Happy Anniversary to Me!

Yesterday was a very exciting day in the life of the Unkempt Mind.  As I mentioned in my “Crochet” blog, I have been wanting to try out bone crochet hooks.  I know that may sound barbaric to some, but rest assured that (as far as I know) no one makes bone crochet hooks any more.  They were, however, the standard for larger hooks (the standard is now aluminum).  Despite the fact that they are no longer made, there are vintage and antique bone crochet hooks available through auctions and antique sellers.

Most of the crochet patterns that I attempt nowadays are vintage patterns.  I find that there is something intrinsically educational in knowing our past, and this applies no less to crocheting than to politics.  Recently, I started to become really tempted by the bone crochet hook, and started searching for some.  I found some at an online auction.  Bone hooks aren’t cheap, but the less fancy ones were in my price range, so I bid away.  And I won!

Knowing how shipping works for me locally, I assumed that they would come yesterday.  Actually, I assumed that they would come Monday, but that was a bank holiday, so my assumptions were adjusted (after, of course, I had waited around half the day for the mail before realizing my error).  So, yesterday, I waited.  My mail lady arrived, and she had two packages for me. 

Wait, two?

I opened the one that I recognized first, and, sure enough, it was a lovely set of bone crochet hooks.  Here is a photo of the little darlings (with my chubby little hand in there to give you some idea of size):

I am really excited – and I do recognize that it says something about me that I am this excited about a bunch of old bones.  I am also a bit surprised that they are so small.  They correspond to the smaller crochet hooks (known as steel), which was less common in the vintage era.  As I understand it, what are now known as steel hooks were typically produced in steel or other metal.  So, I got some unusual bone crochet hooks at that.  I had planned on sitting right down and taking them for a test drive, but the other package waited.  It didn’t wait patiently.  It was niggling at me the entire time that I looked at my new hooks.

I had to open the other package.  Here’s what I found:

It’s a lovely Victorian era bone and sterling crochet hook.  I have not yet measured it, but it appears to be around a size “G”.  It is stamped and is hallmarked.  It is beautiful.

Here’s a picture of all of the new crochet hooks together, so that you can compare:

My spectacular husband (we’ll call him Dobby, because he’s an excellent house elf) is a subscriber to my blogs.  He read about my desire for a bone crochet hook (I wasn’t even sure that he was really reading them), and he went online and found one.  I’d seen this one, but decided that it was out of my price range.  Dobby differed in that opinion.  Happy anniversary to me!