MIA: Crochet Gauge

I think today is day 10 of the yarncraft hiatus. I don't really know, though. I'm coping with a lot of iced coffee, which I never used to drink.

Speaking of coffee, I had this idea around Christmas of 2009 of how to crochet a better coffee cozy. I never made it, but I threw down a few preliminary sketches. While begging for sympathy re: my hand on Ravelry, someone from the PMPTWs group suggested I take this time to design. Time + already had an idea = genius! Right?

Wrong! I guess I didn't realize this until just now, but try to find a hook suggestion, let alone a crochet gauge on a yarn label. Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker says that you can use a hook that corresponds to the suggested needle size in millimeters. Thankfully all that info is readily available online, if not on your needle itself.

Now, obviously you are going to find a suggested hook size on some yarns. I just pulled a few random skeins out of one of my bins and here's what I found. Debbie Bliss Eco Cotton: needle size only. Patons Divine: suggested hook size as well. I wanted to use Cascade 220 in this coffee cozy design, but there's no suggested hook size or gauge. I could just -- gasp -- crochet a swatch, but I'm on a hiatus, remember?

Thankfully The Happy Hooker has a yarn weight system chart with suggested gauges. I would have found this out if I'd turned one page past the hook-millimeter page, but I didn't and you can also find it online. Go to Craft Yarn Council's www.YarnStandards.com and click on the downloadable guidelines PDF file.

I used to make fun of knitting books that had a bunch of patterns and then shoved a ton of "how to knit" stuff in the back, because it seemed like a bunch of filler and I had like 6 books with the same info in them. Of course, while trying to find crochet gauges I couldn't find a single knitting book with a yarn weight chart in it, so I don't know if they tend to put the crochet info in as well.

All that work for a little crochet information? Phew, that was exhausting. Crochet is definitely the red-headed stepchild to many yarn companies, apparently. Is it so difficult to imagine someone might want to crochet with your yarn? I will now end this blog post with a short letter.

Dear yarn companies:

Don't discriminate.

Love, Jen