A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Hobbies, Crafts and Creativity Does anyone crochet or knit? Which is better?

The other day my daughter and I were at Walmart. Something inspired me to get some yarn and some crochet hooks. I have never crocheted more than a chain in my life.. when I was a kid, at that.

We both started 'scarves'. Well hers looks more like a scarf than mine does. lol I can't keep my edges consistent. And I can see little mistakes in it. (We taught ourselves how to do just a basic stitch.. making rows, from a tutorial online.)

A little while later Courtney comes out with a bag of blue yarn and something she has worked on.. knitting! My daughter is 14 and her Grandmother on her dad's side knits like crazy. Apparently she taught Courtney how to do some things. Well, her knitting looked way, way better than either of our crocheting... and I want to know.. what is better? Knitting or crocheting? Which is easier? I have heard knitting because there are only a few basic stitches where crocheting has several.. I have no idea. But the knitting looks better.. is it easier? Do you crochet or knit? Do you do both? If not, why?

I did learn to do basic knitting as a child. But never got much further than that because it is hard to learn left handed. But as a young adult I picked up crochet and with a vengeance. I loved it. It moved along much faster than knitting.
I no longer do much of the crochet due to arthritic hands and fine motor skill issues.

I have been knitting for several years now and am totally hooked! (not meant to be punny! ) I prefer it to crocheting for the exact reasons you mentioned - I find it neater and also easier. That said... I do crochet small toys, mostly in the round, and those are fun and ok for me.

But for larger projects I do prefer the neater lines of knitting. Right now I am working on a sweater that is knit like a huge pinwheel - the entire thing is knit in a circle except for the arms. It will be interesting to see how it turns out - the pictures I've seen online are very pretty.

By the way - there is a terrific website/forums, pictures, free patterns, etc online. If you are interested, send me a PM.

By the way... WELCOME HOME!

My daughter's grandmother is left handed too! I guess I never thought that it would be harder to learn due to that. But she makes wonderful things.. the thing I love best is the socks! I want to be able to make lots of socks.. and scarves. Can you crochet socks?



Hehe... hooked... so punny!! :P So, is it hard to learn? And is there alot to it? I want to learn.. one or the other.. or both.. but I don't have anyone to teach me.. so I am kind of on my own.

And thank you! For the welcome home! You made me tear up. =)

My opinion, socks are best knitted.

KK, then I am gonna have to learn to knit!

[quote}Hehe... hooked... so punny!! :P So, is it hard to learn? And is there alot to it? I want to learn.. one or the other.. or both.. but I don't have anyone to teach me.. so I am kind of on my own.

And thank you! For the welcome home! You made me tear up. =)[/quote]

Knitting is not hard to learn in my opinion. I had learned way back when I was in high school - mom taught me. But I really took it up about 6 years ago or so, and most of what I know now, I've learned from videos online, or from that website I've mentioned.

Funny about socks - I have absolutely NO desire to make them - EVER! We are all so hard on socks that I couldn't bare putting all that time into making them, just to find holes in them shortly after!

I have a couple pair of socks my ex MIL made and I love them. She used wool though.. so they would last longer. I just think it's so neat to be able to create something that you can actually USE.. lol Scarves and clothing you can use also, but socks are just so basic. I know, I'm weird.

Knitting is easier to learn, but which is better depends on what your making. My Aunt can Crochet the most beautiful lace table cloths, and she does them so quick. But I think when it comes to blankets, touques and socks knotting is far better.

Both of my girls crochet. They taught themselves when they went away to college. Both are quite good at it--mom has a couch afghan to show off their skills with. (each girl did 1/2 of the blanket----I love it

socks are hard to knit. I started a pair 2 or 3 years ago and never finished. You have to use 2 sets of needles so that's 4 needles to be worked with all the time. Start with something easier in my opinion.

I can knit..can't crochet for the life of me. There are some great 'how-to's' on Youtube.

@ Shani~
Really? You feel knitting is easier? I have actually heard a few people say that.. it just LOOKS harder. You also said

Um, what is a touque?

@ JunieGirl~
Aw what a wonderfully special gift I am sure that was for you to get from your girls. =)

@ Bestofour~
Oh, I didn't realize you had to use 2 pairs of needles to do socks. Boo.. I will definitely have to start with something easier and work my way up. :wink:

@ Tamara~
Oh that would be awesome, but I can't load youtube to save my life. Dial up internet is evil! lol

Sorry I forgot you Americans call them differently, Ski hats is it. I like touque (pronounced too-k),the word is a lot more fun to say. I guess its a mainly Canadian word.
I found that knitting din't take long to learn before I didn't have to pay a great deal of attention to what I was doing.

It your looking for an easy project to start with for kitting I recommend a Scarf. I started with a blanket, and it took a long time to finish. Granted I put it down in the summers and only worked on it through the winters, but it took me 3 and a half years. It nicely covers a queen size bed though its not quite rectangular. I some how kept adding stiches so I finished about a foot wider then when I started.

Thank you Jennifer--yes, I was very pleased to get it!!!

I did both.
knit
I forgot how.

Not good at it.

dodge

This funny, I cannot reply to emils

So JunieGirl, do the girls knit other stuff?

I've taken out the pattern Plants N Pots sent for knitting dishcloths and just may make a few. Those are the best dishcloths ever.

I've even talked to my friend who knows how to make socks. We started ours at the same time. She's already worn her's out. She's going to help me re-start.

I taught me how to crochet an knit......
Guess what ? Just like you I forgot how to knit again..

Eek
It is hard to relearn also. Or I am impatient.
I think knitting is better for wearables
Crochet better for decorations..
My opinion only.

dodge

no the girls do not crochet (or is it knit) so much now---this was a 'college" thing. Valarie has in the past made babt shower gifts before though. so she may begin again at some point.

and yes they are wonderful clothes. I say make them out of dark thread though---the white ones are so pretty that I cannot make myself use them.

PS: I have the deep yellow one you gave me in my pot & pans cabinet---I u se it as a protecting cloth for my 10 inch anonized skillet.

But yes they are THE best indeed.

I learned to knit and crochet when I was a teenager, but I hate knitting then (it was the English method) and only crocheted for a long time. I learned the Continental method of knitting three years ago and love it. I love knitting socks especially and have made them for myself and my family. They cost more that way but last a lot longer. I've also knitted a sweater and want to knit a shawl once I get the yarn for it.

Well i know the basics of crocheting and knitting... it's actually based on what you want to craft. So long as you have the will to do it, then learning and spending time would not be a problem.

This is based on my experience, and I'm not a professional and didn't learn to deep into knitting and crocheting so I apologize if i wrote wrong info.

With crocheting you can make fancy round dolls and I guess round stuff like small bags, etc. Well yes you can do it with knitting but then you might need to learn how to sew those parts or some kind of technique to bind them together.

You can also make long scarves with crocheting, but I think it would be easier and perhaps faster with knitting. Crocheting can also be done to fix mistakes in knitting.

In terms of difficulty...

Knitting patterns usually needs you to learn purling and normal stitches. They are quite easy and simple I guess but then I'm not so sure, since I don't like following patterns and I personally prefer crocheting over knitting.

Crocheting is fun, but sometimes confusing (well it is for me)since you have double crochet stitch, etc. So maybe knitting is easier.

Anyhow both of them would need you to kinda 'learn' the pattern language.
http://www.how-to-knit-guide.com/index.html is a good site on learning how to knit, and http://www.hookandneedles.com/ is good for crocheting. These websites are not mine, and I found them from Google. Hope it helps C:

I tried both before. and i personally like the Knitting better since i tend to have better control over it. When i crochet. I tend to make one end tighter than another and they ended up curling.. lol. such a fail~

I do both and I think it depends on what your are working on. For me heavy winter clothing I do in crochet because it produces a heavier material. For indoor sweaters I want to knit to get a lighter finished product. But for me the knitting is going to stretch out even with an acrylic yarn so I have to take that into consideration.