Crochet Hook Sizes

Crochet hook sizes can vary from country to country. So you can select the right size for the job at hand.  

Hook sizes range from 0.60mm right up to 25.0mm. And just to make it even more complicated there are three main measurement schemes for hook sizes. The size that is recommended by your crochet pattern will depend on where the pattern was printed.

If you are in Australia most crochet hooks are marked with both the metric size and the UK/Canadian sizes. But if you are buying crochet hooks manufactured in the United States the manufacturer will have used the US sizes.

A size 2 in one country is not necessarily the same size as a size 2 in another country! I tend to use metric sizes as no matter where you are 2.0mm is still 2.0mm.

Getting the hook size right is important. The size of your hook, along with the weight of the thread will determine the overall size of your project.  

As with knitting needles, the finer the hook you use, the smaller the end product will be.

Table of Crochet Hook Sizes

As a general guide for selecting your crochet hook size if your yarn is:

• Fine Crochet Cotton - use 0.60mm to 1.75mm hooks
• Two or Three Ply - use a hook 2.00mm or smaller
• Four Ply Wool - use 2.75mm or 3.25mm hooks
• Double Knit or Eight Ply Wool - use 3.25mm or 4.0mm hooks
• Triple Knit or Twelve Ply Wool - use 5.0mm or 6.0mm hooks

Not all Hooks are Created Equal

One thing I have noticed over the years is that you can have several hooks that are supposed to be the same size but are actually quite different.  I have hooks from several different sources, some are from cheap sets sourced from China, others are expensive hooks that I purchased from craft shops here in Australia and I also have a set that I inherited from my Grandmother.

I have found that the sizing between different hooks is not always consistent.  For example I was working on a knee blanket for my grandson and I lost the hook I was using (it was a 4.0mm) so I grabbed another hook that was the same size - or at least if was supposed to be the same size - and continued working on the blanket.  After a couple of rows I noticed that the crochet fabric was much tighter in the new section than the part of the blanket that was made using the original hook.

This is also important if your pattern requires you to use more than one sized hook.  If you use hooks from different sets or manufacturers it is likely that the sizing will be in a different proportion to the hooks used by the designer when he or she was creating the pattern. This can create issues if a section of your project is smaller (or larger) than it should be.

The way to manage this is to pick your brand or style of hook, and only buy from that set.  I use Addi Swing ergonomic crochet hooks and I have a full set from 1.25mm up to 7.00mm.  (They also have an 8.00mm hook - but I haven't needed on this large as yet).  These hooks range between $20 - $28 each, so the full set is not exactly cheap but the sizing is consistent across the set and I have a hook that is suitable for pretty much anything I want to make.

Think of it as an investment.  Crocheting is a great pastime and if you spend more to buy quality crochet hooks in a range of sizes, they will last you a lifetime.