Clover Amour Crochet Hooks Honest Review: What the Hype Misses

I bought the Clover Amour hook set after years of cheap aluminum hooks and a right thumb that ached by nine o'clock. I was skeptical. A hook is a hook, I told myself, and the hype around this set made me more suspicious, not less. But my hand was tired of being the reason I finished fewer blankets. So I ordered the set, worked through it for six months, and kept honest notes. Here is what the hype misses, and what it gets right.

The set lives in my side table drawer now. It has ten sizes, and I reach for the same four or five almost every evening. Stormy sleeps on the rug by my chair, the cats get shooed away from any loose yarn, and I work on afghans until my thumb tells me to stop. This is not a laboratory test. It is thirty years of crochet and six months of using these hooks the way a normal person does.

How I've Used It

I keep a small notebook next to my chair. For six months I wrote down which hook I used, how long I crocheted, and whether my thumb complained the next morning. I used the Clover set on two afghans, four dishcloths, and a pile of amigurumi that the cats tried to steal. The hooks went through a washcloth test, a chunky yarn test, and a long evening of single crochet that would have ended early with my old hooks.

The first thing I noticed was the weight. The Amour handle is thicker than the aluminum hooks I grew up with, and it fills my palm in a way that spreads the pressure. My grip relaxed without me thinking about it. The second thing I noticed was the grip itself. The soft coating stays put even when my hands are dry, which is my normal state in the Louisiana heat.

The third thing took longer to admit. The hooks are good, but they did not fix my arthritis. On bad days, no hook fixes it. What the Clover set did was push the bad days further apart. I crocheted longer in the evening, and I woke up with less sting in my thumb joint. That is the honest measure I care about.

The Handle, Up Close

The Amour handle is not one piece. It is a thick plastic core with a soft coating over it, and that coating is what your fingers actually touch. The texture is smooth but not slippery. It reminds me of the grip on a good kitchen knife, the kind that does not slide when your hands are tired. That matters more than I expected.

The coating also makes the hook warmer than aluminum. My old hooks felt cold for the first few minutes of an evening session. The Amour hooks warm up in my hand right away. It sounds like a small thing, but when you crochet for an hour, it is the difference between noticing your hook and forgetting it is there.

The one thing I would change is the size of the smallest handles. The fine hooks use the same thick grip, and for thread crochet I want to feel the stitches, not the handle. I do not blame Clover for this. It is a tradeoff they made to keep the set uniform. I just wish they offered a slim version of the small sizes.

What the Hype Misses

The hype says these hooks are the most comfortable ever made. I believe the people who say that, and I also believe they are crocheting with a different grip than mine. I hold my hook like a knife, with the handle resting against the base of my thumb. That grip works beautifully with the Amour. My friend at the yarn circle holds hers like a pencil, and the same handle feels too thick for her. The shape is not a universal fix.

The hype also misses that the set has a weak link. The smallest hooks, the ones you use for fine thread and doilies, have the same thick handle as the big ones. For my hand that is fine. For someone who needs a delicate touch, the handle gets in the way. I keep a plain steel hook in my kit for the rare doily project, and I am not embarrassed to admit it.

Nobody tells you that the coating wears. After six months, the handle on my most-used hook, the one I reach for every night, has a smooth patch where my thumb rests. It is not a defect. It is what happens when you use a soft coating for hundreds of hours. The hook still works. But the brand new feel does not last forever, and you should know that before you buy.

Where It Falls Short

The biggest shortcoming is the price. The Clover set costs more than a few single hooks, and if you only ever use one size, a single ergonomic hook will do the same job for less. I bought the set because I make gifts in every weight of yarn, from baby blankets to chunky throws. If you stick to one yarn weight, the set is more than you need.

The case is also not as nice as the hooks deserve. Mine is a simple fold-out holder with elastic loops. It works, but the hooks slide around when I carry it in my project bag. I have learned to keep the set on my side table and move single hooks to my bag instead. The hooks are excellent. The storage is average.

And the hooks are not all equally comfortable. The largest sizes, the ones for bulky yarn, are heavy enough that I notice the weight after an hour. The smallest sizes are too thick in the handle for fine work. The middle sizes, the ones most of us use most of the time, are the real stars of the set. That is the honest review.

How the Sizes Feel

The set has ten sizes, from a small steel-like hook for fine thread up to a big one for bulky yarn. I use the middle sizes most: the ones that work with worsted weight yarn, which is what most afghans ask for. Those hooks are the reason I reach for this set every night.

The smallest hooks are the ones I use for doilies and the occasional lace edge. They are precise and smooth, but the handle is too thick for my taste. I keep a plain steel hook in my kit for those projects. The largest hooks, the ones for chunky yarn, are comfortable but heavy. I notice the weight after about an hour, and I switch back to a middle size when I can.

The middle sizes are where the set earns its reputation. The hook head is smooth, the throat is deep enough to hold the yarn, and the handle sits in my palm without digging in. I have finished two afghans with the same middle hook, and my thumb still does not ache the way it did with my old set.

Alternatives I Considered

I compared the Clover set to the Tulip Etimo hooks that my sister swears by. The Tulip handle is slimmer and the hook head is smoother, which makes it lovely for long sessions of tight stitches. I chose Clover because the thicker handle suited my knife grip and my aching thumb. Neither hook is wrong. They are shaped for different hands.

I also tried a cheap ergonomic hook from a craft store, the kind with a rubber handle and a metal hook. It helped for a week, then the rubber started to slide. I have not touched it since. The Clover coating stays put, which is the difference between a hook that helps and a hook that just looks helpful.

Using Them for Gifts

I make a lot of dishcloths for gifts. They are quick, useful, and they let me try a hook without committing to a blanket. With the Clover set, I can switch sizes between dishcloths without changing my grip. The handle feels the same in every size, so my hand does not have to relearn anything.

The amigurumi projects are a different story. Those little animals need a hook that moves fast and does not catch the yarn. The Clover hook head is smooth enough for the job, and the handle keeps my hand relaxed during the long rounds of single crochet. The cats think the finished animals are toys. I have learned to keep them in a drawer until they are gifts.

After three hundred hours of evening crochet, the hook that hurt my thumb the least was the Clover. It did not cure my arthritis. It just made the good evenings longer.

Who This Is For

The Clover Amour set is for crocheters who hold their hook like a knife, who work with several yarn weights, and who have started to feel their hand complain after an hour. It is also for anyone who wants to finish projects instead of stopping early. If your hand is already sore, this set is worth trying before you spend money on a fancier gadget. If your hand is fine and you use one hook size, buy a single hook and save the rest.

Who Should Skip It

Skip the set if you only crochet with one weight of yarn, if you prefer a pencil grip and a slim handle, or if you do most of your work with fine thread and doilies. Skip it if you expect a hook to cure hand pain. No hook does that. The Clover set is a comfort tool, not a treatment. If your hands hurt all the time, please see a doctor or a hand therapist. I am not a medical professional, and I do not want you to trust my experience over their advice.

What I'd Tell a Friend

If we were sitting at my kitchen table, I would tell you to buy the middle sizes first before you buy the whole set. The set is wonderful, but it is also more than most people need. A single Clover hook in the size you use most will tell you in one evening whether the handle works for your grip. If it does, the set is worth it. If it does not, you have not wasted much.

I would also tell you to pay attention to your grip, not the hype. The reason these hooks work for me is that I hold my hook like a knife. If you hold yours like a pencil, a slimmer handle like the Tulip Etimo might suit you better. There is no shame in that. The best hook is the one that lets you finish the project.

The Long Evening Test

One night I decided to test the hooks the way I actually use them. I sat in my chair by the window, put on a podcast, and crocheted for two hours with the middle hook. I did not stop to write notes. I just crocheted. At the end, my thumb was warm but not aching. With my old aluminum hook, the same two hours would have left me reaching for a heating pad.

I repeated the test on a bad arthritis day. The Clover hook helped, but it did not erase the ache. I put the hook down after an hour and did something else. That is the honest truth. These hooks are a comfort tool, not a cure. On a good day they let me crochet longer. On a bad day they make the time I can crochet more pleasant.

What I Wish I'd Known

I wish I had known that the set would not make me a faster crocheter. The hooks are comfortable, but they do not change how fast I work. My speed comes from practice and from knowing the pattern. What the hooks changed was how long I could keep going. That is a better trade than speed, but it is not what the enthusiastic reviews imply.

I also wish I had known that the hooks are not all the same shape. The set is uniform in handle, but the hook heads differ in size and depth. That is true of any hook set, but it took me a few evenings to trust the smaller hooks. Once I did, I stopped reaching for my old steel hooks for anything except doilies.

The Bottom Line

The Clover Amour set is the best hook set I have used in thirty years, and I still reach for a plain steel hook for doilies. The hype is mostly true for the middle sizes, the coating wears with love, and the set will not fix a hand that needs medical care. For evening afghans and gift dishcloths, it is the set I trust. That is the honest review.