Very little of you know me, finishing my first project of the Death Note scarf:
My 2nd project is a scarf like this, however its in red & cream, double-sided, a cat logo on each end & my co-worker’s name in the middle with cabling lengthwise along each side - is being put on hold.
Now I’ve wondered about this while I’m doing a 3rd project, which is knitting a baby elephant (found it online) for my mom on mother’s day. As I’m doing this, it says to crochet the ears, so I thought “ok, how hard can this be.” I was wrong :wall:, its COMPLETELY hard, I couldn’t understand what the instructions was trying to tell me, even after watching video, after video, after video of doing these steps, I still couldn’t get it right. So basically I’m giving up on the instructions and do it myself in my own way like how I’ve done my previous projects.
So as a beginner knitter & a WAY below beginner on crocheting :wall:, which is harder for you?
Personally its crocheting, knitting is so much easier :knitting:, even though I can’t get the tension right so some loops would be tight, others loose n.n;;
SweetHina,
I couldn’t get crochet to save my life! Finally, I broke down and bought Crocheting for Dummies. I’m not fond of the title, but it taught me how to crochet. The pictures are step by step – extremely helpful. Hope it helps.
I used to crochet quite a bit, and learned it after I learned knitting, though not too much after. I don’t recall it being hard to learn, but maybe I had a book with good pictures to learn from.
I can do both and find they are both easy - of course, it takes practice, like anything else. I learned in the '60s and even though I didn’t knit for over 25 years found it very easy when I started again last year. The same with crochet - I didn’t do it for over 10 years but had no problem doing it again in the past year.
I think it depends on the person … and which technique they learned first. I started crocheting as a very young child and it took me FOREVER to get the hang of knitting. Now, while I’m not proficient at either, I can do both relatively easy.
Knitting is harder.
Crochet has a hook and there’s only one. How much easier can it get?
But I voted none of the above because what you listed aren’t that difficult. Getting the yarn to stay on the needle for some increases or decreases is what is difficult.
Neither. They’re different. If anything knitting is harder because you’re juggling at least one more needle, but both use both hands and a string, so I just find it a matter of good small motor skills.
I had always heard that you’re supposed to learn crochet first and knitting second because “crochet is easier and faster, knitting is harder and slower.” However, I learned knitting first and it wasn’t until 2 years later I taught myself crochet. I taught myself crochet from YouTube videos and while I love crochet and can do just about anything with it now, I found it very difficult to get going with in the beginning.
I look at it this way: with crochet there is a seemingly infinite number of possible “holes” you can poke your crochet hook through, so it’s easy to mess up or poke through the wrong hole. With knitting that’s not possible as you have a set number of loops/stitches on a needle at once and you always know where to put your needle for the next stitch. Where I kept getting hung up in crochet was when I was working in the round – sometimes it was hard to tell (and it took me a long time to get used to) where the next stitch was and not accidentally poke through the same stitch I was currently on. I ended up increasing by accident A LOT.
These days I find both fairly similar as far as my abilities. I feel I can crochet faster than I can knit, though, but that may be because it’s been awhile since I’ve knit and I’ve been doing crochet almost exclusively in the past year. Now that I’m back to focusing on knitting again I feel it all coming back to me and my speed increasing with every FO. Just like learning crochet.
This could also be the difference – my MIL taught me in person how to cast on and do the basic knit stitch (the rest I taught myself on KnittingHelp videos) and I learned crochet entirely by YouTube video demonstrations. Maybe had someone shown me crochet in person that would’ve changed things?
Was the elephant pattern called Elefante? If so, I somehow managed to actually crochet the ears but they just didn’t look good! So on Ravelry, I looked at other projects, found some with knitted ears and someone had posted directions for them.
To answer your question: I can’t crochet worth a darn
Like Jan, I actually like the look of knitted things now, but I would say both are about the same for me. I’m not proficient in either, but my grandmother taught me both waaay back when. So when I picked it up again, I did have to look online to refresh my memory (as I have to do with new stitches). But I feel ok about both. However, I do believe crocheting larger items (like blankets) tend to be faster.
I always looked at knitting and crocheting as pretty much the same as far as learning difficulties. I taught myself to do both from books in my early teens. The way I look at it, you need to learn a few basics in both crafts – knit and purl vs. chain, single and double crochet – and after that you’re just combining or modifying these basic sts to make different patterns in your fabric. Crocheting gives you more immediate results, but tends to be a little stiffer, thicker. Knitting is slower, but you get a softer fabric with more drape, easier to wear.
I find crochet harder, --as one of the other respondents said,there are so many holes to poke the hook through!! It is faster, but for me that just means making more mistakes more quickly. For example, if i tried to make a rectangular baby blanket , it either grew narrower or wider as i went along. Also, prefer the texture of knitting, as it is usually drapier, not so stiff a fabric–plus, i read that knitting takes less yarn than crocheting. just my 2 cents’ worth. linknit41
This is totally true! And a good point I’d forgotten. When I was crocheting a handle for a purse (it was thin and long, nothing big and major), I was constantly (and I mean constantly) pulling out more and more yarn for use. When I crochet it feels like I am going through it like crazy. It was a nice change when I switched back to knitting recently. I’m knitting something now about the same width as that crochet handle, in star stitch, and the difference between how much yarn I have to pull out is astounding. I didn’t realize how much more yarn I use during crochet vs. knitting until recently. It feels like a huuuuuuuuge difference, though!
I don’t find one harder than the other. They are just different. I learned both as a child. I watched my Mother and then she let me try. Both take practice and I am still learning new things about both. So I voted “none of the above”.
