Knitters Vs. Crocheters
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
It’s amazing to me how we tend to separate off into little groups of Knitters Vs. Crocheters…
“I’m a knitter”…
“well I’m a crocheter”…
Knitting is best!… no crocheting is best!…
For those who don’t partake in these wonderful crafts they just don’t understand. They think that they are essentially the same… but I am here to say… they categorically are not the same!
My Crochet Attempt:
I have been wanting to try crochet for a long time now. Up to this point my crochet hooks have simply served as the perfect tool for picking up dropped stitches in my knitting projects… (a job for which they are perfect for by the way!).
Over the holidays though I came across a fun little pattern for a crochet tree which could be decorated. I thought “how hard can it be I should be able to make this up quick!”… So I got out my green yarn and a hook and started my attempts… well let me tell you, as simple as that pattern was, I just couldn’t figure it out!…
- The abbreviations are different…
- There’s only one hook so my hands weren’t sure what to do with themselves…
- And honestly I just flat out felt like I was reading a different language (which I guess I was!)…
I ended up giving up after starting and tearing it out multiple times (all the while thinking. “I’m sure there has to be a better way… and I bet it involves x2 needles instead of a silly hook!! :)”).
What I learned about Knitters Vs. Crocheters:
This frustrating(and unfortunately for me unsuccessful) experience made me think…
For a group of similarly minded, crafty individuals, we knitters (or crocheters) sure get stuck in our ways! I have talked to other knitters with similar experiences, and people who crochet seem to have the same issues in reverse… It’s like once our brain learns one way to create something with yarn it pulls up the drawbridge and says “ok that’s it there’s only room for one way to create fabric in this brain”!
It is Possible to Knit & Crochet!
I do know that there are also lots of people who are able to bridge the gap and somehow do both knitting and crochet, so I will likely try again one day, because they keep telling us that it’s good for our “Neuroplasticity” to keep learning new things so our brains don’t get stuck in a rut… But it sure is hard to start from scratch learning a new skill when your brain is telling you “why is this taking soooo long… if you were knitting you would be done by now!… and why can’t you seem to figure this out?”.
The moral of this story… Don’t try to learn to crochet quickly… I honestly thought “how hard can it be! I can follow knitting patterns, surely crochet is similar!”… I’m here to say, it’s not! :)… I think when I try again I will enlist the help of one of my crocheting friends. trade with them so we can teach each other!
…Learning from someone has to be better then stumbling around in the dark on my own not knowing where I’m going wrong :).
A note to Crocheters & Beginner Knitters:
If you want to learn to knit, I create all of my PDF patterns with full color step by step instructions, so even if you have never done any knitting you should be able to follow along with any of my patterns!
That’s my musing for this week!
*If you have thoughts and ideas about knitting vs. crocheting, or have suggestions for leaning these skills once we are set in our ways, post your comments below!
