When Life is a Zoo: Giraffe in a Tree Crochet Hook

Giraffe "Hanging On" crochet hook, inspired
by the image created for the Wellington Zoo's
"Celebrate Chimp Week" promotion

Manufacturer: LemonadeShop (on Etsy)
Type of Hook: wooden hook cleverly adorned with clay giraffe, size "H"
Own/Covet: Own
On the Hook: Nothing at the moment.

What I love about the hook: During a time in my life when I feel life is a zoo, I have found humor to be, aside from crocheting, one of the greatest stress relievers life has to offer.  So I thought, why not combine both humor and crochet -- combined with my fascination with giraffes --  to lift my spirits?  For this, I turned to Heather of The Lemonade Shop and asked if she could take the 2006 Wellington Zoo's promotion image that has been floating around the Internet and custom create a clay rendition.  Since I use my fingertips to "twist & jut" crochet hooks to create my stitches, as with the metal/Boye Capt Jack Sparrow hook, I also needed the hook's thumb rest covered so I could comfortably crochet.  Heather did not disappoint!

For the record, giraffes cannot climb trees.  Neither can hippos or zebras.  However, you can see all three images that were created for the zoo's celebration here.  Funny, right? 

Along with the fantastic hand work Heather put into creating my little "chimp" giraffe, she also cleverly distributed the bulk of the weight on the "bottom" of the hook.  As I practice my "twist & jut" motions with the hook, the weight rotates nicely -- and it is absolutely hysterical to watch this giraffe "hold on" for dear life!  :)

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. :)

Guest Blogspot: Craft Designs for You

Image used with permission.

 -*-*-  Guest Blogger: Sandie of www.crochetcabana.com   -*-*-

Manufacturer: Craft Designs for You
Type of Hook: hard maple wood in size L
Own/Covet: Own 
On the Hook: a scarf using Deborah Norville Serenity yarn. The color pictured is Stormy.

What I love about the hook:
I love the way the yarn just glides over the wood with hardly any effort. This particular hook is special to me because it was custom made to celebrate the 10th anniversary of my web site, Crochet Cabana in 2007. I have two with the same design - the L hook and a #4 steel hook. Cherie Leck and her husband Ken make the hooks themselves, carving the wood and painting the design. Cherie is a joy to work with.

The lighthouse and dolphins have always been incorporated in my logos on the web site. There is no real reason for this except that I enjoy and collect lighthouses and have a fascination with dolphins. The logos I have had at Crochet Cabana were all designed by my daughter.

You can see similar hooks at their web site.
http://www.craftdesigns4you.com/crochethook/samplecustomhooks.htm

I also own some of the custom made gemstone hooks on the same site. Beautiful hooks!
http://www.craftdesigns4you.com/crochethook/crochethooks.htm