knit and or crochet the same way. And that’s why the thumb rest has to have some versatility in it. Because You can’t lock somebody into a way to hold it.

Brittany: 21:40
Exactly.

Rick: 21:41
Yeah.

Brittany: 21:43
If you were able to, I know it’s hard to visualize what the thumb rest might look like, but if you were to try to put it into words, how would you describe it?

Danny: 21:56
Um, I would say, I mean, if you just took, you know, the surface of your thumb and kind of project that onto, you know, onto your crochet hook, um, I, I guess you would just put it on top. I mean, dad, do you have a way to describe this?

We, I guess this might be a good point for me to point to, uh, an article that one of our friends, Pam Grice wrote, uh, Pam is the crochetpreneur and, uh, she wrote a blog post about our, uh, our hooks, uh, called the anatomy of a wooden crochet hook. Um, and she goes into depth with pictures and illustrations of what the taper is, what the thumb rest looks like. Um, and it’s something that we can pour it along for the show notes, Brittany. Um, but it really goes into depth of, of, you know, how this hook is constructed and what’s special about it.

Brittany: 22:48
That would be great. I would love to include that in the show notes so a listener can go and see it after they’ve heard it. Now, we mentioned a little bit about the hook itself. You said in her article she talks about the taper and that sort of thing. Is there anything that you can add to that or maybe talk about here in the episode about the hook itself, the shape? What can somebody expect?

Rick: 23:16
Yes, I think, you know, what’s interesting about us is that at the same time, it’s an inline hook, but it’s also tapered. It’s more like a hybrid. So if I could read a review, it says at first glance, the throat of the Laurel Hill hook might look tapered, but upon closer inspection, it seems to be inclined.

Danny: 23:43
Inline.

Rick: 23:44
Inline, excuse me. However, it’s actually a little bit of both. The throat itself is tapered, but the lip is in line with the throat, not situated above the throat. So it seems to be the perfect balance between the two styles. And I understand just verbally speaking this, it’s so difficult to understand. But as Danny said, we’ll include include some diagrams in the show notes and a complete review so the listeners can really take a good look and understand this better.

Brittany: 24:17
Okay, yeah, that would be great. And from a crocheter’s perspective on that, that’s sort of music to my ears because the reason I ask this question is more often knife grips are drawn to tapered hooks because it just flows better. That’s my own personal style, so that’s what I tend to gravitate towards.

And the inline hook seems to attract pencil grips, which I have tried for the life of me to do that and just can’t seem to pick up that skill. So knowing that it’s a combination of the two, I feel like you’re giving them a product that it doesn’t distinguish between one crochet style versus the other.

I have tried another crochet hook that uses this that has sort of like a tapered and an inline sort of in one. And I actually really enjoy working with that. So that tells me that I might also really enjoy working with your hooks. So that’s really good. Like I said, I’m totally going to try these out.

Rick: 25:20
Well, thank you. And the way the thumb rest is designed, it flattens out at the widest point. So it allows you the flexibility to do it the way you want to do it.

Brittany: 25:34
That’s very cool. That’s important, too, for somebody who’s choosing a tool that they’re going to use for thousands upon thousands of stitches. And that same motion, you know, it… It’s really important to have a tool in your hand that’s comfortable to work with as you’re sort of putting your hands and your wrist through some repetitive, stressful motions.

Danny: 26:02
Yeah, I’d love to just build on that topic. You know, we see so many people talking about yarn, and they’re always talking about what yarn they got and just in the– You know, in the online community, I always see that. And it blows us away how few people are talking about the tools that they use. The tools are there with you every step of the way. You know, even project to project, you’re switching out yarn, but the hooks are in your hand every project. So we’re really focused on the hooks and the tools that people use in their projects.

Brittany: 26:35
Yes, and it’s something that is going to last. I’ve had crochet hook sets for years and years, and I wouldn’t think about replacing them or getting rid of them. It’s sort of an investment, but it’s, I don’t know, it’s a process that you need to put as much thought into as you do planning your projects, if that makes sense.

Rick: 27:00
I would totally agree. And if you’re using an heirloom quality tool, especially when you’re learning, you’re going to enjoy it more at the beginning, which will keep you with the hobby longer as opposed to just being frustrated and throwing it against the wall.

Brittany: 27:19
Right. And when you’re using a hook that’s not right for you or that isn’t easy for you to work with, you’ll never continue because you’re already frustrated from learning. And then you’ve got this thing in your hand that might not be right for you. It might make it seem like, you’re never going to get it. But in reality, if you just had the right hook, then you would love it and you would continue doing it.

So I do like to put focus on the hook too and help people to find what’s right for them, not necessarily what the perfect hook is. I have a lot of listeners ask me and viewers of my YouTube channel, they’ll say, Brittany, I want to buy the hook that you use. And I tell them, I’ll share what hook I’ll use and I love it, but it may not be right for you. It’s part of the process. You have to try different varieties and see what works and see what is easiest for you to work with because your stitching style might be completely different from mine.

So I think that’s important to know from the start, and especially bringing that back to wooden hooks. If somebody has tried them before and didn’t like that particular one, that’s certainly no reason to dismiss all wooden hooks.

Rick: 28:41
I think that’s a great observation and would be very helpful to your listeners. And in that vein… On our site, of course, we love our Laurel Hill hooks and we say that they’re the best on the planet, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other great hooks out there for people to use for different reasons.

And on our website, we have a section called Other Hooks where we have a comprehensive offering of everybody else’s hooks because, again, we want to be as inclusive as we possibly can. And we also like the fact that they can take our Laurel Hill hook and then stack it up against another manufacturer.

And then the whole goal is really to keep the industry thriving. And if the people can find things that they like, they’re going to stay with the hobby longer and we’re all going to do better.

Brittany: 29:40
Exactly. A rising tide lifts all boats.

Rick: 29:44
There you go.

Brittany: 29:47
Well, I have to be honest, I’m a little more partial to working with sort of like a metal alloy or that sort of thing. So for somebody who is in my shoes and they know I sort of always lean towards metal hooks, let’s just share some of the benefits of working with wooden hooks, maybe something that we haven’t thought of before. Why should somebody consider giving that a try?

Danny: 30:17
Well, I will say, and I think this is a concession, that one of the main benefits of the hook is just aesthetic. It’s beautiful. It’s a beautiful hook. But one thing I’ll say about choosing your wooden hooks is that not all are made the same in terms of the polish, especially.

So that’s one thing that we see. People will say, I don’t want to use a wooden hook because I think it’ll catch. And so that is true with some wooden hooks. But with ours, they’re hand polished. They’re very smooth. And that’s a very important part of making a wooden hook.

So a lot of times when people say, you know, wooden hook isn’t for me, they’re getting literally caught up on the fact that it’s not smooth enough.

And then as far as the functional aspects, there are some cases where you need a very sturdy piece of metal to do what you’re doing with the yarn. You’re going to put so much torque on it that it could break a wooden hook. But we find that the percentage of people that are doing that kind of work is usually pretty low. And it’s usually specific types of stitches where you really need to go in there and pull something hard.

Dad, do you…

Rick: 31:31
Have anything else to add here? No. No, you’re doing a real good job. There are some people that have an enormous amount of tension when they crochet. And that’s just the way they are. And in our smaller sizes, they can break the head. And it’s very unusual. And we give them another hook. All our hooks are guaranteed for a year. And then if they continuously do that, wood hooks are not for them. It’s just not for their style. And that’s okay. We have metal hooks for those people.

So it’s best to try. We always say try it, you’ll like it. It’s just an old catchphrase. But until you actually put it in your hand and try it on a specific project or just make a swatch, you’re really not going to know what that experience is like. And one thing I should say is you can’t just try it for five or ten minutes. You know, give it a few hours and get used to it and then make an educated…

Brittany: 32:46
Decision. Or a full project even. That’s usually what I try to do when I am testing out a new hook. I make it a point to finish a project with it because you really don’t get the feel for it unless you’re finishing hundreds and maybe even thousands of stitches.

Rick: 33:04
Yeah, there’s a lot of muscle memory that goes into that. And you can’t give it a test drive for 10 minutes and make an educated decision. I agree with you 100%.

Brittany: 33:18
For sure. Now, Danny mentioned something else that brings up an interesting topic, and that’s the polish and then the tension. There’s got to be a relationship between the two. Can you elaborate on that a little bit more?

Rick: 33:33
Absolutely. As Danny mentioned, all these hooks are sanded. And then they’re polished. And then there’s a polyurethane that allows it to slide. But it has to be perfectly smooth before that polyurethane is put on there.

And what’s really interesting is that when someone knits with wool over a period of time, it actually smooths it even more. You can tell when someone’s made 200 chemotherapy caps, you can see the difference of it when they’ve done that and when we issue it to them. It just looks more polished.

You’re actually polishing it because the wool has some fiber in it that’s abrasive, and they’re actually better years later than when you first get them.

Brittany: 34:35
That’s very interesting. What about your experience with some of the other fibers, maybe acrylics or cottons or that sort of thing? Do you see the same effect with those?

Rick: 34:45
We really do, and to be honest, I’ve never measured it. I always say wool because I see the most of that, and cotton. The only question I would have would be acrylic. I really don’t know about acrylic. But still, I would think that the rubbing on the surface would polish it. But I think like a wool or cotton would be the best.

Brittany: 35:14
Okay. So perhaps somebody who likes to crochet with those types of fibers, this seems like it would be a really great fit.

Rick: 35:25
Absolutely. And, you know, what we talked about earlier is I think that everyone should try one. You know, we don’t have any minimums. They can go online to our site, order one hook and see if it’s right for them.

Brittany: 35:40
Yeah, and we will definitely include the information in the show notes page. So after you’ve listened, if you’re ready to give this a try, and I will take the challenge with you, because like I said, I’m a woman of my word. I want to give these a try and see if I love them better than any of the other wooden hooks that I’ve tried.

Because the great thing about the knit and crochet industry is that there are so many creative people in the industry that we have an endless supply of resources and why not why not give it a try and you never know if if you could find your next favorite hook so I will take the challenge with you and the the last question that comes to mind is sort of taking it back again to the crocheters style what about a crocheter who has maybe some issues with hand fatigue or arthritis or that sort of thing, are there any added benefits to using a wooden hook for these people?

Rick: 36:45
Absolutely. And it’s not just the hook, but it’s the thumb rest. I would say the unique thumb rest on our hook is what sets it apart. And again, I have to give credit to the Crochet Guild of America because they We just had a straight shaft when we first made hooks and they’re the ones that encouraged us to help their population.

And it really started a whole category for us because we now have a category that’s just arthritis friendly tools. And we looked throughout the whole industry, and we grouped them together to make it easy for people that have problems with repetitive stress syndrome or arthritis.

So it really inspired us to try and help as many people as we could. And we’re also amazed of how many people experience it, especially when they crocheted for 20 plus years it seems to be a cumulative type of uh syndrome so we’ve again we’ve learned a lot from just listening and getting feedback from people that have been doing this for a very long time.

Brittany: 38:04
Okay, yeah, very good to know. Now, I want to do something a little bit, well, not totally different. We’ve been experimenting with it here on the show for a couple of weeks now. I love to, you know, think of as many questions as I think a listener might have, but what better way to have their question answered than to have them provide it themselves.

So I will typically post an Instagram story with the sneak peek of the guests. So I highlighted you all yesterday in an Instagram story and gave them the opportunity to ask you their questions. So I would love to get to a few of those.

Rick: 38:45
Sure. That’s great.

Brittany: 38:48
All right. So the first one comes from French Fry 213. She wants to know if they are available at major craft stores.

Rick: 38:59
You know, we don’t sell to major craft stores, and let me tell you why. Because these are handmade, we can’t make the type of quantities to offer them to a major craft store. So we sell mostly to end users online at our own site. And we also have a distributor that sells to retail yarn stores.

And of course, we love the retail yarn stores because those people are teaching other people how to crochet. And we find them to be a very valuable component to this whole industry. But we can’t sell light to a Michael’s because if the demand is so high, we can’t fill it. It’s just the way we manufacture them. We don’t just spit them out.

Danny: 39:54
Yeah, so to get Laurel Hill hooks, people would go to our website, which is laurelhillonline.com. That’s where we sell to end users. And then there are some smaller shops around the world that also carry our hooks.

Brittany: 40:08
Okay, good to know. And that sort of answers Gwendolyn 50’s question of where you can actually purchase the hook. So I will have a link to your website in the show notes page. I know you have a lot of different resources on there.

So what I would like to do is include the main page, but then also include where you can look for these hooks specifically, the Laurel Hill wooden hooks.

Rick: 40:33
Great. That’d be wonderful. Thank you very much.

Brittany: 40:36
Awesome. Okay.

Rick: 40:38
One thing, you know, we always kid each other is we’re the best kept secret in the fiber arts industry. And that’s not a good thing.

Brittany: 40:48
Well, the secret’s out now. Great. Okay. So our next question comes from Stitched X Steph. Will the varnish wear off over time and expose splinters?

Rick: 41:01
Yeah, I think Dad kind of touched on that. I touched on it, but there was only one woman who, again, was a Knots of Love person who actually wore out a size K crochet hook. I was amazed. Of course she sent it back, and of course we sent her three back to her. We were amazed.

So it is possible. And she did it. That was not a defective crochet hook. She just did so much crocheting that it is possible, as we learned from this one woman, to wear the varnish off. But that’s one out of 19 years.

Brittany: 41:51
So not very common then. That’s good to know. Alright, right now “colorful hooker” wants to know how to make them not squeak.

Rick: 42:01
You know, I must be honest I’ve never heard that one before.

Brittany: 42:05
Yeah.

Rick: 42:06
But there is a company and we actually offer it, I think in our accessories, it’s a needle wax. It’s a needle and hook wax. Uh-huh. And I’m pretty sure it’s made out of beeswax and other natural wax products that you can actually put on the hook, which will actually make it go even faster.

And I don’t know if it will take the squeak out or not, because I’ve never heard of the squeak before. Have you heard about that before, Brittany?

Brittany: 42:41
I have seen it firsthand with plastic crochet hooks. It does have a squeak to it.

Rick: 42:47
With plastic?

Brittany: 42:49
Yeah, on plastic. So I… I can’t say that I have experienced that too much with wooden hooks. My experience from using that material is more the drag on the yarn from the hook.

So I feel like I have to work a little bit harder, which for me, that sounds like it’s more of a tension issue. I know that I crochet more tightly than a lot of people, so I’m putting more tension on it. Plus, I’m sure the polishing comes into play too. And I’ve… It probably depends on the hook itself and the production and that sort of thing.

Rick: 43:27
Yeah, again, I’ve never… And I’m trying to remember. It’s kind of loud in trade shows, as you know. But I’ve never heard our wood hook squeak. And it’s probably because of the sanding and the… polyurethane keeps it very smooth. So it doesn’t ever pull that much, which would create a squeaking sound.

Brittany: 43:56
Yeah. I wonder if there’s something to the fiber on that as well. I could see where certain acrylics and maybe even cotton, because I know cotton squeaks a lot more with plastic. I wonder if the fiber has something to do with it, the interaction between the polish and your tension and the hook itself.

Rick: 44:17
Wow, it’s really interesting. You know, I would suggest that she should try a little needle wax and see if that eliminates the problem for her.

Brittany: 44:27
Okay, I will link to that. That is something that I have not heard of, so I’m interested to check that out myself.

Rick: 44:34
Great.

Brittany: 44:35
All right, so our next question comes from Unwind by Luane. They want to know what to look for and what to ask for when choosing a wooden hook.

Danny: 44:47
I would say the polish. As I talked about earlier, the biggest complaint that we hear from other wooden crochet hooks is that it catches on the yarn. And so the fact that we are hand polished and such a smooth hook is something, probably our best selling point compared to other wooden providers.

Brittany: 45:09
Okay, that’s a good tip. So is there anything like a specific type of varnish that they should look for? Is that something that’s normally disclosed?

Rick: 45:20
No, it really wouldn’t be. I think really what they need to do is just pick it up and try it. There’s nothing like your own personal experience. It’s so hard to see something on a hookboard and just saying this is going to work for me or not work for me.

We encourage all the stores that carry our hooks to put them on a table with a few different yarns and just let the people touch them and use them. And that’s really the only way you’ll know if it’s right for you.

Brittany: 45:57
Yeah, and that’s a great piece of advice to end on. If there is one thing that… Yes. Yes.

Rick: 46:32
Couldn’t agree more. And it’s amazing how loyal people become to the hooks that they like. They will fight you for them. Once they know what works for them, they’ll come back to you for years and years and years. And that’s why it’s so important that they try different things.

Brittany: 46:53
Yes. Well, this has been a really wonderful conversation. Who would have thought that you could talk so much about wooden crochet hooks, but we were able to capture so much stuff that I never even thought of.

And again, like I said, I definitely want to give these hooks a try. So thank you for the opportunity to share this with my audience as well as the opportunity to open my eyes to another fun hook. So thank you.

Rick: 47:25
Well, again, thank you so much for this exposure, for the opportunity to tell you about wood hooks and really how comprehensive it is. It’s not just picking up one thing. It’s like learning about a whole new thing.

Brittany: 47:42
Very true. And that is my biggest takeaway from this conversation is just that. And not all wooden hooks are created equal.

Rick: 47:51
Yeah. Absolutely. Can we use that?

Brittany: 47:55
Yes. Yes, you certainly can.

Rick: 47:57
Thank you.

Brittany: 48:00
You. And one more time, too. Can you let our listeners know where they can see these hooks and where they can give them a try?

Danny: 48:10
Absolutely. You can find us at laurelhillonline.com. You can also follow us on Instagram at laurelhillknitcrochet. And as far as in person, it’s kind of state by state, place by place. So we’d encourage you, yeah, go to your local yarn shop and ask for us. And, you know, always, we’re always available online as well.

Brittany: 48:36
All right. Well, thank you, Rick. Thank you, Danny. This has been wonderful.

Rick: 48:39
Thank you so much, Brittany. Thank you, Brittany. Greatly appreciate it.

Brittany: 48:45
All right. That was Rick and Danny from Laurel Hill. Aren’t they such an incredible team and just so helpful? I’m so excited I had the opportunity to connect with them and to share their wisdom about wooden crochet hooks.

Now, remember, you can find that post that Dani referred to in the show notes, and I’ll include a link to the Laurel Hill crochet hooks, the ones we primarily spoke about today, so that you can check them out for yourself.

Now, I was serious earlier when I said that I’m taking the challenge with you. If you’re not a typical wooden crochet hook user, let’s take this challenge together. You know that I haven’t found the right wooden hook, but I’m happy to report that these Laurel Hill crochet hooks are on their way to me as I’m recording this, and I cannot wait to give them a try.

Now this episode was sponsored by my Blueprint course, Tunisian Crochet for Beginners. If you’re looking to change things up a little bit and try a new set of skills, Tunisian crochet is a really great way to go. This course will walk you through the basics of Tunisian crochet and help you complete your first three Tunisian crochet projects.

All right, that’ll wrap up this week’s episode. Thank you so much for tuning in, for subscribing, and of course for submitting your questions for Rick and Dani through my Instagram stories.

By the way, if you want to get in on that, you’ll need to follow me on Instagram @BHooked and keep an eye on my stories. When I’m about to speak to a guest, I’ll post a story where you can submit your question. It’ll be a little box right there on your screen and you can just type in your question and hit submit.

Sound good? Okay, now have a wonderful weekend and I will see you next week.