I knit and crochet, @VanillaSpiceCandle - I think I find knitting easier - and I can’t do straight edges in crochet - I just do squares, hexagons etc, and put them together into blankets.
Crochet gives far quicker gratification, in my experience - it doesn’t take long to make a square, and they do stack up quickly, but I prefer knitting for garments.
Bella Coco does really good crochet tutorials on YouTube - easy to follow, and once you know the basics, the Attic24 blog has some lovely patterns (and if I can do them - anyone can!).
For both knitting and crochet, Ravelry is a great website - it has loads of free patterns (the generosity of the designers is amazing) and you can filter the results, on the advanced pattern search, by things like skill level, weight of yarn etc.
If anyone wants to make squares, can I put in a plug for Woolly Hugs - it is a charity knitting group that started on MN, and is still here as well as on FB and the web. It began as a project to make a blanket for a MNer whose little boy sadly passed away - a way to try to send some comfort - and since then we have made a lot of blankets for bereaved MNers and their families. We also make blankets for refugees, people undergoing cancer treatment, people in Africa, children in hospital, and little white blankets to wrap premature babies who are stillborn - it means there is something the hospital can wrap the baby in that is the right size, and is better than a sheet or towel. It won’t make a terrible situation any better, but might prevent it being made even worse.
We also have online craft sales, so if you don’t knit or crochet, you can still either donate other hand made items, or buy yourself something.
You don’t have to make a whole blanket - you can just make a square or two. For most of the blankets, we use acrylic yarn - the Stylecraft Special double knit - because it is sturdy and easy to wash.
Woolly Hugs
I hope no one minds me plugging WH here.