The Bates and Boye No-tell.

I went to Michael's on Monday to get a new hook and some stitch markers. Normally I shop at Hobby Lobby but I needed to get my daughters guinea pig some goodies, and Michael's is right next to the Pet Smart. I could go into a rant about how they are so very limited on chunky yarn but I will save that blog for another day. This blog is about my hooks and what the people at the Bates, Boye, and other manufactures are doing to us crocheter's and knitters.
 I bought a size N 9.00 mm Boye crochet hook. When I got it home and tried to size it using my Susan Bates Knit Chek. To my horror my new hook fit none of the holes but one: 8 mm knitting needle size 11, and the kicker ladies and gentlemen, crochet hook size L! "How can this happen?" I asked my husband. He said different makers have different ideas on sizing. But why? Why would they not standardize the industry and make all of the hooks the same? It makes no sense and is highly annoying. Clearly no one in the industry today crochets and knows the importance of GAUGE.
 Without gauge our projects can not come out right. Without gauge we end up with short blankets and hats that don't fit. Gauge is everything in knitting and crochet. We who create and craft need a certain standard to go by. Call it a star to guide us. Without this star we get left to our own devices and try to compensate for not having the proper materials. Susan Bates, Boye, Yarnology these are just to name a few. These are the companies that we count on to bring us accurate and precise materials. If each one of these companies has a different idea of what needle size is correct or what crochet hook size is right, then how are we supposed to have accurately sized projects? The answer is: we don't and can't!
There is a small light at the end of the tunnel though. I bought, three years back, a hook from Yarnology. This hook is a K, 6 1/2 mm and it fits the Susan Bates Knit Chek. Yarnology apparently is in tune with Susan Bates' Knit Chek. And so I can tell you that I will be buying only Yarnology hooks. They are cheaper, yet well made. And they are the only hooks that are true to the Bates No-Tel.