A "Knit-Person" and "Crochet-Person": Fact or Fiction?

Crochet!
1

I was sitting with my mother at Starbucks today, knitting away on my current WIP (a baby blanket), when she began telling me about her mother’s knitting. Her mother knit, but never crocheted. My mother crocheted, but couldn’t really get the hang of knitting. My grandmother on my father’s side crochets, but does not knit.

I taught myself to crochet from books, but needed a teacher for knitting my first time out. After a lesson, though, I could knit just as well as I crocheted, and I’ve always seemed to have equal skill at both. Am I strange? Do most people do better at one or the other? And why? To me, the two are very similar, but they must have some important difference in the way the brain processes them, to make one or the other so challenging for a person.

I’m curious as to everyone’s insights on this topic, and to find out how many out there are in the same boat as me–comfortable in both worlds.

2

I hope to be in the same boat as you, but right now the two are very different to me. I’m a crocheter who’s trying to learn to knit. My “knitting” is a mess. Holding two needles is not comfortable to me and the stitches can slip off and then I really don’t know what to do. I’m not giving up though! I just set it aside and take up some crochet to calm and relax. How long have you knitted?
Julie

3

Personally, I like both crochet and knitting. each technique has strengths and weaknesses and both are important skills to have. I find crochet much easier to understand and manipuate; but the projects I want to make right now are knit. (for the record, I learned knitting first, but learned crochet faster)

I think people get a mental block when having to switch gears between the two. maybe it has to do with the muscle memory or rhythm you get in to with knitting, it isn’t easily switched to the different rhythm and yarn handling of crochet.

Then there is the association of crochet with the weird stuff of the 70’s and all the toilet paper covers in grandmas house. you often hear that knitters call crochet the “c word” as if it is less worthy. or only pick up a hook to fix dropped knit stitches.

most people I know either do one or the other 90% of the time. I don’t know why really… but I like both.

4

I have crocheted for 30 some years but have only been hand knitting for maybe 2 years. I just now am confident enough with knitting to try difficult patterns and find I really enjoy making lace. With crochet, there is no pattern that intimidates me but some knitting patterns still do. It’s easier for me to memorize and visualize a stitch pattern in crochet than in knitting. I recently began knitting continental style and find I’m more comfortable holding the yarn in my left hand - probably due to my long crochet history.

5

I can crochet some, just never really got into it enough to learn or read all the stitches. I prefer knitting and have developed that fairly well. Mother crochets EVERYTHING!! She can work on the tiny hook with tiny thread for hours and days and does beautiful filigree tablecloths… She’s a tad disappointed with me and my knitting and gives me those “Family” looks when I tell her I’m working on a piece… she’ll say, “What are you making it with?” When I tell her it’s knitted she is so funny… LOL!!!

I find that it is very helpful to know how to crochet and crocheting edges is very simple on my knitting work. I have made several crocheted afghans. I think that crocheting a piece from worsted takes alot less time to complete than knitting.

6

I started with knitting back in the 60’s - g’ma taught me (probably to keep me busy and out of her hair). Only knitted that one winter.

Took up crochet about 12 years ago - started with thread crochet.

Started spinning about 10 years ago and lusted after knit socks. I would spin skein after skein of sock weight yarn - crocheted socks just didn’t do it for me.

I tried to teach myself knitting again, but couldn’t get the hand of it, despite trying multiple ‘learn to knit’. I knew I knitted continental.

I found this site (THANK YOU!) and realized that G’ma taught me combined continental.

I’m zipping right along now with both knitting and crocheting.

7

I like to do both. Crochet for some things is faster but I like the close texture knitting gives. Right know I am doing more knitting but have gotten into doilies and collars for crocheting.
I am taking a sock class for the next three Sat. and can’t wait. I figure get the basics and I will be off and running.

8

I switch between knit and crochet without any problems.:aww:

9

I taught myself to crochet from a book and then, a month after, taught myself to knit.

I enjoy doing both but have only, so far, earned money through my crochet when I crocheted up some items for a book, (someone else’s design, the book is published) and I will be doing further work for the lady’s next book too. :slight_smile:

10

My step mother taught me how to crochet when I was just a kid… I was no older than 9 or 10 at the time. I fiddled with trying to make dish cloths and whatnot, but I never really got any further than that.

I attempted knitting several times over the course of a few years as well, but again – I never really got very far.

Then one rainy day I was very very bored and decided to pick up the stitch n’ bitch book. After that, I was away with knitting. I absolutely fell in love with it. I still remembered the basics of crochet and thought about trying to learn again, but it was way too intimidating for me.

Then a few months ago, I checked out the stitch n’ bitch crochet book from the library. I don’t know why, but those books make it so easy!! After reading that and practicing on small projects, I’ve fallen in love with crochet as well. It makes me wonder why on earth I waited so long to learn again!!

Right now I prefer crochet over knitting because it’s faster, however I still like some things knitted rather than crocheted (such as socks, sweaters, etc).

11

I’ve crocheted for years, but just learned how to knit… Learning to knit gave me such a serious fit and I stopped for a while, then tried again, now I can do both, although much slower in the knit. To me crochet is much faster but to me knit looks better. And crochet patterns to me are easy to read and keep track of… knit… well I’m still learning :slight_smile:

12

Wow, lots of responses while I was busy with schoolwork! To answer an earlier question, I believe I’ve been knitting for about two years and crocheting for three, but I’m not 100% positive.

I agree with the overall opinion that crochet is faster but I enjoy knitting’s texture more. I also wanted to add that crochet is simpler to work in the round, which makes it better for some things. I just started knitting a baby blanket on size 6 needles, and it’s supposed to be about 2 1/2 feet square… :hair: So I’m whining to myself with every dropped purl that the thing would’ve been almost done by now if I crocheted it. It will, however, be much softer and more flexible when I’m finished, without any open spaces to catch my future baby cousin’s fingers, so I can console myself with that! :mrgreen:

13

I taught myself how to cdrochet from a book about 13 years ago. It took to it like water. :woot:

About 3 or 4 years ago, I wanted to learn to knit. I got book after book after book and could not get it. All the books wanted me to learn to hold the yarn in my right hand…I hold it in the left when I crochet so this was absolutely foreign to me :noway:. I finally found knittinghelp.com and it’s awesome videos and learned Continental knitting almost as quickly as crochet. Now I can go back and forth between the two with out even thinking about it.:yay::cheering::yay::cheering:

14

It was duelling hooks and needles in my house growing up…Mom knit and Granny crocheted, and I learned to do both early on.
So my world of project choices is wide open! :yay:

15

OMG, you are SO right! For awhile, that’s how I thought about crochet but I must say that I’m really enjoying picking it up again. I like that crochet goes really fast so I feel a quicker sense of accomplishment. :woot:

I’m still into my knitting. I seem to go in spurts: knit for a bit, then crochet, then back again. I think I need to work on my attention span.

The best, though, is scanning for patterns online. I could do that all day long.

I’ve noticed that crochet has really morphed these days. The patterns available are really awesome and just as cutting edge at times as knitting. I’ll look at pictures sometimes and have a hard time figuring out if it’s knitted or crocheted.

my 2 cents…

16

I started crocheting as a college freshman when my mom taught me to make a ripple afghan using half-double crochet. (That’s all she knew, and she only ever started (and never finished) two afghans, one in the seventies and another in the nineties (when she taught me).
Anyway, I taught myself eveything else from books. I made blankets, hats, gloves, filet crochet signs, doilies, etc. I enjoyed crocheting but would call it a hobby, not an addiction.

A couple years ago I developed a condition that worsened a few months ago. It got to the point where crocheting really aggravated it. I was used to doing something with my hands, though, so thought I’d try knitting. For some reason, knitting doesn’t bother me. I taught myself using this website after my mother-in-law taught me how to cast on (using a method that I don’t use anymore and have forgotten). I am totally addicted to knitting! I knit continental and combined, and for me it’s very similar to crochet.

Crochet goes faster and is easier to fix mistakes, but knitting uses less yarn and is just better for me. There’s something about the texture of feel or something… I don’t consider myself as knowledgeable about knitting as I am about crochet (yet!) but I definitely love it in a way that I never loved crochet.

17

I agree with mathwizard!..crochet is much faster and so far, i found it has richer texture and motifs…but with knit…it’s has rigid style and the texture is much closer…but to form something by knitting, i really have to think harder than crochet…but to modify the pattern, i think i more get used to with the knitting…i haven’t tried to modify the crochet pattern…but i have to make ‘original’ form like bags or else, i think crochet is much easier…don’t know how it becomes like that…but that what happens…

also, with crochet, mostly, i have to keep tracking by keep looking at the pattern…but with knit, i can understand the ‘pattern’ of knitting pattern faster…it’s like easier to remember…

i crochet too now…i used to knit and bought a lot of knit needles…but then, i found a great crochet books and since then i got hooked and got ‘crochet booked’…yes, i bought a lot, too lot crochet books…

i think Es.Rose has point, too…well, sometimes i thought back about my learning of knitting and crochet and compared them…
this what i found…
i learned all by myself by using books, internet…i think i learned faster with knit…i found problems and solves by myself quite faster in knitting than in crochet…i ‘learn’ to knit (a lot of basic method)within 2-3 weeks and it wasn’t intensive…i learned it quite quickly, so within month i encouraged myself to modify pattern and make own pattern…also, playing with motifs…

but with crochet…i must say, it’s been weeks and i’m still learning…may be to the next tens weeks…uh…but i like to know and see what i can see with crochet…the free form benefit it has has encouraged me to keep learning about it…

besides…with both of knit and crochet, i can use ALL my yarns, small or bulky…
with light to medium yarns, i will crochet it, and with heavier yarn…i will knit them,except may be for socks…

i think those (knit and crochet) complete each other…i have few knowledge of crochet since i was a kid (only chain and dc but unable to make like bags or else)…but i interested more in knitting until i bought the inspiring books…and i found that for me, some projects will be better if it’s done with knitting than crochet and vice versa and sometimes projects are great in both knit and croch, so i can make both so i have both style…it’s really my advantage to learn and know how to knit and crochet at the same time…

i think some people with crochet interest at first can find it, too…find that knitting is as interesting as crochet…and then, they tried to knit…or they just confused and stop learning it…

no matter what, knit and crochet are not ‘twin’…they are one of ways of doing knit…if you have heard that traditional knit may not use needle but by hand…
may be it’s like music…some people modern play guitar, other people play like a country traditional guitar.they both have string but the sound and the way it’s played may be different or it is different…and some people may master modern guitar but unable or hard to play traditional guitar-like…
i think it’s a matter of interest…i thought i wouldn’t get hooked after i know knit, but know…i’m kind of obssesed to master crochet…so, i learn…it’s harder but i LEARN…

18

I also enjoy doing both. I learned to crochet from books as a teenager and then in my 30’s taught myself to knit from a howto book. I have developed my own style of holding the knitting needles, but I figure as long as the project turns out as planned I won’t worry about it. After so many years I find that trying to knit properly is too slow and tedious and I revert back to my own way.
I enjoy both equally and it just depends on what I want to make and what materials I have available.

19

I can knit just as well as I can crochet, but I really don’t crochet much anymore. I knit all the time.

20

I taught myself to knit and crochet from books, and I like both equally well, although I crochet faster than I knit. I like some of the patterns I’ve seen that incorporate both. There is a book called Knitting Loves Crochet that is great. You can get the great lacy look of crochet and then pick up stitches and knit cuffs or a bottom in ribbing to get a more polished look. Or you and knit a sweater and crochet edging in scallops or whatever to get a great looking sweater. The sweater on the cover is really cute! Here is a link to the book on amazon.