Capt Jack Sparrow Crochet Hook

Capt Jack Sparrow crochet hook, inspired by the
Pirates of the Caribbean movie series.

Manufacturer: LemonadeShop (on Etsy)
Type of Hook: Boye hook cleverly adorned with clay, size "H"
Own/Covet: Own
On the Hook: Nothing at the moment, but Capt Jack Sparrow did enjoy coming about to hand-crochet some chemo caps for young buccaneers in need. (Caron's Spa yarn is great for chemo caps!)

What I love about the hook: As a huge Johnny Depp fan, and of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, having the character of Capt Jack Sparrow testing his sea legs with the rapid yarn overs required for crochet stitches, I found crocheting with this hook to be a lot of fun. 

Shiver me timbers, one of the great things I liked about working with Heather (the clay designer for this brand of hooks) on this custom design, is that she was able to smoothly wrap the "ocean" around the thumb rest of the hook, tapering it into a smooth join around the mizzen of the hook (that's pirate talk meaning "middle") so I can freely twist the hook between my fingers with each stitch I create.  (I'm not a fan of thumb rests because I rotate the hook with my fingers).  Heather did a great job with the tiny details, complete with some pirate bounty, and sword!   And, although not pictured, Heather even gave Capt Jack Sparrow a cute bumm too! I'mjustsayin'...

I found that the weight distribution for this hook-decked-out-in-clay is no different than some of my jeweled beauties by other hook makers. It is comfortable to use, and ready to take on more amazing yarn adventures. :)

Dee's Felted PolyClay Crochet Hook

Manufacturer: Boye crochet hook -- adorned by me!
Type of Hook: metal hook size "H" with polyclay and felted roving
Own/Covet: Own
On the Hook: nothing at the moment

What I love about the hook:  is that I have not seen a polyclay and felted crochet handle together -- until now.  The idea to blend the two mediums came from when Linda of www.dyakcraft.com taught my CGOA Chapter members how to felt a handle onto our crochet hooks, and from some recent polyclay crochet hook purchases I've recently made (to be featured in an upcoming post!).

The hardest part of the project was rolling out the clay; I actually used 3 colors: hot pink, hot yellow, and a dark glittery purple.  The rolling of the clay repeatedly blended the colors into a murkey yet-still-sparkley purple.  I wrapped the clay around the thumb rest and added a little "swirl" on the very end of the hook and baked it based upon the clay's instructions.  That was easy.

Once it cooled, I put some elmer's glue on the remaining (exposed) handle of the hook and started needle felting the roving on (I have some more needle felting to do on it).  The little gems you see on the wool are actually stickers.  I don't know how long they'll stay on, but since this customization was an experiment, I thought, "hey, why not!?"

My new crochet hook may not be the most stunning crochet hook evahhhhh, but it does prove a point: crocheters can -- and will -- alter their crochet hooks for both comfort and ascetics.  I like the way the polyclay allows me to roll my hook, while the wool reduces the weight should the whole handle been dolled up with the clay.  This is something I look forward to exploring further in the future.  :)