Wherever I walk these days there is a part of my attention focused on the ground. I am looking for likely looking sticks that I can carve on and turn into wooden crochet hooks.

Years ago I happened to see a carved crochet hook on my travels around the Internet. I wanted one. Right then. It was mine. Until I looked at the price. Whoa, puppy. I may have wanted a hand carved crochet hook, but household funds did not allow room for me to get one. I bided my time. Some day I would, but not now.

A year or so ago it occurred to me that maybe I could learn how to make my own crochet hook. And, so the quest was on.

As the days go by I will list the resources which were helpful for me. I have a new Flip video camera and will be taking lots of pictures of how I go about carving. I will bare all and list all of my mistakes which are actually quite helpful. Don't ever get discouraged if something doesn't work out. It is part of the process of learning how to do something.

I'm testing out a carved hook in this video. This is the first hook I ever made. I woodburned my name on it after I sized it as a backwards J. I looked at that J for several days thinking something was not quite right about it. Turns out I'd burned it onto the hook backwards. So, I made the J into a decorative scrolly doo-dad and decided to save it for myself. No way I would give away my first hook now. Sort of like saving the first dollar bill you ever earned. Which I never did, so I'll save the hook instead.

In this video I am working on a crochet hook. I'm using a heavy duty exacto-knife. The gray block is a fine grade sanding block. This is a piece of foam with a fine grade sanding grit on the outside. I also like to use a fine grade grit.

Always carve away from yourself. Remember, safety first. And, stop carving if you get irritated or tired. That's when your knife slips and ruins the whole project (or your day if your finger gets in the way). Eventually, I will have pages for the ruined projects. What comes to mind right now are hair picks. But, that's for another day.