Clover Amour vs Tulip Etimo

These are the two ergonomic sets people upgrade to, they cost roughly the same, and almost every comparison of them comes down to which handle feels nicer - which is not something anyone can tell you from a specification sheet. The useful comparison is what is in each box, and there the two sets differ more than they look like they do.

The comparison

The size lists do not line up

Both sets contain ten hooks, both stop at 6.0mm, and the natural assumption is that they cover the same ground. They do not.

The two sets share six sizes and differ on eight. Tulip spends its first three hooks below 2.5mm, in quarter-millimeter and fifth-millimeter steps, and then jumps in round half-millimeters. Clover starts higher and fills in the odd sizes - 2.75, 3.25 and 3.75 - that the metric-only set skips entirely.

The mirror of that is the fine end. If you crochet with sock yarn, lace weight or fine cotton, Tulip gives you three hooks below 2.5mm and Clover gives you one. Which set has the sizes you need depends entirely on which yarn you use - the bands are set out on the Craft Yarn Council chart, and the full letter-to-millimeter conversion is on our hook size chart.

Letters against millimeters

Clover marks its hooks with the US letter and the millimeter size. Tulip marks millimeters, which is the international convention.

This sounds trivial and is not, if you crochet from American patterns. A US pattern says "size H hook" and you want to pick up a hook that says H. With a metric-only set you are translating on every project, and the translation is not always clean - US G is 4.0mm on some charts and 4.25mm on others, which is exactly the sort of ambiguity a marked letter removes.

If you crochet from European or Japanese patterns, the reverse applies and the metric marking is the one you want.

The grip

Both sets exist because of their handles. Clover's is molded elastomer rubber, latex free. Tulip's is a cushioned soft grip. Both are substantially thicker than a bare aluminum shaft, and thickness is the property that matters: a wider handle needs less pinch force to hold securely, and sustained pinch force is what produces the ache crocheters describe in the thumb web.

Beyond that, we are not going to tell you which one feels better. Neither manufacturer publishes a handle diameter, hand preference is genuinely individual, and we have not crocheted with either set. Anyone claiming a definitive winner on feel is telling you about their hands, not yours. The wider ergonomic options - including much thicker handles than either of these - are in best ergonomic crochet hooks.

What comes in the box

The Tulip set includes two darning needles, a pair of scissors and a zipped carry case. The Clover product page lists ten hooks and nothing else.

• A case is not a trivial extra. Ten loose hooks in a project bag is how hooks get lost, and a separate hook case costs real money.
• Darning needles get used constantly. Every crochet project ends with ends to weave in.
• Scissors in the same case means the bag is self-contained.
• Against that, extras you already own are worth nothing. If you have a case, needles and scissors, this section is noise and the comparison comes back to sizes.

Which to buy

What neither set does

1. Bulky and super bulky. Both stop at 6.0mm. A blanket in super bulky wants 8mm to 10mm, which you buy separately - see hook size for a blanket.
2. Thread crochet. Below 2mm is a different tool with a steel shaft - see best steel crochet hooks.
3. A true in-line head. Both use their own rounded profiles. If in-line is what suits you, that is Susan Bates, and it is covered in Clover Amour vs Susan Bates.
4. Interchangeable anything. Crochet hook sets are ten separate tools, unlike knitting needle sets - which is why hook sets vs single hooks is a real question and its knitting equivalent is a different one.

The cheaper way to decide

Both of these sets are an upgrade purchase, and the thing being upgraded is comfort. Before spending on either, buy one bare aluminum hook in 5mm and crochet a swatch for an hour.

If your hands are fine at the end of it, you may not need an ergonomic set at all, and you have found that out for the price of a coffee. If they ache, you now know exactly what you are buying and why - and the choice between these two comes down to the size list, which is a decision you can make from the table above.

How we compared them

Every figure on this page comes from the manufacturer or from a retailer quoting the manufacturer: the size lists, the handle materials, the set contents. We have not crocheted with either set and we make no claim about how either handle feels in the hand - that is the one thing a specification cannot tell you and the one thing people most want ranked. How we pick sets out the method.