I finished up the lap quilts I needed to make for Christmas and have NOTHING (well except presents) to work on. At night I usually sit and quilt! So last night I tried my hand at knitting....its something I want to learn and I had a few minutes. Couldn't work on presents cause dh came in and went to sleep and my sewing "nook" is in our bedroom. I am ALL thumbs! I did manage to cast on the stitches the video told me to but when I went to do the next row my hands just couldn't hold it all together. Stitches kept coming off the needles early, and of course by then all of the kids were sitting around watching offering me "helpful" suggestions! So today I'm going to plan my next quilt! This one will be for ds. He likes Overhaul Sam and nine patches. I just ordered some cute fabric that will work perfectly for this too. I'm going to finish my Christmas presents ( I work best under pressure it seems) and get this drawn out. then when Christmas is over I get to start on it! yay!

I love to crochet, but never got the hang of knitting

I can knit, but forget crocheting - can't do.

I can't do either. I love to embroider though. Ginny, I like your idea of trying something new when you can't sew--may have to dig out some embroidery for over the holidays.
Bev: if I forget how I may ask for your help!

thanks for the link! I'm trying to find someone close to me who knows how to knit but so far I'm striking out! So I found a video and am hoping that I can pick it up that way.

I have been really busy with Christmas parties and dinners and life, and my quilting is on hold right now, too. I had ordered three 'barrels' I think they are called of red, green and white cotton yarn from JoAnns to crochet dishcloths. I give them out for Christmas and for our Church bazaar. So if I have a free moment or get a chance to sit down and watch a Christmas TV show, I am crocheting. I need something to do when I'm not doing anything!

I can knit and am trying to learn to crochet. I also love to do hand embroidery and hand quilting.

I finished up all my machine embroidered towels yesterday evening and I, too, feel lost. However, I do have several good books waiting...and then there is a whole cloth mini quilt and the chocolate-raspberry swap and the one block a month swap and gee, maybe I better get busy..... :D

It is so funny how everyone has a different opinon on which is easier. Knit or crochet? For me it's crochet. Knitting has too many stitches to keep on the needle and too hard to quit in the middle of the row.

If you are teaching yourself, try these sites.

http://www.nexstitch.com/index.html

http://www.knittinghelp.com/

http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/index.php

http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/

These are excellent free sites with videos and patterns for both knitting and crochet. I taught myself to doboth last winter with the help of these sites and a few YouTube videos and now have 3 large afghans to show for it.

Keep at it. You'll get the hang of it.

I crochet all the time - I used to teach 'How to Crochet' and 'How to Read Crochet Patterns' at 2 different Michaels stores. I taught all 4 of my children to crochet. My sons don't crochet now, but they know how. lol My youngest daughter learned at the age of 3. She is very good and fast now at 18.

I wanted to learn to knit, but when I realized how long the process is to 'unknit' if you've made a mistake, I decided to pass on knitting. Some differences between the 2 - crochet works up faster but takes more yarn. It is easier to take out crocheted stitches than knitted stitches. The fashion yarns - i.e. Fancy Fur ... can be difficult to crochet - harder to see the stitches. I usually run a thin smooth yarn along with the fashion yarns when I use them. IMO I think crochet can look 'homemade' and knitting looks more 'professional'.

Funny how crafters always have to be doing something. I can't stand to be without a project or a good book - It keeps me awake at night and I wander around in circles during the day. lol. It's good to know I am not alone --- my DH thinks I am 'hyper and restless and a wee bit crazy' - my friends don't understand this need to make stuff - my kids are just used to it (I used to take over every school project they had to do at home if it involved making something) I am sooooo relieved to find out I am not the only one with this obsession.

my DH thinks I am 'hyper and restless and a wee bit crazy' - my friends don't understand this need to make stuff - my kids are just used to it (I used to take over every school project they had to do at home if it involved making something) I am sooooo relieved to find out I am not the only one with this obsession.[/quote]

My husband says, "You always have to be doing something, don't you?" Well, yes, why just sit and do nothing... I am either quilting, doing embroidery, hand work of some kind - - - cannot stand to just sit and watch TV for hours - ours is off all day long, but at 5:00 Glenn Beck is turned on and the TV is on for hte rest of the night - EGAD!!! I do not like it.. I LOVE GB - but after he is done, I'd turn it off... oh well... I'll just keep being busy.. I DO relax by reading - alot

Personally, I think you're perfectly normal -- it's everyone else out there who a wee bit crazy :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hubby loves to watch GB too. Personally, I think he looks like Garth Brooks on crack so it's hard for me to concentrate on what he says :D :D

If it involves a needle of any kind, thread, fabric or any textiles, I've probably tried it at least.and I've taught myself to do most of them. I think crochet is easier than knitting, and tatting is the most difficult.I always wanted to take a class in bobbin lace as that looks the most difficult to me, but just never got around to it.........(thank heaven) as there are not enough hours in the day as it is. a very easy learners project is to knit dish cloths out of knit crosheen. I used to make a lot of them for gifts. there used to be a series of booklets called "Teach yourself to knit" or "Teach yourself to crochet" I found those to be the easiest teaching aids.
Good luck with your new project.

I recently tried locker hooking. I get to use fabric strips from scraps or ugly fabric. It's easy. Here is video how to do it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2iQwz-JesM

I'm glad there are other people that just "Have to be making something." I've tried sitting watching tv without any sewing or knitting, but to be honest, it bores me.

Hubby, only gets annoyed if he's watching something and I'm deciding on which blocks and fabrics... I seem to have the "distracting" habit of either humming a tune or talking myself through the designs as I decided lol!

I was very fortunate to have one grandmother teach me to knit, the other to crochet, and my mother to sew. And my dad taught me how to change the oil in my car, rotate my tires and set the timing light.

You pretty much described ME!!! :D:D:D
Mom taught me to crochet, Grama to embroider, Dad taught me about cars and building houses :D:D:D

My mother taught me to knit, when I was around 9 yrs old, but it was tedious and slow. My aunt tried to teach me to crochet when I was 15 yrs old but she worked the hook so fast I couldn't figure out what she was doing. So, I bought myself a "Teach Yourself to Crochet" booklet and learned that way. I can knit, have even made a sweater, but I like to crochet more because it moves along so much faster but I do like the softness that a knitted article is. Keep working at it and it will get easier with time.

I can knit and I can crochet, but I can't keep the tension when I crochet. Oh my goodness, you should see the amazing shapes I have created over time (and they were supposed to be simple squares. lol)

Had to give up knitting due to tendonitis.

So now it's quilting all the way.

It is a gift <g> ... and a curse! The desire to create is God-given ... and a blessing. But, when others cannot understand "why" ... it feels like a curse!
Our "busyness" make some uncomfortable.
But, don't let them get you down, my dear.;)
It is a grand opportunity to teach others about their unique gifts and how we all have them, and WHY we have them - - to be a blessing to others.

I am the same way! When one project is finished, I wonder around feeling lost...until I start the next project. I can knit and crochet and embroider, do counted cross stitch and regular sewing. Taught myself to crochet when I was pregnant with my first baby (now 36 and a goldsmith). I prefer crocheting over knitting...I have trouble with the 2 needles. Also, I quickly found out that it was easier to pick up lost stitches with crocheting. (the stitches that got pulled out when my then 3 year old son would grab my yarn and run away wanting me to chase him and play!)

well I know how to crochet but haven't done it in years. My Grannie and I learned to crochet at the same time and she is the one who taught me to sew. I want to make socks though! I had a stepmother teach me cross stitch and I still do that occasionally.

If you can learn to relax and do two stitches, you will be able to make anything .... knit and purl ...
I have met many people who have decided to knit and picked a difficult project, then became frustrated and never wanted to do it again!
the first project I ever did was twenty stitches wide, and straight knit stitch ... a pincushion in four pieces, each piece sewed into a tube ... and nestled inside each other, oh my goodness! 47 years ago! mom still has that original pincushion ... bless her heart <g>
Anyway, don't be in too much hurry ... first learn the basic stitch of knitting, say a scarf on size 10 needles, two strands of four ply yarn, cast on twenty stitches and knit every row
(almost everything we learn to do, we learn by doing the same thing over and over and over again)
with knitting ... you have to learn how to relax, take one stitch at a time, and be consistent with your tension, not too tight, not too loose, and how to use needles as a tool, instead of something that doesn't really fit in your hands ...
one stitch, two needles, patience with yourself ... and, VIOLA! In three months you will be showing us your socks!
might want to practice knitting in fifteen minute increments ... sometimes frustration is best handled in little doses, and then you realize ... oh, my goodness! This isn't as frustrating today as it was yesterday!

Knitting and crocheting are like everything else it just takes time patience and practise. Have been crocheting since I was a kid and took up knitting in the last couple of years and now I can complete a project with only a few frustrations and having to take out stitches. Don't give up, you can do it

thank you Omak! I got casting down pretty good and I did ok on the knitting stitch. Then at purling I couldn't keep it on the needles. Of course it didn't help that by that time I had acquired 5 observers who were making comments! I am going to keep on until i get it though!

Many years ago my sister-in-law taught me to knit. She told me there would be many tears and I would hate her, but I would know how to knit when I finished my first project. Her ending comment was, "And believe me, you WILL finish this project. Whether you ever knit again is up to you." I swear I knitted two inches and she would rip out three, but I did finish those argyle socks and have had many years of knitting since then. I can empathize with you though as I now am knitting my granddaughter a sweater and have one section that I just can't figure out. I won't give up, but quilt in between the frustrating moments. I have every confidence a light bult will shine in my brain soon. Don't give up. Start on something simple. It is a great pasttime for tv watching.

Good girl! Perseverence is most of the battle <g>

I started knitting, crocheting and embroidering as a very young child. THEN, I discovered quilting and the rest is history. And I do mean the rest. lol :-)

Very funny, I have finished my work also. I went to Joann's and got some yarn and decided to make a scarf(for something to do). I got it about 3/4 finished and decided it was to big. My husband said all that work and your going to pull it out. Started over and now have completed it. I guess now I'll finish the book I'm reading and think about the next sewing project.

I crochet and I taught myself how to needle tat and I embroider. In my opinion, needle tatting isn't that hard to do and I'm going to learn how to tat with a shuttle one of these days
Kendra B.

I really appreciate these sites. I crochet and quilt okay , but have always wanted to knit. I did once and it looked like the moth had a picnic when I finished becasue I had dropped so many stitches :lol: I do want to learn. These videos are so helpful, that is how I learned to paper piece and to do piping. The beauty is that the 'course' is free and you can watch it in your PJ's.

I also love do do many kinds of needlework but being left handed is terrible. I can knit right-handed but my crochet is backwards-front side is back side- so I dont do much of it. I love embroidery and counted cross stitch. Tatting is another curse for the left handed. I have tried many times even went to class but just couldnt do it. I love being busy.

Where is SC are you?

Have any of you tried to use those plastic looms for knitting? They are great once you get the hang of it -- I taught myself to knit the basic stitches which knitting needles. The site I went to said that the continental method was faster and more efficient than the English style so I learned the continental. Well, it turns out that I am one of the few that use that method and it's hard for me to get any one to help me when I get stuck! I enrolled for a sock knitting class because it said that all I needed to know were the basic stitches...I didn't know that I would also need to use 5 needles at the same time --- arrrgggh! By the time the 2nd part of the class rolled around I still couldn't get the needles straight and so that was a flop. Then a group is knitting hats and scarves for the soldiers and suggested the looms. And yeah! It didn't take long to get the hang of it and I didn't feel like a total failure! I try to spend most of my time quilting but dh likes for me to be with him watching tv and I need to concentrate on what I am working on and so the loom knitting is a compromise!

I'm just below Charlotte, NC. There are places I could take a class but I'd rather find someone to show me one on one.

Don't give up. Like sewing, it takes practice. I am left handed and had to teach myself how to knit and crochet. Conquered both.

I learned to knit as a child, then when I went to college I bought a kit for argyle socks on four needles and the rest is history. I have made socks for every one in my family over time. Then I got into quilting but still keep some kind of knitting project around in case there is a slack in the quilting. Have to have something to do while in front of the TV in the evening. Never could get the hang of crochet. I used to embroieder but now use my machine for that.

Long ago I started knitting and was doing a sweater as no one told me that a left handed should stick to potholders and afgans since the edging of the sweater (the pretty fancy stitched ) should have been on the other side and would never be worn

You sound like me. I have taken knitting classes and still can't get the hang of it. Love crochet, quilt & sew.

You aren't the only one that can't knit. Within a few minutes my needles are about 3 inches apart. I can't see well enough to embroider but I do enjoy quilting and crocheting. I quilt at night, with a strong lamp. I crochet while we travel. I make scarves for mission, at church. Some go to the grade school, some to the food pantry and some to a Methodist home. When I had used up all of my yarn scraps and those of everyone I know, I ran out. So I put an artical in our monthly paper. I live near a town of 2000. I asked for yarn and got enough to last me several years. Last year I made over 100. No one wants to through out their left over yarn. Keep trying to knit and have fun.