On holding your hook (the gentle way)
Wrist pain isn't a rite of passage. A small letter on grip, tension, and the surprising importance of stopping for tea.
by iris calloway
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may 12 · 2026
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4 min
There are two ways to hold a crochet hook and one of them is wrong for you. The other one is also wrong for you, on a different day. The point is to listen.
I was taught the knife grip by my grandmother and the pencil grip by a French woman at a yarn shop in Saint-Loup. I use both. I switch when my wrist starts to whisper. When it begins to *talk* I put the hook down and go make tea.
The single most underrated piece of crochet equipment is a kettle.
— iris calloway, for the gallery