How important is the way you hold your hook?

[Chaychay]

In most tutorial videos (not all of them), the handle of the hook is above the hand (like a pencil), but I tend to hold my hook under my hand (as if I would knit). Does it make a difference?
I tried to hold my hook the other way, but my loops tend to slip off and its totally awkward. So I wonder if it makes sense to go through the trouble of learning it.

[fantasticmio]

I hold my hook like you do. If you are getting tthe results you want, then you're fine.

I believe the pencil hold was seen as more lady-like in the old days.  I tried it, and found that my wrist and hand started to hurt after a short while.

It seems like folks who use the pensil hold complain more often about pain, but I could be suffering from confirmation bias.

As an aside, you do need the knife hold if you want to do tunisian crochet or crochet-on-the-double, I would think.

[Lionne]

When I learned how to crochet I had no clue how to hold hook and yarn. I learned from books and a nurse (i was in hospital then). Both didn't show me how to hold them, so I did it like I was used to from knitting. I wrap the yarn around my finger and hold the hook like a knitting needle, and it work's very well.
Later I've seen the "right" way to hold them and tried it. It didn't work for me.
As long as I get a good result and am comfortable I don't care if it's wrong or right.

[fantasticmio]

I'm not convinced that there is a "right" way to hold the hook. If you get the results you want and are not in pain, then you're doing it right.

It's like the pick vs throw argument in knitting.

[Chaychay]

Thank you very much for your kind answers!
So far my products look (more or less) like intended. I never tried more complicated patterns like doilies or something like that, so I wondered if my technique would give me trouble then. But if you dont have any problems I guess its going to be fine.

[DustyChica]

I've tried the pencil hold, but it feels incredibly awkward when I try to crochet that way. Holding my hook overhand works best for me, and I've done everything from afghans with my giant Q hook to gloves made with thread and my size 7 hook. No problems whatsoever.

[queenofcrows]

The pencil hold is unbearable for me, as well. It's slow, clumsy, and messes with my arthritic thumb even more than the knife hold. I know others who prefer the pencil hold and would say exactly the same thing about the knife hold.

Generally, so long as you're getting the results you want and are comfortable, don't worry too much about how you hold your hooks. Just remember to always take a break every hour or so to rest and stretch your wrists and fingers!

[hellyaellen]

I hold my hook like in knitting, sort of like holding a knife. It doesn't matter how you hold the hook as long as it's comfortable.

[Cherrylime]

I'm relieved to know I'm not the only one that holds my hook this way! I just cannot transition to a pencil hold no matter how many times I try. I really should just make peace with the knife hold since I get great results. It just feels so clumsy, if effective.

[Xecaria]

I learned with the pencil way of holding the hook and that works fine for me.

I'm not showing any signs of pain, but maybe that because I'm a younger crocheter.

[NatACT]

I had to laugh when I saw this - my parents sent me to a finishing school (late 80's early 90's) and while my grandmother taught me to crochet as a young girl, she had apparently taught me to hold my hook the "wrong way", not the way a "young lady" should hold her hook.

I believe (and I could be wrong, its been a while since I was at school, lol) that in the time of the Irish Famine (19th century) The Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary taught young girls and women Irish Crochet as a way of supplementing their household incomes. Many of the Sister's and ladies of mean's would hold their hooks as you would hold a pencil (writing chalks or quills perhaps) but for those who hadn't learnt to hold writing tools it was easier and faster for them to hold their hooks as we would hold knitting needles.

I don't know how accurate that is, but I would only hold my hook "pencil" style while my teacher was looking, lol... I find it too hard to hold like that, But I dare say should my old teachers see how far I've come with crochet they would be proud of me.

[Kitiza]

At school the teacher taught me to hold the hook like a lady and I learned it OK. Then I had some years that I wasn't crocheting at all and when I started again I learned (by myself) to hold the hook like a knife.  My relatives always laugh at me when they see how I hold the hook and the yarn but it works for me. 

[skittlebub]

My MIL always tells me I hold the hook wrong, but then we both bought a crochet magazine series & it said that both ways are right.

[TheCRPSGirl]

I went to my first crochet night last night and discovered I do a kind of strange knife hold.  I tried the pencil hold but it did not work with my illness.  The knife was better but I had to adjust it. 

[darski]

I find it interesting that this discussion is still going on.  I was taught the pencil hold as a child but I just migrated to the knife hold without thinking about it.  Given all that I have done in crochet :

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dudsfordoras/

I don't see any reason to listen to those who work differently.  Can't we all just get along

[drowninginpaper]

I taught myself to crochet from the Reader's Digest Needlework book, which said that both ways are perfectly acceptable. I felt most comfortable with the knife hold. I tried the pencil hold once for kicks, but I just can't do it, I feel like I can't control my yarn.
I don't really think it matters, as long as the end product turns out well.
On a side note, how do you all hold your working yarn? I have a strange way of holding that I can't really describe right now because I don't have any yarn on me.

[skittlebub]

Over pointer, under middle, over ring, held with pinkie. If that makes any sense

[Selnith]

i usually hold my hook pencil hold cause that's what my Nanna taught me, but i have been known to switch to knife hold for sections of patterns, usually back post work, dunno why
as for the yarn i think i just keep it tucked in with my left forefinger, as i'm apparently hyper mobile in quite a few of my joints my fingers go further than they should and i have seen people struggle to control the yarn with so little contact as i have with it

[FurysSin]

I didn't even realize there were different ways to hold hooks. Looking at some of my small projects versus my larger projects, I noticed I tend to switch back and forth between pencil and knife depending on how tight I want my stitches. I will say that my crochet hold helped me pick up needles for knitting.