A place for “dumb” crafting questions / go ahead, no one will bite

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Dear users, dear authors,
sometimes you have a question but aren’t quite sure if it’s a good idea to ask it. You might end up embarrassing yourself or looking silly. Maybe the answer is already out there somewhere, but you just can’t find it.
No problem.
Here in this thread, you can ask all of that and much more.
Go ahead and ask—because there’s only one thing worse than asking a “dumb” question: biting your tongue because you can’t find the courage to ask. Better to eat another cookie and post all your questions here.
Have fun

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Okay, then I’ll go ahead and ask the first “dumb” question:

to everyone who crochets with Bobbel yarn—
what crochet hooks do you use? I keep splitting the yarn, and it’s so annoying.
Is there a type of hook that’s better than the Prym ones I’m using? Or what should I keep in mind?

Best, Sabine

Hi Sabine,

my Prym hooks have a relatively sharp tip *laugh*...I can't crochet cakes very well with them.
I have other hooks (no-name, but I could look up the link for you where I got them) that have a rounder tip, and I can crochet cakes well with those.
For 3-ply yarn I use a 3 mm or 3.5 mm hook, and for 4-ply yarn a 4 mm or 4.5 mm hook, depending on what kind of pattern I want to make.

Best - Nina

@Nina,

I was crocheting with 8 strands using a size 4.5 hook… I tried to crochet loosely—but I could tell I’m clearly from the amigurumi camp :-)…

then I switched to a size 3.5—that worked better.

I’ll be honest and admit: everything works great with hooks from 0.75 to 2.5. As soon as the yarn gets thicker and the hooks get bigger, I can’t handle it.

Are there any metal hooks with a round tip that I can attach to a wooden handle?

Best regards, Sabine

@Sabine,

maybe you can find a Tunisian hook that your husband can attach to a wooden handle for you?

I’m more of a “small-hook” crocheter myself, and when I work with thicker hooks, I always have to get used to them first. In the winter I make a lot of hats and stuff, so right now I’m really “in the zone” when it comes to working with thicker hooks. But anything over 6 mm is torture for me...
I prefer working with 2.5...

Best,

So, I crochet a lot, and pretty much everything is made with Bobbel yarn. The more strands, the more complicated it gets—and it takes a bit of practice ^^

I crochet with 3- and 4-strand yarn using a 3.5–4 mm hook.

Currently, I have 8-strand merino on a 3.5 mm hook. It’s extremely thin. 

I’ve also switched to wooden handles and use WollLolli hooks.

There, you can have your hook, wood, and tip put together individually.

@Christina,

I’ve already seen the needles from Woll-Lolli, but unfortunately the handle isn’t for me.
My needle looks like this....and since I have a few projects in mind that involve crocheting with thick yarn, I’m looking for a solution so I don’t break my fingers while crocheting :-) I tried KnitPro and threw them away; bamboo needles don’t work either...I guess I’m just picky :-)

You can ask WollLolli whether they can make one in that shape for you as well. I have three different needles here.

The third one had the perfect shape. I can take a photo tonight and post it here if you’d like :)

I prefer to crochet with a 3 or 3.5. I have one hook from WollLolli and one from Anja Lederer. I like both equally, and they both feel great in the hand.
The advantage of WollLolli is that you can choose the shape you want there. Norbert then customizes it just for you. 

Hello dear community,

here’s dumb question number 2:

What’s the deal with 3-ply, 4-ply, 6-ply, 8-ply, etc. yarn, or 3-strand, 4-strand, etc.?

When I read yarn recommendations like the ones above in patterns, I get confused because I don’t know what thickness or yardage is being referred to.

Can someone here please help me understand what these specifications mean and which yarn I should use?

Hello Anton2412,

that simply refers to the number of individual strands that make up the yarn thread. As a rule, they are “twisted” together in such a way that you only see one thread. But it consists of many individual strands. The more individual strands, the thicker the yarn. With sock yarn, for example, it’s called “xx-ply”; with plied/gradient yarn where the individual strands lie next to each other and are not twisted, such as gradient yarn (the so-called cakes), it’s called “xx-strand.”

Best, Marion

Dear Schneckenkind,

Thank you so much for your quick reply.

So that means the specifications “xx-ply” and “xx-fold” don’t actually tell us anything about the thickness or yardage, right?

Since I mainly use hand-dyed natural yarn, I usually don’t know which alternative yarn I can use in the corresponding pattern. Is it best to ask the author, or is there a general guideline—for example, does “4-ply” usually correspond to about 100 gr./400 m?

Hi,

no, the number of strands doesn’t tell you anything about the thickness.
You can twist together 2 thick strands or 10 ultra-thin ones....
The British and Americans use a completely different system called “Wpi,” which stands for “wraps per inch.” 
This means they measure how many wraps of the yarn fit side by side within 1 inch (approx. 2.4 cm).
This makes it much easier to determine the thickness. For example, 4 wpi would be very thick yarn, while 14 wpi is closer to sock yarn thickness.

There are also other classifications
like lace weight (very thin yarn), fingering weight (which is already closer to sock yarn), sport weight, etc.

In Germany, there aren’t really any exact yarn weight specifications. You also can’t rely on yardage, since, for example, cotton has a much shorter yardage per 100 grams than merino wool due to its composition.

For that reason, I’d tend to recommend contacting the designer.

Best wishes, Michaela 

Hi Anton2412,

well, roughly speaking, yes. With the same yarn (for example, Regia sock yarn), the rule is: the more “strands,” the shorter the yardage. For example, Regia 3-ply = 260 m / 50 g, 4-ply = 210 m / 50 g, and 6-ply = 125 m / 50 g.

But to find alternative yarns for a project, I always recommend the universally “unloved” gauge swatch :-)
Or the author of the pattern can help you with that.

Best regards, Marion

Great, thanks so much for the answers!

The “sewing machine thread” reminded me of a question I’ve had in mind for a long time. So I’ll ask it now...
Well, the only thing I sometimes miss in Germany is a service that existed in the Soviet Union. My hope is that maybe it exists here too, but I just still haven’t discovered it. Basically, there was a way to go to a pure tailoring studio with your own fabric and an idea (in your head, or drawn yourself, or torn out of some magazine), where they would cut the fabric to fit your figure and the desired model. You were allowed to do the sewing yourself. Since I can sew quite well, but can’t draft patterns/tailor at all, and the models in magazines only rarely match my taste, I would really wish for a service like that, but I suppose it doesn’t exist here, does it?

Hey Inna :-)

I was also thinking for a long time yesterday about why something like this isn’t offered, but I guess it has to do with copyright? Like, “I tore this Dior dress out of the newspaper—can you cut it out for me?” It’s probably possible for personal use, but what if you’re a tailor or run a tailor shop? Hmm…

Maybe in cases like that, you could ask a friend who sews to help you out?

Best wishes and Happy New Year, Marion

Hi Marion,
it didn’t necessarily have to be magazines—that was just an example. You could also sketch out your own ideas or simply tell the seamstress verbally how you wanted it. That would be possible here, too, right?

Here’s something else to make you smile on this topic: Since we weren’t exactly inundated with fashion magazines back then, and every girl wanted to sew—or have someone sew—something very special for the prom, the following happened every year before the dances: The festively dressed high school seniors would walk through a guard of honor formed by ninth-graders, who wouldn’t be facing the same experience until next year: Armed with notepads and pens, they gawked at all the outfits and frantically jotted down every detail they thought was worth copying. Necessity is the mother of invention—but also of audacity :-D.

Best wishes and Happy New Year, Inna