Crochet

Patterns, projects and techniques

AMAZING NEEDLE? Is it a hook or a needle?

by

amazing needle, crochet, tunisian crochet

http://www.amazingyarn.com/Pages/amneedle.html

Here’s a link to Crochet With Dee’s blog wherein she writes about the Amazing Needle on March 18 and 19. She calls this a ‘new’ technique. Dee is such a cheerleader for crochet and has loads of good ideas to share.

http://http://journals.aol.com/crochetwithdee/CrochetWithDee/entries/2007/03/18/amazing-needle-vs.-tunisian-crochet/2052

I first became familiar with the Amazing Needle at the Crochet Renaissance in 2001. That’s the only crochet convention I’ve ever been able to attend. The Amazing Needle class was taught by Nancy Nehring and Janet Rehfeldt . Click here to read a description of the class:

http://www.crochet.org

I was still relatively new to crochet so I soaked up a lot of good stuff at the convention. I even got to met Bill Elmore in person!

So what is the Amazing Needle? It looks very much like the locker hooking tools on the market right now. It’s a crochet hook with an eye in the non-hook end of the tool. You thread a leather thong thru that hole and crochet over it. I was told that one can use any knitting pattern with the Amazing Needle. The finished product looks very much like Tunisian and the loops are worked off the needle the way tunisian is.

At then convention, we were given a pattern for a sailor’s scarf and everyone in the class began to crochet it using the Amazing Needle.  I’ll admit that the technique was pretty easy to learn.  I was enthusiastic about it because I thought it would allow me to interpret knit patterns into crochet.  However, it didn’t turn out to be that easy for me.

I later learned to knit and found that I really do not enjoy it.  Same for tunisian.  I know how to do tunisian crochet and find that it’s really well suited for certain crochet projects, but I find it too repetitive and boring – and it seems to be twice the work since one works each row twice!  Well, that’s my take on it.  I’m sure others feel differently.

Patterns designed specifically for the Amazing Needle are available at www.amazingyarns.com.  But, you don’t really need specific patterns.  You can use it for any crochet pattern – and, as I am told, any knit pattern.  The downside is that I’m only aware of this one site to obtain an Amazing Needle.  It’s available in sizes E – P and is made of wood with an in-line hook design.

This site contains a picture of a work in progress:

http://www.rexie.com/AmazingNeedle.html

At any rate, it’s another crochet technique that I wanted to share with my readers.  Check it out for yourselves by reading Dee’s article and others:

Comments

  2. This is not a new technique, I have had my set of Amazing Needles for four years now, and this has been around for at least ten years that I know of.
    Just not to many know this and when they run across the Amazing Needles site, they think it’s new.
    Just thought you would want to know this.
    Kathy

Have you read?

Book Review: Granny Square Along by Lori Holt

If you love colourful granny squares, vintage-inspired crochet and anything designed by Lori Holt, the new Granny Square Along Crochet Book deserves a spot on your wish list.

This is Lori Holt’s first crochet book, inspired by the granny squares her grandmother taught her to make. Inside are 13 creative granny square crochet projects, all presented in Lori’s wonderfully cheerful, scrappy style. Expect plenty of colourful cushions, bags, blankets and useful accessories that make the most of those little squares we can never resist making.

The spiral-bound format is a practical touch because the book should sit flat beside you while you crochet. Partial crochet diagrams are also included alongside the written instructions.

This book is best for confident beginners and intermediate crocheters. You should already understand basic crochet stitches, including chains, single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet, treble crochet and slip stitches.

Most projects use Lori Holt’s #2-weight Chunky Thread with a 3.5 mm crochet hook, although some designs worked with two strands require a 4.5 mm hook.

What I love most is the book’s nostalgic, collected-over-time look. It is colourful without being garish and scrappy without looking as though every leftover yarn ball was thrown at it in a moment of desperation. The finished projects have that cozy handmade charm Lori Holt does so well.

The book is expected to ship in September 2026. The current reservation requires a $1.50 non-refundable fee, with the remaining preorder price charged when the book ships.

You can reserve the Granny Square Along Crochet Book by Lori Holt here.

If this book inspires you to keep experimenting, take a look at our 15 unusual granny square crochet patterns and these 20 other ways to use granny squares.