Susan BatesSilvalume Soft Handle Aluminum Crochet Hook 5.5"-Size F5/3.75Mm

Love these hooks, they are so light and easy to use.

Le 3,75 mm est le crochet que j'utilise le plus. La marque Susan Bates est vraiment la meilleure pour l'accroche du fil. Avec le manche, tout est parfait lorsque l'on a de l'arthrite !

This is my first time purchasing and using a soft handled crochet hook. I have been crocheting for over 50 years and have come to learn that the tool you use is EVERYTHING. I am a true blue Susan Bates user (I have tried all different brands over the years but SB is my favorite because I love the inline style and the shorter length of the handle) and like everyone else on the planet, I have my one favorite go-to hook which the size 3.75 Size F #5 Silvalume hook which I have had in my collection for decades. It's so worn out that I decided time for a new one. I bought an entire set of Silvalumes two or three years ago and hardly use them because the throat section is sharp and they tend to snag and slow my rhythm down. I do a lot of amigurumi lately so I decided to go for the soft grip handle. There are huge differences between my favorite Silvalume and this one and I can feel every single one of them. First of all, my Silvalume measures 5 1/2" from tip to tip. Perfect for my smaller sized hands and the fact that I use a pencil hold most of the time and a knife hold only when I am working on small circular sections of my ami projects where it's harder to manipulate the hook or when I need a slightly tighter stitch to keep the gaps at bay. This soft handled one measures 6 3/4". Not a huge difference on a ruler but trust me, in your hand you do feel the extra length and for me it is uncomfortable and awkward. The added thickness adds bulkiness to this hook which slows my pace down considerably. It is also very sharp at the throat area. Why are these newer hooks sharp like that? They should be smoothing them out better in production. I am not happy that they added the extra length to these soft handled crochet hooks and the designers should have taken into consideration that an experienced crocheter would feel the difference and be thrown off by it or at least put it in the description that these are longer and may feel awkward to someone used to the shorter handled hooks. Because I am too lazy to send this back, I will be keeping it and using it as often as I can and hopefully I will learn to get used to this new hook. To all new crocheters out there who buy a hook and end up dissatisfied by its performance, I say keep trying different brands and you will eventually find that special hook that fits you like a glove and makes you crochet like lightening. Don't get discouraged. Your tool can either make or break your love of crochet and your project. You will eventually find your ideal. Unfortunately for me this is not and probably never will be mine.

My old Susan Bates size 3.75mm hook had a little knick in the tip that is annoying when crocheting. I bought a new one and it was worse. I thought it was a fluke, so I bought this one. IT'S EVEN WORSE. Susan Bates has always been my favorite hook. The tip is the perfect shape, but lately they're all snaggly. If you knit or crochet you understand that your needle or hook needs to be perfectly smooth. These things are useless. What happened to this brand???

I am hooked (no pun intended) on these hooks! I think I must have every size offered in this style of Susan Bates hook. The first one I purchased seemed to be a little sharp on the open end of the hook part itself but I was sent a replacement. My only complaint about these hooks is a personal thing probably. I seem to like to choke up closer to the tip of the hook when I'm working so I'm having to learn to work with my hand further from the tip of the hook in order to take advantage of the larger and softer handle on these hooks.i purchased the first of these because I was working on a project and it seemed that the yarn was 'splitty'. About that time I was watching a video on YouTube from It's Crochet O'Clock and the host (sorry, I cannot remmber her name) talked about 'splitty' yarn. She said that there is no such thing and I thought she was wrong. Well, she went on to say that if you are having a problem with a particular yarn, change your tool... Well in crochet our tool is the hook. I knew there were different kinds of hooks, offset hooks and inline hooks. I took a good look at the hook I'd been using and it was an offset hook. But I didn't have the correct size of inline hook to try so I purchased my first Silvalume Soft Handled hook. And guess what, the host at It's Crochet O'Clock is correct. As soon as I changed my tool my yarn was no longer splitty!Now, when I start a project the Silvalume inline hooks are the first thing I grab because I really like them. But, if my yarn starts having issues I will try another tool.