Knitting Blues And Greys

[kerravonsen]

Right now I am writing this blog post, but just before now I was frogging my, um... 10th maybe... attempt to needle-knit. I am a crocheter. I can crochet. I can hook-knit with a crochet hook. But I thought I'd try learning needle-knitting because all the needle-knitters look at me funny whenever I mention hook-knitting. And because it would be easier to learn fancy stitches because nobody makes hook-knitting tutorials beyond the plain knit-and-purl. So I have watched multiple videos on knitting-for-crocheters and on Contininental Knitting (because Continental-style knitting is easier for crocheters to grok). And I bought a set of interchangeable needles from Ebay, because I thought value-for-money.

So.

Long-tail cast-on. Not a problem, especially after this video broke it down in a way I could grok. (That isn't a video for long-tail cast-on, it's a video for a more fancy cast-on which is related to long-tail cast-on)

The actual knitting... ugh. Lumpy, awful, my tension is all wrong, the stitches either won't move or the needle slides out of them, I split the yarn, the yarn keeps sliding off my needle before I can pull it through, I get confused about what direction I'm supposed to wrap the yarn, I slip a stitch when I think I've knitted it, I mysteriously add stitches, I get odd loops hanging out, it is utterly horrible!

Part of me wants to give it up as a bad job, and part of me wants to prove I can needle-knit so that people will stop looking at me funny. And because I want to learn fancy stitches. And because Continental knitting is supposed to be fast, and it would be nice to be able to knit faster. Well, I'm assuming that Continental knitting is faster than hook-knitting, though I have zero data about this. I just know that Continental is faster than English.

(sigh)


I know all the knitters in the audience will say "it's easy!" but you probably all learned it at your grandmother's knee. My grandmother wasn't a knitter, she was a mad-keen gardener, and so was my mother. So I was not able to learn from them. My sister can knit, but she lives in another state, so opportunities for face-to-face knitting-learning are few.

(sigh)

Comments

[fred_mouse]

As a crochet person, I find knitting slow and tedious, but now that I've kind of got the hang of it, kind of pleasant. I can do basic knitting without looking at the needles, so I am becoming more likely to take that places than crochet, just so that I can watch things while I craft.

I don't know whether I'm Continental or English. I vaguely recall that one of the knitting books I have also shows 'Scottish' and that that was the closest to my style.

In case you want advice...

[tptigger]

Our local community college has adult ed classes and I'm currently taking a knitting class through them. Does Australia have something like that?
Alternately, some of stores have knitting classes?

[watervole]

Stick with it.


We've all been through the terrible tension and the slippery stitches.

You'll come out the other end, but it takes a while to get all the moves into muscle memory.

The best videos are the ones where you're looking over the knitter's shoulder.

You're right, Continental is likely to be best for a crocheter - it's the method I use, and it is faster. I learnt the other way as a kid, and it took me time to adapt, but it was worth it.

I hope you're starting out with a very basic scarf, as that's really the best way to learn. Just knit four rows and then purl four rows. Keep it easy until you're comfortable with tension both knitting and purling.

You're smart, you'll get there :)

[tree_and_leaf]

I did not learn to knit at my mother's knee, and now I can do lace! So it is completely possible to learn it. It just takes a while for it to become natural and persistence through the early stages where what you're producing looks awful/ falls apart/ mysteriously gains or loses stitches.

*delurking*

[sulien]

Don't feel too bad, I know a few people who much prefer crocheting (regular and Tunisian) to knitting because of the issues with dropped stitches in particular (I'm one of them, knitting and I are most assuredly non-mixy things). However, if you can work past that and become comfortable with knitting, there are some truly spectacular patterns available to make it worth while. I wish you the very best of luck!

[vilakins]

Until a few years ago I used to do long-tail by the thumb method, basically knitting the stitches on. However if knitting is confusing, then that wouldn't help, but it's the easiest one to learn. I finally clicked with the faster method though.

I think you can still use your hook method as knit and purl are the only stitches, just with variations like adding yarn-overs (holes), kitting together, increasing and decreasing. When I took it up again (after knitting as a child) to knit a Dr Who scarf, it mainly came back, and since then I just look for videos of any new variations and techniques. Lace is basically yarn-overs and knit-togethers and I'm sure they'd be easy with your hook method though it might be hard to find instructions for other techniques.

I crochet too, but though it's faster, I prefer the fabric texture of knitting for most garments, though I'm at the stage of sewing together a long crocheted cardi - I hate sewing seams!

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

I never could master the art of needle knitting, that's why I am learning to loom knit instead. I never could get the tension right and kept purling when I should knit and vice versa.