In her post today, Liz Kaplan has got us thinking about granny squares and the bridges (and barriers) between knitting and crochet.
I long to be a fiber arts switch-hitter, and went so far as to take a class on granny square basics, but crochet is definitely a foreign language to me. When I really want a particular crochet item (my Comme des Grannies wrap, for example), I turn to a crocheter and play Let’s Make a Deal.
Do you want to learn to crochet? Do you NOT want to learn to crochet? Is it just an issue of not having enough knitting time, so why even think of adding crochet into the mix?
My first fiber obsession was needlepoint and cross stitch. Then I graduated to crochet and finally knitting. I recently fell off the wagon ( ha what wagon) and bought a bag o yarn from Attic24 to crochet a granny square blanket to be started next year. I really think I fell for the colors.I’m drunk with color. And I need to sharpen my crochet hooks.
And of course I make quilts as well, and write poems and bad novels.
So I guess I am multi craftual.
I taught myself to crochet in the swinging sixties when I HAD to have the see through crochet bell sleeve mini dress in lurex yarn. Much prefer the fabric, process and all the variations that knitting gives. Having said that, I have just crocheted some small round facial scrubs repurposed from some Rowan cotton glace yarn. Best exfoliant!
When I was younger, I preferred crochet, I couldn’t keep tension knitting. After a very long hiatus from both, I much prefer knitting and can barely remember how to crochet. I guess I would like to be ambicraftual, but I’m mostly a knitter now.
Yes, I suppose I am. My fiber journey actually started with a weaving class 2 years ago; followed that up with a beginning knitting class (I had actually knit as a kid, taught by my grandmother, but had not knit in eons); then later on a spinning class. My spinning skills are still in the early stages, so I can’t knit with what I spin. I can, however, weave with it. Knitting is my passion these days. I am cranking out socks, but also do hats and scarves/cowls. Since I live in the deep South (agricultural zone 8 1/2), even thinking about a sweater makes me overheat.
I too plan to do a scrappy sock yarn blanket and will have to oil my crochet hook (after getting one the proper size, that is). And maybe watch a video.
When people in hot climates say they could never knit a sweater, I always wonder what they wear in an air conditioned office? Even in the dead of a New York City summer I always have a sweater hanging on the back of my desk chair. I’m not TRYING to enable here, it’s just something that always makes me think.
My brothers and I learned to crochet when we were little, and made zillions of granny squares that seemed to disappear… I still use crochet for lace edging (better than picking up 600 stitches!). And, every once in a while, I get a craving for granny squares again. Right now i’m making 2 afghans that are made up of a single, giant granny square each.
I taught myself to crochet as a kid from a little booklet I got from somewhere. My tension was so tight that crochet wasn’t any fun so I quit. I later taught my older sister to crochet tho. Eventually I moved on to sewing, cross stitch, and all those types of needle arts. In my 40s, I was waiting for my kids to finish a 4-H meeting and another mom was knitting a cotton dish rag. She showed me the knit stitch and I was off to the races. I’ve since returned to occasional crochet (I finally got that tension thing figured out thanks to knitting) mainly because I can bang out a baby blanket quicker in crochet. Knitting is my true love, but I also appreciate what can be accomplished with crochet.
I spent every summer with my grandmother as a child until I was out of high school. She taught me to crochet, knit, latch hook, embroider, sew, cross stitch and needlepoint ( I don’t remember either of those though), we also did resin crafts, baking, cooking and gardening.
When I had children I was able to teach my daughter to crochet and to knit. As a young mother and business owner she doesn’t have a lot of time to practice either. I believe, as her children grow up and she has more free time it is something she’ll be able to go back to and enjoy
Two of my grandchildren spend two weeks in the summer with me. I am teaching my granddaughter to crochet and knit. But we also paint rocks, we do tie dye, and sharpie tie dye, we attempt all kinds of different crafts. I like being able to pay it forward.
I was taught to crochet in 1990 by my dorm mother while I worked the front desk. Red Heart was the only yarn of choice for a broke college student. I made my mother the most horrid popcorn stitch afghan (9which she still has I’m sure).
I learned to cross stitch right after college and over the years got good enough to win best in show for a blackwork pattern.
I’m a self taught knitter and it took three tries for it to ‘stick’. The local goodwill was used to seeing me drop off supplies after I got frustrated. The only local shop at that time wasn’t kind towards the younger generation of knitters then I found a dyer at the local farmers market and the Yarn Harlot’s blog and I was learning to do this come hell or high water.
Now ten plus years later I’m designing my own patterns (in crochet and knit) and won’t be looking back any time soon.
Never took a true class in Crochet or Knitting until I moved to Texas and found the DFW Fiber Fest - of which I’m now a board member 6 years later - so I think I’m doing something right.
I learned how to knot and crochet by my grandmother and my best friend’s grandmother. It was so long ago I forget which taught me which. I crocheted a lot in the late 60’s/early 70’s as did most of my friends. Now I prefer to knit. It’s certainly the slower of the two but I like the fabric it creates better.
Our guild is a Knit and Crochet Guild and most members use both. We call them bi-stitch-ual !
I do both, always have. I learned to crochet from my grandma at age 6 or 7 , and learned to knit from a book when I was about 10. I use them for different things, depending on what type of fabric I want, or how I want to play with color and texture. Presently, I almost exclusively make baby blankets for needy moms for our local hospital. The need is very great, so I am focused on volume. That being the case, crocheting a baby blanket is very much faster than knitting one. My goal is 2 each week, and crocheting let’s me achieve that, while letting me individualize each blanket vis color and texture.
I used to knit and crochet, but carpal tunnel syndrome when I was pregnant made my hands go numb when crocheting. It’s been all knitting since then, except for an occasional crocheted edging on hats. I did take a granny square class a few years ago, and it was fun, but it still didn’t make me put down my knitting needles!
So I guess I can crochet if I want to. Or quilt. Or embroider. But there’s still so much knitting to do!
I learned to crochet first, at the age of 8 . I was probably 11 when I learned to knit, and by 14, I was a Knitter, for life. But sometimes crochet is just right, and I love the granny square in almost all of its iterations. I can’t imagine not knowing both, so definitely ambiguous!
This is my first post in the lounge, it may be long-ish…As a child, we lived with my maternal grandparents and at a different time with my paternal grandmother…I learned to crochet from my paternal grandmother…My first big project was a giant red, white and blue granny square afghan I gave to my grandmother.
I stopped for many years and picked it back up about 15 years ago to make a gift for a friend who was pregnant. I retaught myself with books and videos…I was content for many years, spending time on Crochetville and meeting many online friends…I never wanted to learn to knit…I felt crocheting was “looked down” on…I was loyal…until socks…I got sucked into knitting by all the socks…so I bought books…oh the amount of books…watched videos…the Hubs bought me a class (I only took the first half) The class was not a success…I couldn’t figure out how to hold the yarn…I had to hold it in my left hand, because of crochet…eventually I found out about Continental…I think I do a bit of a mash-up…but like I tell my students…use whatever works for you to get the answer, there is no one right way.
Ironically my first completed project was a hat…and I have made many things…and I do have more knit WIPs than crochet…I feel bad about that…I do prefer crochet toys over knitted ones…I have an even number of crochet hats and knit hats…I use crochet when I want to whip something up fast…I’m much quicker and many times I make up the pattern as I go…knit, for me, is not a social activity…I have to focus…which is why I make a lot of vanilla socks…(not to mention my addition to self striping yarn)…so yes I am bi-craftual and crochet came first…oh and my maternal grandmother, my meme, also knit and crochet and I have some of her magazines that she subscribed to from the 70’s…
I’ve been a knitter most of my life but a few years ago I taught myself crochet from Leisure Arts books. And I love it! Granny squares are great but there is so much more beyond the granny square. I feel like I’m sculpting when I crochet. Some yarns are more suitable to crochet. Colors play out in different way. Textures are richer.
These days I have at least one project on the needles and one on the hook.
Gracey, welcome to the Lounge. It’s interesting that socks brought you to knitting. One reason I’d like to crochet is to make thickly textured things like rugs.