Crystalites Crochet Hooks by Susan Bates (Review)

I just recently purchased a set of these Crystalites crochet hooks by Susan Bates from shopredheart.com. I was ordering some new yarn anyway and decided to grab these just to try something new. They only cost a few dollars. I had never used a plastic hooks before. I mostly use the aluminum ones.

There were things I liked about these hooks and things I didn't really like. One of the things I did like, was that each hook is a different translucent color. I have already memorized which color is which sized hook. I also liked that these hooks came with a clear plastic case with the sizes of each hook printed on the outside. So very easy to store and find the hook you are looking for. Something I didn't like about these, is that in the description it stated that the head of these hooks is designed to reduce wrist fatigue. I didn't get that effect when I used them. My wrist seems to tire just as fast as they do with my aluminum hooks. Another thing I didn't like about these hooks, was that my yarn did not smoothly run across the surface of them. It would almost catch on them at times and it actually got a little annoying. I only tried them with 100% acrylic yarn. I'm not sure if using a different yarn I might have had a different experience with that. One thing about these that I noticed is that they are slightly shorter than the aluminum hooks and even the bamboo hooks that I am used to. I had to adust the way I held my hooks. 

Overall I would rate these hooks a 3 out of 5. I will most likely continue to use my aluminum and bamboo hooks more than these. I think I will try to use a different yarn type with them just to see if they work any better with it. If I do that i may post an update about that. If any of you have used these and had better luck with different yarn types let me know. If anyone is interested in purchasing these hooks I found mine on shopredheart.com for around $7. Happy Crocheting!

Crochet Toilet Paper Cover

This is a crocheted toilet paper cover that I made for a request. She requested that it be made with a lighter purple color and that she did not have a preference for a specific kind of flower. Her bathroom theme is white and purple, so I went with a white flower. I decided to create a new type of flower just for this cover. I really really like it a lot. I cascaded the flowers across the top and down one side of the cover. I embroidered yellow centers onto the flower to add a touch of color. I added little green crochet spirals to bring out the colors of the whole thing. I thought it came out really pretty. She loved it too!

Here is a close up of the flowers I designed for this cover.

Side view of the cover.

Puff Stitch Hat

This is my completed crochet puff stitch hat. This hat pattern in by Teresa Richardson (The Crochet Geek on YouTube). I love this hat. It was very easy to make and I followed right along with the video tutorial. I was actually unfamiliar with the puff stitch before making this hat. I really like it though and it was easy for me to learn. Teresa is a great teacher. I am already thinking of a few patterns of my own that I can incorporate this stitch into. The flower in the picture is actually one of my own patterns. It is posted here on the blog: http://crochetcrazymama.blogspot.com/2011/05/spring-bloom-pattern.html. I thought adding the flower made the hat even better. There are many ways you could accessorize a hat like this one. This was another awesome pattern by Teresa!