Learn to knit or crochet?

[PoppyT]

Hello I was looking for some advice. I would like to learn to knit or crochet & wondered if any was easier to start with or is it just a case of choosing one & see how it goes?

Would appreciate any advice & also what would I need to start me off, can't afford to spend a fortune & don't want to waste money on stuff I don't need.

I just want to do it as a hobby & maybe make a few items along the way.

Thanks

I went with knitting first and am just starting to learn to crochet. My boss did the same but got hooked on crochet () and doesn't really knit any more!

Try your hand at both, crochet is supposedly easier, I find it quite difficult though!

I knit and crochet. I learnt to crochet first and would say it is easier - just because you only have one implement to worry about and it is easier to undo any mistakes.

Thanks.

I'm going to go shopping tomorrow & will buy some supplies & get started, thought I'd use YouTube & see how it goes.

Crochet gives faster results so I think do it first! Though I did learn to knit first...

slugsontherefrigerator.com/

That site has some interesting tutorials for crochet. I find it hard to navigate but they are thorough and good. You might find it easier to buy some chunkier yarn/needles as it's easier to see stitches. The yarn that they use in the tutorials above is a t-shirt yarn named Zpaghetti by Hoooked. Very good for knitting/crocheting with as you can quite clearly see the stitches (with the plain yarns anyway, they do stripey ones too!)

Knitting Tips by Judy is my favourite knitting person on youtube, she has very clear and concise videos :)

I would go with knitting - you can very soon be making lovely things to wear like hats and mitts and baby things. But then I am a knitter so I'm biased! It's so absorbing.

Thanks for the link Confused, I can't wait to get started.

I'm tempted to buy supplies for both. Got the DC's with me so we could end up buying anything & everything

Just re-decorated & my mum has given us a big comfy chair so I've got the perfect place to sit & create.

I think knitting and crochet are probably equally absorbing. I can't knit but love crochet. I taught myself easily from a book.

The only supplies that are different are the hooks and needles, just buy yourself some yarn and then both of the others, it'll be all you need until you're doing more complicating things :)

Oh, and go for a plain yarn as your learning yarn, and check it's ball band for what size needle it needs, ask if you get stuck, yarnies are always happy to help!

I love both but reckon crochet is easier because it's much easier to fix mistakes...

Buy a 100g ball of acrylic double knitting yarn (I think Pistey is still after 6" squares knit in Stylecraft DK?), a pair of 4mm needles and a 4mm crochet hook. You should be able to spend less that £5. Then you can do with it what you like, crochet a granny square, knit a 6" square or two and see how you get on. You can get lots of experience with those supplies and branch out once your yarn is finished.
And join Ravelry (ravelry.com)

Charity shops usually have yarn of some kind, especially 'chain' charity shops.

You can get James C Brett acrylic yarn on ebay for £1.69 a ball - it comes in lovely colours and is a pleasant yarn to use.

Try both different people have different affinities. I have knitted for 33 years and knit to a good standard though only really good there in the last 5 years. I learnt to crochet just before Christmas I am already better at this than knitting it just clicked with me.

Thank to everyone, I'm all set up. Went to local shop & got knitting needles, a crochet needle & some yarn so can try both & see how I get on. Lovely lady helped me in shop & was chatting for ages, I'll be back to let you know how I get on. Keep changing my mind about which to try first but just found out through Facebook that a good friend is a crochet addict so she's popping round later to give me a lesson

I much prefer crochet as you can make such different shapes and if you drop a stitch its so easy to rectify.

I taught myself using the happy hooker book by Debbie stoller and YouTube tutorials when I needs to see it in action. So much fun once to master it and its so easy to make cute toys etc

Good luck. As someone else said, try stylecraft 6" squares and turn your efforts into something wonderful (see woolly hugs/Billie's blankets threads)

As someone who has learned to to both in the last yr i would say start with crochet. Its easier to correct mistakes and gives results much faster. Even now after a year, i takes me a whole day of knitting to get a 6" square but less than an hour for crochet.

Good timing - I was just about to start a new thread asking how easy it would be to teach myself to crochet...I can knit but not brilliantly (quite good at squares, can do various stitches and have done basic ribbing but am not v good at adding and decreasing), and would like to have a go at crochet, mainly because I've seen so many lovely DIY crochet soft toy tutorials on Pinterest and the like.

OP, please let us know how you get on and what tutorials/books you find most useful, if any?

Laquila, I taught myself to crochet a few months ago, I'm no great knitter; my tension is all over the place. A couple of YouTube tutorials later and I was away! And honestly, if I can crochet anyone can; I am one of the least coordinated people ever.

Crocheting granny squares in the round is pretty easy, crocheting rows is a bit harder, especially the first row after the foundation chain, but it's not too bad.

I have recently come into possession of a teeny (think it must be about 0.6mm) crochet hook for lacework, but I've not managed to get anywhere with that!

Thanks Mhw02!

I got a book out of the library and am also using YouTube videos - I can now do a chain, a double crochet, a treble and a half treble, but I'm a it confused abut what stitches you start each of these in.

The YouTube practice vid for the treble stitch had me start in the fourth chain from the hook - should you always start in the fourth chain/stitch wither le, or was that just for practice, do you think?

Tinge are further confused by the fact that th vids I'm using are American, and they seem to call a double a single, and a treble a double!...

The chain you start in depends on the stitch you're using.

For a treble you go into the 4th chain so that you have the 3 missed chains making up the height of the treble stitch.
A half treble needs 2 stitches so you start in the 3rd chain
A double crochet needs 1 so you start in the 2nd.

Sometimes I do find a treble only needs two chains to make the height - it depends a little on the yarn and how tight you crochet a chain.

Ahhh that makes more sense - thanks Soup. I've advanced to trying to learn to crochet in the round today but frankly it's not very productive...