knitting vs crochet question

[darine]

Hi

I bought a knitting book / needles and my mom showed me the basic

but then, she showed me something she did with crochet for home decor.

i would like to be able to make clothing, dresses, beach skirt

should i learn knitting or crochet. i am so confuse. for clothing, what would be the nicest?

I wish I could see the same dress knitted and crochet and understand the difference in the results.

I think I might go and get a crochet needle and book and try both and see which one i prefer... any suggestions?

thx

 

[alsrnbsn]

As both long time knitter and crocheter....I actually prefer knitting for clothing. I think that it makes a better, more eye-pleasing fabric. Crochet is faster, yes, but I don't like the bulky stitches for clothing. If you crochet a fabric that's not see-through, then it tends to be very thick and stiff, but with knitting, it can still have a very nice drape to it, even with bulky yarn.

JMHO,

 

[Peaceful Rainbow]

I agree, I think for things like sweaters and dresses knitting is definitely the better choice. Personally, I prefer crocheting, but that's mostly because I have a tendency towards carpal tunnel symptoms since my pregnancies and it's easier on my wrists than knitting. If I were you, I'd learn both because you'll have a lot more versatility in what you can make.

 

[NRG Woman]

I agree with both of the above posters. I both knit and crochet. I prefer the motion of crocheting, but greatly prefer the aesthetic of knitting. So when I am making a garment I usually knit, and when I am making home dec items like an afghan I crochet. So like the other posters I recommend learning both.

Shayne

 

[kathryn]

I used to both knit and crochet.
I started with crocheting (which my grandma or my mom taught me), then picked up knitting on my own.
I first started with doll clothes (crochetting), then made quite a few afghans, some clothing (including a sweater that my stepmother still has 40! years later). With knitting, I made some winter pullovers and some scarves (and I can't remember what else, if anything).

I prefer crocheting to knitting for a few reasons:

In an hour, you can crochet about twice as big a piece of fabric as you can knit.

If you drop a stitch in knitting, it can be really hard to fix, because a whole line of stitching can come undone. If your hook falls out in crocheting, you might undo the one stitch you are working on, but it's easy to fix.

I agree that crochetting feels nicer on the hands and wrists. I felt all cramped up when I did knitting (though maybe real pros at it don't).

I liked crocheting with fine or medium yarns and small-to-medium hooks for the most part. I did NOT like knitting with fine yarns or small needles.

You can make all sorts of different stitch patterns with both knitting and crochet, and even crochet so it looks like knitting (with one long hook).

Crocheting does usually use a bit more yarn for the same size of piece of fabric (because the stiches are often thicker than knitting stitches).


I think both have their place, and a crocheted sweater (for example) with knit collar and cuffs can look really nice. (though, as I said, there are crochetting stitches that look like knitting that could also work).

I recommend looking through some knitting and crocheting pattern books (both books that have patterns for what you want to make, and books that show different types of stitches you can do) and choose which one you prefer (to start with ) from that.

 

[darine]

thank you all

wow I love this forum! very helpful. I started the knitting and I will try crocheting also. Now I want to learn both. But I have all knitting stuff now, so I will focus on knitting and when I feel ready, I will also get into crocheting.

so much fun!

thx ladies... seriously, I am not a forum person, I never really write but this forum is great. We kind of all have the same interests and it's so helpful

thx