Latch Hook

Do you remember those crazy latch hook kits you got when you were a kid, of course maybe I'm aging myself, I grew up in the 70s, so latch hook kits and those velvet marker kits were a big thing.

Latch hooking has actually made a comeback in the last few years. Kits are still being sold at your local craft stores or online but there is not a lot of variety in design. Basically the kits still consist of puppies, kittens and landscapes, oh and butterflies. Although these styles may be popular with some, it really doesn't go with my eclectic style. So, I started creating abstract designs and creating my own patterns.

Here is a list of supplies to get started:
yarn
latch hook canvas
latch hook
scissors
latch hook binding
design/graphic

YARN

The yarn typically used for latch hooking comes in precut bunches. I sometimes find these at my local thrift store for 50¢ to 99¢. Or you can buy larger quantities from Ebay. You can really use any type of yarn, you just have to cut it in various lengths yourself. Double up on the yarn if you are using lightweight yarn, just put two strands on your latch hook instead of one.

CANVAS

Latch hook canvas can be bought at big craft retail stores or you can buy from Etsy or Amazon. I usually buy it by the yard and cut it to the size of my design. It's made from 100% polyester.

LATCH HOOK

Latch hooks can be bought off of Etsy or Amazon, and are pretty cheap. I actually found my hooks at an estate sale. I have two, pictured below, and I use both of them. One is straight while the other is slightly bent, and I really haven't found any differences between the two, so either one will do.

BINDING

Latch hook binding can also be bought at craft stores or Amazon. This is used to finish off the edges.
We will get into finishing off your latch hook design in a later post.

DESGIN

Now the fun part, designing your image! I've been working with abstract images lately. I first design a graphic in Adobe Illustrator and play around with colors. If you don't have or use this software, just get some graph paper and start designing. Once you have your design, you can do a couple of different things to get it on your canvas. The first method would be to use a marker and outline the areas where the different colors fall, use different colored markers for this. The second method is counting the rows on your graph paper so that you know where to start and end your colors. I choose this method because the markers I've been using end up bleeding all over my fingertips.

Once you've outlined the colors, start hooking! Here's a quick tutorial on how to latch hook.

It's so simple and pretty therapeutic. Once you have your color areas outlined, just fill them in. When you've filled in your design, it's time to trim. If you've used the precut batches then there won't be too much trimming to do. But if you've cut your own yarn in strips, there will be areas where you will need to trim so that the lengths are uniform. With this method you can cut at varying lengths to add depth to your design.

I hope you try latch hooking, I've been having a lot of fun and I'm even thinking about selling some kits in my Etsy shop. If you're interested, leave me a comment.