Thursday 24 May 2012

The Sharp Crochet Hook and a Rubbish Cake!

I was lucky enough to be sent a sharp crochet hook to try out by Jessica from The Sharp Crochet Hook. That was some time ago now, I procrastinated for ages about what I was going to do with it. Ideas were rampaging through my head. In the end I decided to just get on with it and give it a test drive.

What I was expecting was a hook with a sharp bit on the poking in end so that you can get on with crocheting straight away and not have to either run a blanket stitch along the edge or make holes with a bradawl (have I just made up that word or merely spelt it wrong?). A sharp ended hook is exactly what I got and it certainly did do the job it promised.



Here I have speared the fabric and literally double crocheted all the way along making a foundation for more decorative stitches. I found the hook tended to drag a few of the fibres of the cloth through with it which puckered up the fabric. This was remedied my going much slower and pushing the crochet hook further through to make the hole larger. I read other reviews (here and here) and this wasn't mentioned. They used different weight/type fabric so maybe that was why. Lynne and I found we encountered similar issues and we used similar type of fabric. See her review here.


With this one I followed a tutorial I found on Pinterest. I wouldn't recommend using the sharp crochet hook for this actual border pattern as the hook wasn't very smooth to do the treble clusters with. By this time I had got used to poking it through the fabric and very carefully drawing the thread back through without  snagging fibres of the fabric, but I couldn't pick up a decent rhythm with the clusters as the sharp bit of the hook kept catching. I should have stuck with one of the free patterns that comes with the hook which recommend you use the sharp hook to crochet a foundation chain on the fabric and then switch to a regular hook. I didn't finish my experimental piece of crochet as the part of the hook where you would normally have the size of the hook embossed has been filed away and it was a bit rough, it made my fingers a little sore, but I am rather pathetic, a less wussy lass probably wouldn't even notice!

I think this hook is great, it serves a purpose, fills a gap in the market and I think every keen crocheter should have one. However I think there are some manufacturing considerations to address. The sharp end of the hook needs to be smoother as does the grip area. Also the pointy bit of the 'beak' of the hook needs to be thicker and totally smooth so that it doesn't drag at the fabric as you pull the thread back through.  


On my last post I mentioned it had been my Mum's birthday. That reminded me that I took photo's of the most rubbish cake I have ever made. It did taste nice thankfully but I wanted it to look gorgeous. At least the Bunting I won from Sew Sweet Violet made up for the fact that it was a terribly pants looking cake.

Ha ha haaaaa! Look at that crap icing. It was dripping through the holes of the cake stand.

We had ourselves a mini tea party. 


Sorry Mum, I couldn't talk about your birthday and not show a pic of the birthday girl herself! Mum hates having her photo taken.


xxx




35 comments:

  1. Awww, I bet your mom loved the cake, drippy icing and all. Looks good to me, especially with the cute bunting!

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  2. I've always fancied one of those pointy hooks, however, like you, I'm not actually quite sure what I would do if I actually had one!

    The cake looked scrummy, I had to smile when you said about it dripping through the holes in the cake stand, that sounds like something I'd pull off on a regular basis. I love tea parties, I have half an idea formulating in my head for middle boys 7th birthday, which nicely falls around the same time as the jubilee, however, for the picture in my head, I would need a month or so to organise it....ah, well....

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  3. 'ERE, how flippin' dare thee. ALL my cakes turn out like that!!!!! Really!!!! But you know what, it is TOTES all about the inside, that is what counts. The Princess was taught in church about how it's what you are like on the inside which is more important than what you look like on the outside. It's totally true and as you said, I bet the cake tasted lush.
    Mine always taste amazing BUT I can honestly say I have never produced anything finer than your cake pictured above!!!
    I could comment on sharp crochet hooks and possibly made up words like bradawl, but I have NO IDEA so I will leave it there!!!
    Hope you are feeling better love.
    x x x x x

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  4. I actually said ALL my cakes taste amazing. That sounded WELL big headed which isn't what I meant!!! I mean that they are so vile looking, it's a real surprise how nice they taste!!!
    x x

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  5. At the end of the day it's the taste that counts! :)
    That hook sounds like a good idea!!
    Vivienne x

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  6. Mmmmmmmm cake! I am suddenly starving hungry having seen your gorgeous cake. Love the bunting!!

    I had never heard of a sharp hook before but I definitely want one now. What a beautiful finish you've done. Love it hon.

    Have a fab weekend. Just heading off for a huge date scone with a girlfriend. I'm doing a great job of ignoring the washing sitting on the couch that needs folding!

    Leah
    xxxx

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  7. Happy belated birthday to your Mum! Well done for the cake effort! The taste is the most important bit anyway! I think your cake looks kind of arty anway! You should have pretended it was supposed to be like that!

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  8. Your cake looks amazing, and your Mum looks lovely, I bought the sharp hook, I liked it, and made "fusion bunting" with it, which was a mix of fabric and crochet, but haven't used it since, cause I'm a lazy sod.
    I think I see more of it in my future however, after being motivated by seeing this post
    xx

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  9. Strange, I was thinking only yesterday about writing a pattern that you work directly onto a plain vest or boob tube and wondering if you could get a small crochet hook through the fabric. I've never heard of a sharp crochet hook before.

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  10. Happy belated brithday wishes for you mum. I think your cake looked lovely and i bet it tasted good. Loving your crochet edge wow bet that took ages. dee xx

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  11. The cake looked lovely and your Mum looks SO YOUNG!!

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  12. What!!!! even your 'rubbish' cake looks better than mine waaaaaa!!! Look at your mum she is so young looking, good gene's, so arn't you the lucky girl then, you will still look so young when you are older too.
    I have a feeling that sharp, pointy crochet hook could be quite handy, although I don't understand why the 'beak' part of the hook has to be pointy too. I wound tape around the 'handle' of one of my hooks because it was hurting my hand, much more comfortable.
    Hope your tum is a heap better today lovely.
    xx Sandi

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  13. I loved your review of the sharp hook.. The edging turned out awesome! The cake looks so yummy!

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  14. Your crochet edging looks fabulous! I keep meaning to do it but I thought I'd blanket stitch the edge and then crochet into it....haven't properly thought it through really.I'm sure your mom appreciated her homemade cake (your mom looks luverly by the way)
    Have a happy weekend, hope it very sunshiney

    Rachel x

    Ps. How's your desk coming along?

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  15. happy birthday beautiful Mum!
    Flour + eggs + butter + sugar = good however it looks (and it doesn't even look bad! your standards are too high!)
    Missing you - need a play date!
    fee x

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  16. Well, I think the cake looks fab!!! The bunting is super-cute, and the icing adds to the charm!!! :-)
    Hope you're having a lovely, sunny weekend!
    Carly
    x

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  17. Yay just found your blog! It is claireybelle from instagram!

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  18. Nothing wrong with that cake that I can see! And your Mum sure looks happy with it. As Fee says, you are too hard on yourself missus, you set the bar so high. I wish my daughters would make cake for me on my birthday, they're quite old enough to!

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  19. Your cake looks fabulous to me, I love to see icing dripping down like that, it looks more tasty!

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  20. Awww Hope your mum had a nice birthday. It's funny...your version of a rubbish cake is my version of a great triumph! I need to practice making cakes more. I made one a couple of weekends ago and it turned out ok, but i'm not that hot on it.

    The hook looks like something I'd love to try. Good points made though. I have a few bought tea towels with pretty lace edging, and it's always something that i've wanted to do myself to more. It's just getting round to it all I suppose. I have all these ideas but the list is getting longer and longer, and sadly, time is not.

    My day is now dedicated to house cleaning, so i'd better get off here otherwise nothing will get done.

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    oh and I have china envy!!!!!! xxx

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  21. I think your cake looks fab. Bunting makes up for anything.

    I want one of those hooks. Want, want, want! I don't suppose they told you if they're available in the UK?

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  22. Loving the pointy hook! I wanted to make some fabric with a frilly edge so this looks ideal! With my track record I'd probably crochet through my finger though :P If only it came with a little magic ruler to help you line all your stitches up so that they're all the same size and in the right place!
    Loving the cake + bunting by the way, such a cute idea.

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  23. Ohhhhh! I wondered how you were supposed to crochet along the edge of fabric...never even knew you got sharp ended crochet hooks! It really does look so pretty though, I've seen it along the edge of pillowcases, just lovely.

    Your cake bunting is cute too :)

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  24. Fab cake, shame about the crap icing! ;)
    lovely picture of your Mum... I like the idea of that hook, I haven’t done any crochet for weeks.
    The cardi I'm my post was from a very expensive shop, it was from Primark! :0)))
    have a fab weekend gorgeous xxx

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  25. Lovely edgeing, thanks for the tutorial link and tips, will be very useful when I finally get round to doing my edging!

    I think the cake looks fab. I like the way the icing has gone as it looks homemade and not shop-bought. Much more personal, and they say "the prove is in the eating" so I bet it tasted scrummy. x

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  26. The edging looks beautiful, another clever cuckoo creation! And the cake just looks yummy, even better with all the icing dripping off! Jo x

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  27. I've been meaning to try this myself for ages. It looks really fab. I was just going to do a blanket stitch edge but this looks easier. x

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  28. They have the best tasting cakes and coffee…yummy. And I think It would be more nice if they ordered an ice cream also, my favorite, the green tea ice cream, is a must. plant trees

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  35. I want to make a bigger one after my plaster repair. This is a work of art!

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