Are you looking for a new hobby and you don’t know which one to choose? Should you become a crocheter or a knitter? You may be wondering, what’s the difference anyway? Aren’t they basically the same thing? The answer is that there are actually a lot of differences between crocheting and knitting, and knowing those differences is going to help you choose which one is right for you. Hi, I’m Elise from the blog lepetitesaintcrochet.com and you may be thinking that I’m going to be biased towards crochet because I have crochet in my channel and blog name. But I’m here to assure you that I am an avid crocheter and a knitter. I love them both so much and they have both brought so many wonderful things into my life and I want to share all of that goodness and joy with you as well.
We’re going to start off by talking about what knitting is, its pros and cons. Then we’ll move into crocheting what it is, how it’s different from knitting its pros and cons, and helping you to choose which one is right for you. For knitting, you’re going to need a few supplies. You’ll need knitting needles, yarn scissors and a yarn needle, which is like a sewing needle. It just has a blunt end and a large eye for being able to weave in your ends. There are three main types of knitting needles. Straight needles, circular needles and double pointed needles. If you’ve ever seen anyone knitting on a TV show or in movies, they are likely using straight needles. This is the perfect type of needle to knit something flat like a scarf.
The second type are circular needles and they are two straight needles attached by a cord and they are great for knitting in the round if you want to make a sweater without seams, or a scarf or a hat. Now, what’s great about circular needles is that you can also use them to knit flat objects like a blanket, and they come in the size of the actual needle and the cord length. And the third type are double pointed needles because they have points on both ends so that you can easily knit in the round, especially for small objects like socks. Double pointed needles definitely take some time getting used to because you’re using four to five needles at a time. But don’t worry, double pointed needles are not recommended for beginners. It’s a skill that you can pick up once you’ve learned the basics.
On top of all that, there are two predominant styles of knitting. The first is English knitting. For English Knitting, you will hold a needle in each hand and you will throw the yarn while you are making a stitch. This is the recommended way for beginners to learn. The second way is Continental knitting. For Continental knitting, you will hold a needle in each hand and you’ll hold the yarn in your left hand and instead of throwing the yarn to make a stitch, you will pick yarn to make a stitch. And the reason why someone would transition to Continental knitting from English knitting is because it is faster. You’re eliminating that move of throwing the yarn and it actually just makes it faster. This is the perfect time to talk about today’s sponsor, skillshare. Skillshare is an online learning platform for creative minded people.
There are thousands of amazing classes in all types of topics like crocheting, knitting, painting, photography, just to name a few. What’s great is that skillshare classes are all online, they are all at ad free and you can learn from the comforts of your own home. I love recommending skillshare classes to those who want to learn how to crochet and knit. And if you want to learn how to knit, make sure to check out the class knitting 1. Learn the basics with a simple Scarf by Davina Choi from Sheep and Stitch. Not only will you learn all of the basics of knitting, but you’re going to walk away with a gorgeous scarf that you can wear and show off to all your friends all your amazing new skills.
But if you’re thinking you might want to learn how to crochet, make sure to check out the class Modern Crochet Essentials for Getting Started by Tony Lipsey from TL Yarn Crafts. Toni is an amazing teacher and you are going to learn all of the basic skills with crocheting and you will walk away with a set of four modern coasters. And what’s even better is that skillshare is offering the first thousand people to click the link in the description box below. A one month free trial to skillshare. Make sure to check out all of the other crocheting and knitting classes on skillshare. There’s something for everyone. Thank you so much to Skillshare for sponsoring today’s video. One big difference between knitting and crocheting is that in knitting, unworked stitches stay on the needle until you bind them off.
In crocheting you’re going to finish each stitch as you go. Here are the positives with knitting. 1. You can create the most stunning garments with knitting because of the fabric that knitting makes. It creates a beautiful draped fabric and it is gorgeous. 2. Knitting tutorials abound on the Internet. 3, Local yarn shops will likely have expert knitters who would be able to help you in person. And four, with knitting, you will use less yarn than a similar item that is crocheted. Now, we have to talk about the negatives with knitting. And the first and the biggest one is that when you make a mistake with knitting, it isn’t as simple to fix that mistake as it is with crochet. With knitting, you have to learn how to unknit or tink. And it’s not a difficult skill. It’s just something that you have to learn.
Whereas with crocheting, it’s much more simple, which we’ll talk about in just a minute. Number two, it typically takes longer to knit something than to crochet something similar. Number three, and don’t tell anybody I told you this, but knitting is very addictive, and you’re going to lose interest in all your other hobbies. So just know that. Now let’s move on to crocheting. For crocheting, you’ll need a few items. You’ll need a crochet hook, yarn scissors, and a yarn needle for weaving in your ends. All crochet hooks are basically the same. They’re a handle, a neck, and a head. The real main difference between them is the materials that they’re made from. Most crochet hooks are either metal, wood, or plastic, and they’re widely available in most craft stores. My recommendation for beginners looking for a crochet hook is to generally look at metal hooks.
Metal hooks are going to slide in and out of your yarn much easier than wood or plastic will. There are two primary ways that people hold crochet hooks. The first is the pencil hold, and it looks like you’re holding a pencil. The second is the knife hold, and it looks like you’re holding a knife like when you’re eating, when you’re cutting up food. And that’s actually the way that I hold the crochet hook. But there isn’t a right way. Both of these techniques are great, and it really is just personal preference for which one feels more natural in your hand. So make sure to take time to experiment with the pencil hold and the knife hold to see which one works better for you.
Crochet differs from knitting in that in crocheting, you’re actually not creating a stitch, but you’re looping the yarn and creating a little knot. If you ever get the chance to look at knitted and crocheted fabric close up, you will really See the difference? Here are the positives about crocheting. Number one, crocheting is generally faster than knitting. Two, more and more amazing crochet patterns are coming out every single day. Three, crochet is perfect for home decor projects like blankets, baskets, and pillows. It also makes beautiful garments and also toys. Number four, when you make a mistake with crocheting, it is super easy. All you do is just rip it out. And that is actually called frogging in crochet. And the reason why it’s called frogging is that when you are ripping it out, rip, rip. It sort of sounds like ribbit.
Ribbit, like a frog makes. So if you ever see the term frogging, now you know what it means. Now we have to talk about the negatives about crocheting. And the first one is that crocheting generally uses up more yarn than knitting. Number two, while you can make gorgeous crocheted garments, you’re going to find that there are a lot more knitting patterns for garments than there will be for crochet garments. But in the last few years, there’s been a resurgence in crochet, and more are coming out all the time. And they are beautiful. But in general, you’re going to find a lot more knitted patterns for garments than you will for crochet. Okay, now that you know the main differences between crocheting and knitting, we’ve talked about the basics about each craft, and you know the pros and cons of both.
It’s time to start thinking. Which one are you going to choose? If you’re going to choose knitting, I would love for you to leave a little sheep emoji down in the comment section. Now, if you can’t find the sheep emoji or you’re on your computer and you just can’t do it’s fine to leave the word knitting, I would just love to know. But if you’re choosing crochet, I would love for you to leave little yarn emoji down in the comment section. And of course, if you can’t find the emoji, just write the word crochet and I’ll know that you’ve chosen crochet. Now, I want to take a moment to talk to those of you who are struggling to decide which craft you want to start with. You’ve seen the pros and cons of both of them, and you still can’t decide.
So I’m going to share a little bit of my story and how I got started, and I’m going to give you My suggestion, I first learned how to crochet when I was around 10 or 11 and my grandmother showed me the very basics of crocheting. I learned how to chain and do single crochet, and that was about it. I remember in fifth grade making a chain that was probably 72ft long and that’s all I could do. But I had a really fun time doing it. But I put it down and I didn’t pick it back up for another 30 plus years. And it was during a time in my life that was incredibly stressful. My son has epilepsy, and up until that point it had been very well controlled.
And all of a sudden, when he was 17 years old, things went absolutely out of control. He was in and out of the hospital, we had lots of doctor visits and there were a of scary things going on during that time. And I was an absolute ball of stress. I was driving everybody in my family crazy because I was so stressed out. And I was constantly focusing on my son and he just wanted to be a normal teenager and he wanted me to just leave him alone. And I knew that I needed a hobby, I needed a distraction, I needed something positive in my life. So I literally went on to Pinterest one day and I was just scrolling, scrolling, and I thought, I’m going to find a hobby. I’m going to do it this day because I’m going berserk.
I’m going crazy in my mind. And I saw this beautiful blanket and it was laying over a crib and I thought, that is so beautiful. I want to learn how to make that. And I clicked the link. It took me to a site called Posy Gets Cozy. And it’s a gorgeous granny square blanket. And I thought, this is what I’m going to do. I knew the basics of crochet, so I thought, this is going to be super simple and I’m going to learn everything I can. Just to make a super long story short, the pattern was a little more advanced and I wasn’t able to do it. But I learned how to make a basic granny square. And from that point I learned all different types of granny squares.
And I was totally obsessed with making blankets until one day I happened upon this book called Animal Friends of Peekapow. And I saw that little frog on the COVID and I fell in love from that moment forward. And I thought, I’m gonna learn how to crochet toys. I didn’t even know at that time that they had their own name, which is called Amigurumi, which Just means crocheted or knitted toys in Japanese. And from that day forward, I was completely and utterly obsessed with toys. And if you look around my craft room, that obsession has not gone anywhere. It’s only deepened over time. And now I’m actually a crochet toy designer myself. But after I had crocheted lots and lots of toys, I discovered knitted toys and specifically the little cotton rabbits patterns. And I fell head over heels in love with them as well.
And I wanted to make them. So I started on the journey of learning how to knit. And that actually was a little bit harder for me than crochet. But I was deter was going to learn how to make those toys. I wanted nothing more than to have a basket full of cute little bunny rabbits in their gorgeous little outfits. And I eventually learned how to knit as well. And now I enjoy switching back and forth between the crafts. One day I might want to crochet something, the next day I will knit something. And I generally have at least one crochet project and a knitting project going all at the same time. And it is a true joy for me. And that’s what I want for you. I want you to discover the joy that yarn crafts has for everyone.
There’s something really extraordina yarn and being able to make something beautiful with your own two hands and I want that for you. So if you already have a feeling which one you would like to make, go for it. And just know that it’s going to take time. It’s a skill, it’s not a talent. People say that all the time. Oh, you’re so talented. No, I just practice my skill a lot and that’s what you’re going to be able to do as well. So when you’re a beginner, don’t be discouraged if your things don’t look totally the way you want them to be. Like I was so thrilled anytime I could make something cuz I thought I can’t believe I can make this. I was so thrilled. And I want that for you as well.
But if you’re asking me which one do I think you should start with? I think you should start with crochet. If you don’t have a desire to do one or the other and you’re just not sure, choose crochet. Because in general it is thought of as a little bit simpler and a little bit easier than knitting for a beginner. But whatever you choose, know that I am here for you. I am cheering you on. I’ve got tons of videos here on my channel about crocheting and knitting. And I promise you that if I can do it, you can do it. I hope you enjoyed today’s video and make sure to take advantage of your one month free trial of skillshare by clicking on the link in the description box below. I hope you all stay safe out there and happy stitching.
So, are you looking for. Okay, let me start that over. So, are you looking for a new crop? Hi, baby. Okay.