Yesterday, I ran out to the store to go ahead and get a crochet hook and see if I could make it work with my beads on the Anniversary Mystery Shawl. My friend and I went round and round in circles while she argued that it should work and I argued that it wouldn't. Since I was going to Hobby Lobby anyway, I figured it wouldn't be that big of a deal to at least look at a size 14 crochet hook again.
Those size 14 hooks are tiny! You look at them funny and they will probably bend. The one I ended up buying is made by Yarnology. Probably some random brand Hobby Lobby is carrying currently. It's also only 0.75mm. Told ya it was tiny.
I have learned that, with a little practice, it will work with size 11/0 seed beads and I can now get those beads on the yarn easier. It does take a two-handed approach, but it's still infinitely faster than the wire/bead method that I don't mind.
As far as I can tell, these little size 14 hooks work best with single ply thread. In order to get it to work with a 2-ply lace yarn, I use my left hand to tighten the yarn over the hook to make it small enough for single ply, and use my thumbnail on my right hand to push the bead down over the hook and yarn. Once I got the hang of it, it went fast. I managed to finish a beaded row in about half the time as with the wire/bead method. Needless to say, I'm thrilled and it was worth the $2.50 price tag on the new crochet hook. My friend did tell me, "I told you so," but she earned it. lol Okay, and I'll admit it. It's so much faster that I don't mind her being right. I'm glad that she was. :-D
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