What a bigger or smaller hook does

What changes

"Bigger" and "smaller" here mean bigger or smaller than the hook the yarn's label or the pattern names. The yarn stays the same.

The size of the piece

A pattern's measurements hold only at its gauge: how many stitches and rows fit in a given measure. Change the hook and the gauge changes with it.

If you follow a pattern stitch for stitch with a bigger hook, every stitch is bigger, so the piece comes out larger. With a smaller hook it comes out smaller. For a blanket that may not matter. For a hat or a sweater it decides whether the thing fits. How to measure gauge shows how to count your stitches against the pattern's.

The yarn it takes

Bigger stitches each take more yarn. A piece worked to the same stitch count with a bigger hook comes out larger and uses more yarn, so the amount the pattern lists may run out before the end. Worked with a smaller hook, the same piece comes out smaller and yarn is left over.

A piece of a set size is a different question, because a smaller hook fits more stitches into the same space. The way to know is to weigh a swatch. The yarn calculator turns that weight into an estimate for the whole piece.

When makers change the hook on purpose

The hook size on a yarn label is a suggestion, a place to start. Makers move away from it for four reasons.

• For drape. A sweater, a wrap or a shawl should hang and move. Many makers go up a size, or several sizes, from the label for these.
• For a firm fabric. A stuffed toy should hold its shape, so toys are worked with a smaller hook than the yarn would usually take. The tight stitches also keep the stuffing from showing.
• To match a pattern's gauge. If your swatch has more stitches than the pattern's gauge, try a larger hook. If it has fewer, try a smaller one.
• To suit your own hand. Some people crochet tightly and some loosely. A tight crocheter often needs a bigger hook than the pattern names, and a loose one a smaller hook.

The hook size by yarn weight chart gives the usual range of hooks for each weight of yarn.

How far you can go

There is no fixed limit, but the fabric tells you when you have passed it.

• Too big: the gaps between the stitches grow until the fabric is loose and full of holes.
• Too small: the stitches are packed so closely that the fabric turns stiff, and the loops are tight enough that it is hard to get the hook into them.

Where those points fall depends on the yarn, the stitch and your hand. A swatch shows you.

Check with a swatch

1. Work a small square in the yarn and the stitch you mean to use, with the hook the label or the pattern names.
2. Work a second square with a hook one size up or down, and a third if you are still unsure.
3. Handle each square. See how it hangs, how firm it is and how large the gaps are.
4. If the size of the piece matters, measure the square you like against the pattern's gauge.

Questions people ask

Can I use a much bigger hook than the pattern names? You can, but the result is not the piece the pattern describes. Every stitch is bigger, so the piece comes out larger and more open, and it takes more yarn. To keep the size, the stitch counts have to change as well. See resizing a pattern.

Does a bigger hook mean a thicker yarn? Usually the two go together: thick yarns are worked with large hooks and thin yarns with small ones. This guide is about changing the hook while the yarn stays the same.

Where to go next

• To measure your stitches, see how to measure gauge.
• For the letters, numbers and millimeters on hooks, see crochet hook sizes explained and the hook size chart.
• If your stitches change size as you work, see yarn tension.