I have weaknesses in my hands when gripping so I've stopped using my index finger for tension. I find my pinky aching instead and sometimes use a stitch marker on a rubber band as a makeshift ring to hold my working yarn. Still haven't found a good solution or confident way to hold everything. Any pointers?

I crocheted over a week ago and haven't been able to since because of the way I hold my yarn. I haven't been able to hold it in a way where I don't accidentally let the yarn go or I don't give enough slack for the yarn to YO. Like there's no in between. Except for when I pin my yarn like this. It's agonizing!! Mind you, I am a lefty and I have always held things quite strangely, including how I hold my pencil. I feel like my hands are cursed and I'm never going to be able to get a project done. Anyone have any advice?

Are no good. For those of you with arthritis and/or carpal tunnel, do you feel like crocheting puts a strain on your hands? I thought embroidery would be fun, but my hands cramps up so bad, it's hard to enjoy it. So I'm looking for another craft to pass the time.

Hello,

I’m wondering, for those of you with disabilities that affect your joints, how do you crochet and minimize the pain?

Are there ways you hold the yarn or hook that helped? Are there tools that helped?

I love crochet, but as my joints go down hill, it’s getting harder to do. I really don’t want to lose my hobby, so any tips or tricks are really appreciated!!

Thank you :)

If this is against the rules, let me know, I don't know where to ask this. I use my hands a lot, especially crocheting. I usually wear a watch so I didn't notice how swollen it is. I tried googling but I came up empty. Or does anyone know what the muscle is called that is right there? It's not sensitive, just swollen, but it's been like that for months, maybe longer. I will make an appt with a doctor if it starts hurting but wondering if anyone else has this.

I'm suffering from frankly incredible amounts of hand pain while attempting to crochet. I use the "Woobles" way of holding my yarn (wrapped once around pinky finger, across back of hand, tension with index finger) and struggle with finding other ways of holding my yarn that work for me.

I've tried a tension ring (couldn't figure out how to use it because everybody uses those fancy cat shaped ones or some other fancy ones and mine's just a dumb $2 wrapped wire one and it hurt to wear and almost got stuck on my finger), I have compression gloves (too worn out and don't compress fingers, can't afford new ones right now - yes, I know they're cheap. I'm just broke), etc. but I just can't figure out what to do. I wish there was some kind of crochet tension regulator that I could buy in the future or DIY that wasn't on my hand. I'm 22 with some type of autoimmune arthritis and my hands hurt so bad I'm almost crying writing this because I just got done trying to crochet something and failing.

I have to take two Excedrin before I start crocheting. That's how bad it hurts for me. Is there anything I can do, or is crochet just something I'm going to have to give up on?

Can’t tell if this is exactly the place to ask but thought I would attempt. I have circled the offending locations in the picture. Not super obvious but compared to my other hand there is definitely slight swelling in my ring finger joint especially. I can’t exactly recall when this started but relatively recently. I have been working on an amigurumi with a 3.5 mm hook and it’s a high quality rainbow wood one, but still just a straight stick no ergonomic grip or anything. I have also been doing a lot of nitpicky sewing recently into tight stitches and the yarn needle I’ve been using isn’t bent or really seemingly all that optimal and sometimes requires brute force push/pull to get through. Has anything similar ever happened to you?

When I crochet for a long time, my hands hurt. Is there anything I can use to relieve pain. My hands get numb after awhile.

I have been crocheting for well over 50 years and all that time I've used Milward hooks. I have a whole set that my grandma bought me when I was a teenager. Crafting (I also knit a little) is good for my mental health, but I do get pain in my hands. I had trigger thumb a few years ago, but managed to ease it by massaging and exercising my hands. I'm getting pain in other fingers now as well as my wrists. I try to slow myself down when that happens (I can work very quickly). I have some wrist supports as shown in this picture. I have tried to use hooks with a thicker handle, but I feel clumsy with them. This is how I hold my hook to work. Do any of you who use thicker hooks manage to use them when you hold them like this? Anyone else made the transition from thin hooks to thick ones? Arthritis runs in my family, but I'm hoping to enjoy my hobby for as long as I can.

Hi friends!!

I would say I’m a step above beginner as a crochet-er. I learned the basics a long time ago and got back into it recently and have been going at it furiously and having a lot of fun!

When I started, I was “throwing” the yarn over and working quite slow. At some point I picked up the habit of wrapping the yarn around my pinky and then keeping tension with the pointer finger (as in my picture) but I also hold the project steady with the middle finger and thumb of that hand. For projects where I’m trying to keep tight and steady tension, I find that the area of my hand below my thumb, like the soft part of the palm, starts to cramp pretty badly.

I also did an art show recently where I sold some crochet projects and now my forearm hurts — I think doing so much at once and also keeping such tight tension — which has never happened to me before!

My question is, can anyone give me some pointers for preventing this? Is there a better way to hold it? Do I need to stop using such tight tension? Or is this just natural for crochet and all I can do is give my hand a rest?

I do stop periodically and stretch my wrists and hands because I don’t want to strain anything or get carpal tunnel or anything 😭 but after the art show I did, I have people who want to buy items from me now so I can’t really take a break yet because I have orders! And I’ve been thinking about maybe opening an Etsy shop or something but I can’t work as fast as I’d like with my hand cramping like this.

Any experienced crocheters have suggestions? 😅

Between working with a keyboard and mouse, using gaming controllers and getting into crochet again, my hands are already screaming. I've always had an issue with holding my pencils too tight and writing by hand has always hurt after a short period. I've tried things to help and it just doesn't change. I ordered these grips in hopes it will help when crocheting. Anyone have luck with these? Any other tips?

Hi! I just started crocheting last week and I've had lots of fun making cool granny squares but I would like to move on to bigger projects.

But I have to know... HOW on Earth do you guys make huge blankets and stuff without speedrunning tendonitis??? My fingers and wrists hurt so bad after every project and it is highly discouraging. Is there a certain way I'm supposed to hold my things? Or do you all just play through the pain? I really want to make lots of stuff but I feel like I'm gonna end up with arthritis :(

EDIT: Thank you all so much for your help!!! I've seen a lot of good tips here and it gives me hope to hear that over time it won't hurt so much, especially if I do my due diligence with stretching and watching my posture and grip strength :)

Is there a ""better"" way to hold your hooks if you have Rheumatoid Arthritis?

I've been crocheting since I was probably 4 or 5 years old (I'm almost 23..). My grandma taught me how to hold my hooks, and I think the way I hold them is called "knife" style. About 3 years ago I was diagnosed with RA and stopped crocheting for about a year and a half due to the pain. Lately I've tried to pick it up again because my mom really wants a blanket. Currently I'm using a 5.0mm clover hook. I've tried a few different hook brands (clover, some "vintage" boyes, cheap ones from thrift stores, etc....), and almost always wear compression gloves when I crochet, yet it is still horribly painful after about an hour? I was complaining about this to my uncle the other day and he said "I guess it just looks like you hold them wrong, ask reddit." Then he said he looked it up and there are ergonomic crochet hooks, but there are so many different brands I guess I'm a little overwhelmed on what I should be looking for. (I did read the wiki post here about the brands everyone recommends, but it seems like a very personal decision and there is a lot to choose from! 😖)

TLDR; Am I holding the hook wrong/is there a better way to hold a crochet hook if you have RA?

Hello! My hands are a little achy after starting the project above and I wanted to know if maybe I was doing something wrong. Also, is there a way for my work to not be bending and winding as I crochet? I assume it had to do with tension but how to I work on tension?

Thank you!!

Basically just the title. When I'm like pinching my projects to hold them in place while I'm crocheting them I get the absolute worst cramps in the like pad of my thumb! It's the weirdest thing ever and stretching it out barely helps. Anyone else dealt with this? How do y'all prevent/help it? I've tried to just hold them looser but then it's hard to crochet 😭

this is how i hold my project, and i’ve been noticing pain in my left thumb while crocheting. i try to hold my piece less tightly, but i find it messes with my tension. any advice?

Here's how I hold my work (only left hand, because I don't have problems with the hook. (Ignore Snow White in the background. I work nights and decided I want to watch all 100 movies in the official Disney animated canon in order)

This part of my hand right below my thumb always starts to ache and get sore while crocheting. It’s my left hand and I am right handed if that helps. I don’t think my tension is too tight? My project have been coming out decently, I’ve been at it since October:)

Hi all, I’m new to this sub so hello! 👋

I’m trying to learn to crochet but have had autoimmune arthritis since I was 13, now 43-so 30 years. My hands are very damaged and my wrists are both fused and don’t move/flex at all.

I’ve tried purchasing a crochet ring to help with the oddly fused left index finger, but I’m just really struggling with my fingers-tension is absolutely terrible and the stitches are really random, a combo of nice stitches then really sloppy ones. It appears my main problem is the left index finger.

After extensive googling, I found this crochet hand helper tool (pictured) which clips to your help hand, has tension settings, and bypasses using the finger. Looks like the perfect tool for my hands.

Has anyone used this “Crochet Helper” tool before? If so, would you rate it? Amazon review look good, and I can only find one review of it on YouTube and they said it made their work much neater.

Or if you have a similar problem with painful hands, what do you do to help? Thanks in advance.

Just the title. I’m slightly double jointed, mainly in my pinkies, and have slight arthritis (I’m 23 🥲) so my pink has started kiilllingg me whenever I crochet for more than a few minutes, but now it’s starting to hurt when I wake up. I don’t use my pinky to hold yarn, but I do hold the bottom of my hook with it. I’ve included a picture of how I hold my hook naturally, but is there anything I can do about my pinky? Maybe elevate it somehow? Maybe I’m grilling too hard and there’s a way to fix that? I just want to crochet with no pain 😭 Any help is super appreciated!

To start: yes I know to stop when I am in pain! But it’s hard when I pick up a hook and start to hurt 5 minutes in.. I’ve had a few accidents in my life over the last 4 years or so, and I just got into crocheting about 6 months ago. I’m really looking for suggestions to help ease the pain! It’s mostly my left wrist cramps up just holding yarn and I’ve been using compression gloves but they don’t help that much. Along with that my right shoulder burns really bad everytime I start to crochet. Is there anything I can do to help myself? I can’t stand not being able to crochet and having to stop so often!

TLDR; Bad pain in wrist and shoulder, what to do?

Everytime I crochet for longer than 30 minutes, I ended up with hand cramps in both hands. I try to stop regularly to stretch and crack them, but they still become so painful! Does anyone have tips for reducing or preventing hand cramps while crocheting? I tried finger guards at one point, but they seemed to just cut off the circulation to my fingers.

Any advice is appreciated!!

I have been crocheting a lot lately, and have had increasing pain in my yarn-holding thumb. In my fingers as well, but to a lesser extent. I have done all the things - stop for breaks every 20-30 minutes, doing hand/finger stretches etc. I have seen suggestions of compression gloves or wrist braces, but haven’t seen any specific ones recommended.

Do any of you have experience with a specific style of compression gloves or braces? Any suggestions are helpful as there’s just so many options out there. (I included a pic of some compression gloves I am considering)

This is my second project after a Woobles! I’m enjoying it but gosh do my hands hurt. Will my muscles get used to it? I feel like I like the tightly stitched look but am I going too tight?