I'm in the throes of a Tiny Garment Problem. This happens to me now and then, the strange compulsion to create little tiny things. It would make more sense if I happened to have a tiny person to make them for, but I don't. I tell myself that by the time I have a tiny person, I will be way too busy/tired to make Tiny Garments, so I'm really planning for the future. It's probably bullcrap, but at least I can console myself that Future Tiny Person will be fabulously dressed until they outgrow the Tiny Wardrobe. It will be a fun three months.
Anyway...lately it's been all about the tiny crochet sweaters, and I blame this crochet hook.
I bought it at an antique fair in Santa Cruz, out of a whole box full of these gorgeous polished bone hooks marked $3 each. This was the biggest of the lot - some were so tiny the hook was barely visible. It is perfect for fingering weight yarn, which I just so happen to like very much. It is so smooth and nice from so many decades of use that making things with it is a tactile pleasure. I'm on my third tiny crochet sweater of this weekend's crafting bender.
My other favorite hook is a hand-carved wooden one, very plain, but also smooth and well-worn and good for worsted weight. My grandmother picked it up in a box of things at an estate sale when I was in junior high, and gave it to me. I learned to crochet using that hook, and if I ever lost it, I would be so sad.
I can't stand the feel of plastic or metal knitting needles or crochet hooks. Occasionally I try to make something using them, because I don't have tools I like in that size, and pretty much always end up frogging the project in frustration. If I'm not enjoying the process, and I don't desperately need the object I'm making, what's the point?
Also, I won't use yarn that doesn't feel good unless its a very specific request from a very well-loved person. That bone crochet hook could tell such stories!
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