Sizing Up Crochet Hooks

This month’s KAL project for Pretty Awesome Yarn Pouch introduces the crochet hook method of bead placement. For beginners, a common question that comes up is —

Q: What size crochet hook do you use for size 6/0 beads when you’re knitting them into a pattern?

A: I haven’t found very much sizing consistency across brands for tiny steel/nickle-plated crochet hooks. It seems a lot depends on whether the shaft just above the hook part is flared or not. Also, how the shaft is designed determines how many beads can be mounted on the crochet hook at the same time (which can help avoid extra trips back to the bead bowl).

That is why I use this vague description on the pattern materials and supplies list: Tiny crochet hook or similar that is small enough to fit through the hole in beads

Crochet hook shaft design

Here is an example of the importance of shaft design on tiny steel crochet hooks when choosing a size to use for beading.

Example of same size crochet hooks in different brands

The lower needle in the photo is designated as Boye size 10 / 1.25 mm. The upper needle is Hiya Hiya size 10 / 1.25 mm. Although both are supposedly the same size, the Boye can fit through the hole in a Miyuki size 6/0 bead, but the Hiya Hiya cannot.

If you look closely at the photo above, you’ll notice that the shaft of the Hiya Hiya flares wider just above the hook part than that of the Boye. That seemingly small amount of extra shaft thickness keeps the Hiya Hiya size 10 crochet hook from being able to be used with size 6/0 beads.

But on the Boye size 10, the hook easily fits through the hole of the size 6/0 bead.

In fact, the design of the Boye crochet hook is narrow far enough along the length of the shaft that you can mount several beads at the same time if you want to.

Tip: Same size/different brand: A small difference between crochet hook shapes can make a large difference in using the hook with beads

Non-standard sizing across brands

Unfortunately, the imperial size to metric equivalents are not standard across different brands either.

Tip: For steel crochet hooks, the higher the imperial size, the smaller the needle (i.e. it works like the numbering system of beads). In reality, this only works when comparing steel crochet hook sizes of the same brand.

So you’d think that an Inox size 8 would be too large for a size 6/0 bead, right? Actually, the crochet hook DOES fit through the hole in the bead.

This is an example where Inox designates their size 8 crochet hook as 1.25 mm, but other brands like Boye and Hiya Hiya designate their size 10 as 1.25 mm.

Choosing a size crochet hook that works

Here is what I have that works in the steel/nickle-plated crochet hook sizes that will fit size 6/0 Miyuki seed beads:

Boye size 10 (1.25 mm)
Inox size 8 (1.25 mm)
HiyaHiya size 13 (.9 mm)

The holes of the same size beads from different manufacturers can also be different. For example, the holes on Miyuki beads tend to run larger than those of TOHO. So if I am working with TOHO beads, I need to use a smaller hook (higher imperial number size).

Best bet is to actually test the crochet hook to see if it will pass far enough through the bead hole to do the job. If there is a choice between 2 sizes that would seem to work, unless you know for sure, I’d go with the smaller size (i.e. higher US imperial size number).