Latch hook
Think big shapes
A latch hook knot is several millimetres of shaggy yarn, and neighbouring colours blur into each other. Fine detail disappears; bold shapes, strong contrast and a plain background survive. A pet's head against a solid colour works better than a full-body photo in a garden.
Size it from your canvas
Rug canvas is sold by holes per inch, and each hole takes one knot. Decide the finished size, multiply by the canvas count, and use that as the width in knots. The table below shows how wide a 100-knot design comes out on common canvases.
Count your yarn before you buy
Every knot uses one piece of cut yarn, so the colour counts are your shopping list. Buy a little extra of the main colours: dye lots vary, and running out halfway through a background is the most common latch hook regret.
Work from the bottom up
Latch hooking is easiest from the bottom row upwards, so the finished pile lies away from the hook. Set the reader to start from the bottom and it will highlight each row in that order.
| Canvas | Holes per inch | Finished width |
|---|---|---|
| 3.3 mesh | 3.3 | about 77 cm (30 in) |
| 3.75 mesh | 3.75 | about 68 cm (27 in) |
| 5 mesh | 5 | about 51 cm (20 in) |
