Your Favorite Tools

In January I did a live stream on my YouTube channel that was all about favorite tools for crochet and yarn crafts.  Here is the video itself:

I began by discussing crochet hooks and the difference between tapered hooks and in-line hooks.  I shared some of my favorites.  At that point I had just received my only Furls hooks as a gift, and I will say that I have enjoyed using it ever since. Furls hooks run a little dear in price, and on my budget I have not been able to purchase more for myself, but when I win the lottery I will definitely think about it. Right after the Lexus and the grand piano.  (Here is my affiliate link to Furls, if you are leaning toward buying some for yourself or for a gift.) I will state that the that plastic hooks with the clear acrylic handle that you can light up remains among my favorites. I just like the way they work with my grip and fit in my hand.

We did talk about Tunisian hooks.  I don't have a preference there, because my experience with Tunisian crochet has not been uniformly happy.  I have gotten more use--and more joy--from my Tunisian hooks stirring my drinks than in actually creating projects.  I had a set of teak Tunisian hooks on long flexible cords that I included in a recent giveaway.  (Immediately thereafter I conceived of a fun design that mixes traditional and Tunisian crochet, but I did still have some hooks left--remember the drinks!--and was able to do a prototype.  And I have a trusted confidant testing that full pattern.)

We talked about storage for tools, for yarn, for patterns.  Frankly, I covet the kind of space some yarn YouTubers (YarnTubers?) have. Many of them sit in front of a very impressive yarn wall, with organized shelving to easily view and choose the right yarn for the next project.  I don't have that kind of space, and although I do enough yarn to last me through the Apocalypse, I don't have the amount I see on some of those yarn walls.  As far as storing tools, since I crochet in pretty much the same place every day, I am happy keeping my hooks in a pencil can and a mug.  I have recently seen people using pencil/paintbrush holders like we might have seen in art class in school, where there is one hole for each pencil, paintbrush, or hook.  Apparently they can be found for very little at stores like Dollar Tree.  I use a pencil case from my local office supply store--the school supply/stationery section of any big discount store is also a good source--for stitch markers and tapestry hooks.  As long as I remember to zip it shut every time, I'm golden.  (Also, I don't need fancy stitch markers. I'm happy with cheap plastic stitch markers that come 5 gazillion for $1, or something like that.)  Regarding pattern storage, for those patterns I print out, I have a plastic file box that is probably 12 inches deep containing printed patterns organized by project type.  I also have a tremendous number of patterns that I have downloaded but never printed, organized in file folders on my computer.  And I back up my computer often.  (I recommend you back up often, as well.  You can buy an external drive for not much money, and both Mac and Windows OSs have built-in backup utilities.  The time will come when you will be glad you did!)

One amazing tool that deserves its own paragraph is a thumb drive that has a jack I can plug into my iPhone (11, I believe) and another I can plug into my computer's USB port.  Although I do my YouTube live streams using the FaceTime camera built into my computer, my pre-recorded videos are all done with my phone.  I even edit them with iMovie on my phone.  So this thumb drive has proved invaluable in transferring movie files from phone to computer.  Devices like this are available at electronic stores, and even at electronic sections of big department stores.  I bought the one I use, which has a 64 GB capacity and comes with an app for transferring the files from phone to drive, from Amazon at a quite reasonable price.  (I lost my Amazon affiliate link because I had absolutely no sales, but I encourage you to use other YarnTubers' affiliate links to begin any Amazon shopping session.)

Software tools.  I mention that I use iMovie on my phone.  I usually don't edit my live streams, but I use iMovie to edit out yawns and ums and ers from my recorded videos on my phone.  I can insert graphic text cards that I create in TextPicFree, which you might imagine from the name is a free app.  I can also insert photos that are stored on my phone.  I almost always end with a cute Bitmoji image.  If I feel really ambitious, I will insert some royalty-free music into the introductory images of my videos.

What about you?  What are your favorite tools?