Crocheting (and other crafts)

[maxfox426]

Ok for the ill-informed... what's the difference between crocheting and knitting? If a beginner were to start out, which would you suggest??

Knitting uses two needles

Crochet uses a hook

Essentially, you are accomplishing the same thing with both - weaving yarn together to make a "fabric" craft. Just a different stitch mechanism between the two.

As for which is easier to start... there really is no good answer to that. Whichever one you learn first will always be easier. LOL! I personally say crochet is easier than knitting, but I learned it first. People who learned to knit before learning to crochet tend to say knitting is easier. So in the end, I think it's a wash. Just pick whichever one you think looks more fun and roll with it.



ETA: Allie beat me to it. LOL!

 

[Taqroy]

Ok for the ill-informed... what's the difference between crocheting and knitting? If a beginner were to start out, which would you suggest??

Crocheting uses a hook. You hold your work in one hand and the hook in the other.

How to Crochet for Beginners

Knitting uses two needles. Your work stays on one needle and you transfer it to the other one (that's the best way I can think of to explain it lol).

This is knitting on a circular needle but it still shows how it's done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_hl7HGMDy0

I don't really think that the basics of either one are harder. It really comes down to personal opinion. I like knitting better because I think it's more flexible and you have more options with it. But I still like and use crochet for stuff because there are certain things (amigurumi) that I feel it's better for.

ETA: Everyone already said it. Lol. For the record though - I've been crocheting since I was a kid but I had a very easy time picking up knitting. The best thing you can do is find someone that knows what they're doing and make them help you. Alternatively, use youtube and google. Also, find someone to explain patterns to you SOON after you start. Otherwise they start becoming very intimidating (at least they did to me - lol).

 

[maxfox426]

Also, Allie, I am jealous of your pattern designing. LOL! In some ways, I regret learning to read patterns, because now I'm too uncreative/afraid I'll make something ugly.

 

[AllieMackie]

Also, Allie, I am jealous of your pattern designing. LOL! In some ways, I regret learning to read patterns, because now I'm too uncreative/afraid I'll make something ugly.

None of my patterns are anything special! The chain chomp hat and Jayne hat have the exact same hat base, LOL. The shark hat was designed using a toy shark pattern and a night cap pattern as the bases, and I went from there.

 

[Doberluv]

Most folks here know that I knit. It's my primary "idling" hobby - when I'm idle, I knit. I'm a terrible anxiety fidgeter and used to pick at my fingers -knitting stopped that.

Some of my more interesting projects:

Ongoing Doctor Who fourth doctor scarf - it's currently 5 feet long unstretched. I'm using nice Cascade 220 wool for this scarf, so it's a $100 scarf.

For the uninformed, this is the fourth doctor himself wearing it - I'm quite impressed with my own colour accuracy.

KnitPicks came out with a "Time Traveler" colorway of their Felici self-striping yarn, so I had to make a matching pair of socks. Natch.

I've also knit an angler fish with a flexible pipecleaner lure.

I've also designed some things. Here's a shark hat I designed for Matt, that knitters loathed me for because I wrote the pattern terribly (it was my first):

I also designed a Chain Chomp hat, that thanks to a friend gained me a week of fame in just about every gamer blog, including Kotaku, Iup and even Nintendo's official blog.

And of course, the Jayne Cobb hat, which took me all of several hours to design, is my most popular pattern and knitting request. One of which was given to Wil Wheaton. Who emailed me a letter of gushing gratitude. Yup, I'm so cool. (I didn't knit his Who scarf though - THAT knitter deserves more credit than me!)

I do a few other crafty things, but they're on my other computer - post coming soon.

VERY NICE! I'm so impressed!

 

[Southpaw]

My goal for the winter was to knit a scarf.

But ummm, I started it over 2 months ago and it's only like, 2 inches long. :rofl1: Thankfully we are having a very mild, gorgeous winter, so a scarf has not been a necessity yet! Maybe by next winter I will be done with it.

I occasionally sew when I can afford the habit lol. Mostly dog bandanas and rat hammocks, and whatever else I feel like I can accomplish without getting too frustrated. I made a pleated skirt like, a month after I got my sewing machine... barely knew how to use the thing and had never made anything more complicated than a pillowcase, so that project sucked.

 

[AllieMackie]

VERY NICE! I'm so impressed!

Shucks. <3 Thank you.

Here's a few more of my endeavours...

A knit baby blanket I designed for my nephew, and never properly published. "Jack's Beanstalk Blanket"

Some dabbling in paper craft...

(I sense a theme in my work.)

And one I've been doing for years, but really got into recently... painting D&D miniatures. I don't ever use them to play, I just love painting on such a small scale.

Here's some older ones, two wood elf dryads before I knew WTF I was doing.

And one I painted recently for my boss' D&D campaign. A dawrf wizard. Penny for scale.

 

[maxfox426]

If we are sharing other stuffs... LOL

The below link is my FB album with the crochet/knit stuff I've made. A lot of them are old, old, old things I made as a kid and still hang onto. It's not everything I've made, just the stuff I have pictures of.

Things I've made with yarn (Facebook Album)


As for other crafts... I used to be hugely into papier mache. I haven't done that in a long, long time now. One of my best creations is a life-size papier mache African Secretary Bird. I made it in middle school, so it's not the most acurate thing ever, but I still have it. Cannot bear to part with it despite the fact it takes up WAY TOO MUCH SPACE. LOL! I know I have a picture SOMEWHERE, but I can't seem to find it now.

I do a bunch of other crafty things here and there, but yarn is my main medium.

 

[Zoom]

Youtube is amazing when it comes to learning both knitting and crocheting. I've got extensive bookmarks for both!

Bethintx is my one subscription, because she makes incredibly easy to understand videos for beginners and it's easy to fast-forward through parts if you already know what she's talking about. I learned crochet first, realized a couple months ago I never got beyond doing a single chain and had created some ******* child between crochet and knitting that was useless for anything beyond a scarf or other similar items. So, I had to relearn. Learned knitting at the same time and while parts of it still make me grind my teeth in frustration, I'm getting better and definitely want to keep up with it.

 

[Romy]

I'd tried knitting multiple times but it wasn't until the advent of youtube I got the hang of it. Turns out I wasn't even casting on right. :rofl1:

This is my first successful project. A diaper cover for Samuel. He just needs a little monkey tail so he can be Goku.

Allie, your knitting projects are ALL epic. :hail: Everybody else does amazing work too! I can't believe how many talented people there are here on Chaz.

 

[Zoom]

This is great news! This means that when we form the Chaz Commune after the Zombie Apocalypse, we'll still be able to have things to make, trade and look stylish in.

 

[Romy]

This is great news! This means that when we form the Chaz Commune after the Zombie Apocalypse, we'll still be able to have things to make, trade and look stylish in.

And plenty of herding dogs to work the sheep.

 

[Catsi]

Thank you LostandConfused and MyHorseRules - you have given me some hope! I can't wait to start improving until I actually don't have to think about it much at all.

I love everyone's finished products, what a talented bunch you are. Being a Doctor Who fan, I am green with envy about AllieMackie's scarf!

 

[maxfox426]

Sorry if I'm posting too much. LOL! But I just finished the baby bunny booties.

My last few crochet projects have involved needlework detailing, which I have never really done before. I like. Might have to find some other projects that I can work that into...

 

[AllieMackie]

Sorry if I'm posting too much. LOL! But I just finished the baby bunny booties.

My last few crochet projects have involved needlework detailing, which I have never really done before. I like. Might have to find some other projects that I can work that into...

Eeeeee! <3 You rock at crochet.

 

[Kristen1980]

I love doing art&crafts in my spare time. I made this for Parks nursery.

 

[~Jessie~]

I LOVE seeing everyones awesome crafts! Allie, I especially love the Chain Chomp hat <3 Cynthia, those bunny booties are super cute!

I want to learn to crochet or knit some day- but I always feel like I have so many other things going on. My mom is an amazing knitter and I should probably get her to show me how to do it. My grandmother made a ton of crochet blankets, and I still have a couple that I use ALL the time. She passed away almost 10 years ago, so they're extremely special to me.

I love crafts- mine are painting and scrapbooking. I used to do latch hook work when I was a kid.

I want to start making shell jewerly again. I made it all of the time in high school and was really good at it.

 

[AllieMackie]

This is great news! This means that when we form the Chaz Commune after the Zombie Apocalypse, we'll still be able to have things to make, trade and look stylish in.

Well, I do know how to shear a sheep AND an alpaca, wash/card the fleece and spin it into yarn using a wheel AND a drop spindle. I'm set for textiles.

 

[Zoom]

OMG TEACH ME.

I used to have a book I loved as a kid and it was about this little boy needing a new suit. He went from the shepherd to the shearer to the washer, the carder, the spinner, the dyer, the weaver and finally the tailor and came out with a spectacular new blue suit and the whole village knew they had helped in it's creation.

I always thought it would be amazing to be able to spin it. I've got an antique loom waiting for me to find somewhere big enough to put it (it's sitting in Arizona right now). My grandmother used it to make rag rugs, but I'm pretty sure it could be restrung to do cloth.

 

[Grab]

Everyone's knitting/crocheting is fabulous

I want to learn to crochet, but I don't know anyone who does, and when I tried to look up a tutorial, my eyes crossed and brain shut down