My latchhook

For those of you who asked, or didn't but wondered, this is the latchhook I first used when I started latching my SL's. When I got the latching booklet, I immediately went out to Sally Beauty to find a latchhook. I figured I'd find one there. I wasn't sure this was exactly what I was looking for but I had made a decision that I was going to latch and, as usual, once the decision was made I wanted to get to it ASAP!

First, I started on my daughter. It wasn't because I wanted her to be the guinea pig, but because I'd be able to actually see what I was doing before trying to do my own.

Everything went well, for the most part, but I did have some problems. The latchhook above doesn't look that long (a little over 6 inches) but, in use, I found that it was cumbersome for two main reasons: length and straightness. When holding it and completing the rotations, the hook end was more likely to catch hairs from the neighboring lock that I wasn't working on, or the handle end would butt up against the other side of the locks or, when latching the locks down near the nape of the neck, it would butt into my back or shoulder, so it wasn't comfortable. As to it being straight, as soon as it went through the base of the lock I was working it, it would catch hair from the next lock.

So, being the amateur tinkerer that I am (I'll hack up anything to make it fit my needs!) I experimented with making it more comfortable and easier to use. Besides, it was only $1 and I figured I could get more if I totally messed it up.

One of the first things I did was remove the pink part. It was hollow there anyway. This was better, but still a little too long. Since the handle was plastic, I got a sharp knife, heated it up on the stove and cut off about half of the length of the green part, just below where the metal shaft of the hook was imbedded into the plastic. Better, but still not quite there.


The next thing I did was to slightly bend the metal shaft of the hook end. What this did was allow the hook end to curve up and away from the neighbor lock as I came out of the base of the one I was working on and lessen the chances of catching hairs. Much better, but still not quite. It was still too long and I thought I'd be more comfortable with a handle that wasn't as long or as fat.

Initially, I cut off the entire green part, leaving only the shaft of the metal hook. That didn't work very well because there wasn't anything to grip in order to manipulate the hook through the rotations. Since I had gotten several latchhooks, I got out my trusty knife and sliced off almost another half of the green part. I also cut down the sides of the sides of the green part so it was just enough to grip. The top latchhook in the picture directly above is the modified hook that I currently use to latch my new growth. At about 3 inches, it's comfortable for me and, unlike the Nappylocs tool, I don't lose it if I drop it!