There is a moment in every crocheter's life when the hook you are using starts to feel like the enemy. For me it was January of last year, the third afghan of the season, a queen-size ripple in blue and cream, and by nine o'clock my right thumb was throbbing so badly I had to put the hook down. I had tried rubber pencil grips, I had tried wrapping tape around the handle, I had tried switching to a different brand of aluminum hook. Nothing fixed it, because the problem was the hook itself. Then a friend at the yarn circle handed me her Clover Amour hook for one row, and I understood in about thirty seconds why people pay for these.
I am Delphine, I have been crocheting for about thirty years, and I have owned the Clover Amour crochet hook set in ten sizes for long enough to have strong opinions. I bought the set after borrowing that friend's hook for a single evening, and I have used it nearly every evening since. My hands are not young hands. I have mild arthritis in my right thumb joint, and I mostly make afghans and throw blankets, with amigurumi and dishcloths for gifts. So when someone asks me whether the Clover Amour set is worth the price, I do not answer with theory. I answer with what these hooks did for my evenings, my tension, and my thumb.
The hook set that finally made my evenings pain-free
Ten sizes, one comfortable shape, and a grip that lets you crochet longer without your hand cramping. If you are ready to stop fighting your hook, this is the set I reach for every single night.
Amazon Check Today's Price on Amazon →The handle is shaped for a real hand, not a pencil
Clover Amour hooks have a thick, softly cushioned handle that sits in your palm instead of forcing you to pinch. That matters more than I expected. With a plain aluminum hook, my thumb does all the work. With the Clover Amour, my whole hand shares it, and the difference shows up fast when you are on row forty of an afghan. I compared the two one evening, hook in each hand, and the aluminum one felt like a pencil I was gripping for dear life while the Clover Amour felt like a handle.
The grip keeps your yarn moving smoothly
The finish on the shaft is smooth without being slippery. Yarn glides over it instead of catching, which means fewer snagged stitches and a more even tension across the whole project. I tested it on a slippery acrylic yarn one night, the kind that usually snags on every join, and the hook moved through it without a single catch. For a tight crocheter like me, that alone was worth the switch.
Ten sizes mean every project has its own hook
The set runs from a small steel hook up to a large size that handles chunky yarn. The smallest is a 2.25 mm steel hook I use for lace edging on dishcloths, and the largest is a 6.5 mm that sails through a chunky blanket yarn in an evening. I used to make do with three hooks and a lot of swearing, which meant starting a project with whatever size I had and hoping the tension would forgive me. Now the right size is always in the case, whether I am making fine lace or a quick bulky throw. It sounds like a small thing. It is not a small thing.
The weight is balanced so the hook does the work
These hooks are a little heavier than cheap aluminum ones, and that weight is in the handle, not the head. The balance means the hook turns in your hand with less effort. After a long evening of crocheting, my thumb notices the difference. My finished blankets notice it too, because my tension stays even from the first row to the last.
The cushioned grip helps when your hands already ache
I have mild arthritis in my right thumb, so I am careful about anything that makes me grip harder. The soft cushion on the Clover Amour handle means I can hold the hook with a relaxed hand. One Tuesday last fall, I crocheted for two full hours on a throw blanket and got up from the armchair without wincing. That had not happened with my old hooks in years. I still take breaks, and I still tell anyone with real hand pain to see a doctor or hand therapist. But for my everyday ache, this grip is the difference between one blanket a month and three.
The hooks are easy to find in a yarn bag
The handles are easy to spot, which sounds like a silly reason to love a hook until you have lost a small hook in the bottom of a bag for the third time. With the Clover Amour set, I can see the size I need at a glance. My two cats, Romeo and Juliette, also think the handles are fascinating, so I keep the case closed when I am not using it.
The size markings are printed on the handle
Every hook has the size marked clearly on the handle, which saves me from holding a hook up to my face and squinting. When I am working on amigurumi and switching between sizes every few rounds, that clear marking keeps the project moving. It is a small detail that makes the whole set feel thoughtfully made.
The case keeps all ten hooks together
The set comes with a simple case that holds every hook in its own slot. Before this, my hooks lived loose in a tin and I spent part of every project hunting for the size I needed. Now the whole set travels from my side table to my bag without losing a single hook. My Afghan hound Stormy is not allowed near the case, since yarn and hooks are not dog toys, but the case makes it easy to keep everything out of reach.
Clover hooks hold up to years of daily use
I have used these hooks for years, and the finish still looks and feels the same as the day the set arrived. No rough spots, no worn-down head, no peeling on the handle. The 5 mm hook alone has spent hundreds of evenings in my hand, and it still glides through yarn like it did on the first row. I cannot say that about any other hook I have owned. When a tool lasts this long, the price per evening of crocheting gets very small very fast.
They turn half-finished projects into finished ones
This is the reason I would give a friend who is still deciding. The Clover Amour hooks did not make me a better crocheter. They made me a crocheter who finishes things, because my hand does not give out at nine o'clock and my tension does not wander. Since I switched, I have finished more afghans in a year than in the two years before. Last year that meant four full afghans, a stack of dishcloths, and the ripple blanket that had sat half-done in my basket for months finally got its border. That is what the price is really buying.
What I'd Skip
If you only crochet occasionally, one Clover Amour hook in your most-used size is a better buy than the full set. And if you prefer a very light hook with a completely different grip shape, the Clover Amour handle may not match your style no matter how many people praise it. Every hand is different. What I would not skip is the cushioned grip itself. For anyone who crochets more than an hour at a stretch, that grip is the whole point.
Since I switched to Clover Amour, I have finished more afghans in a year than in the two years before. That is what the price is really buying.
Your hands have earned a hook that works with them
Ten sizes, one comfortable grip, and years of smooth crocheting ahead. If you are tired of stopping early because your hand aches, the Clover Amour set is worth a serious look.
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