Crochet vs. Knitting – A Common Crafter’s Point of View

          For those of you actually following this blog know, my mother-in-law is helping me with the finer points of my knitting development. We have thus far worked on tension, yarn holding techniques, fair-isle wrapping and touched on machine knitting, which is to be revisited this summer when there is more time. Due to this fact I have spent many hours in the past few months at my in-laws and thus observed by my father-in-law. Recently, while he was watching me finish one of Gir’s arms, he has shared his thought with me about crochet vs. knitting.

Knitting was a talent, an art-form of finesse. Knitting has a cleaner, more elegant finish on projects, obviously. Knitting in his mind is superior in almost every way, except when it comes to speed. In this I will have to disagree, not completely but in part. Yes knitting is more elegant, lacework and shawl are almost always finer and more delicate when knitted but at the same time that is what knitting seems to be, delicate, too delicate. I have worked with many different yarns and needles and it seems no matter what the knitted work is finer, if you try to increase thickness by using smaller needles and larger yarn the work can get stiff. The stitches are so closely woven that it can make the project cumbersome. I do not find this with crochet. But then again have never made a thick crochet sweater. I would say I prefer crochet when making dolls and toys; it seems sturdier then with knitting, where I would worry about pulls in the yarn. Even with thin yarn it always seems more durable. The way crochet stitches are constructed they do not pull or pucker like knitted pieces can. That’s a major plus. But in being sturdier the stitches do tend to be chunkier, in my opinion; even a shell pattern is not as level and delicate as a simple stocking stitch. 

That being said the speed of crochet, depending on the project, often out weights the minor drawbacks. When making an Afghan for example, I will likely never knit an entire blanket, although I have started one but I have crocheted 4 Afghans. The crocheted blankets are worked as one piece; you can do that when you only have 1 needle to worry about. The blanket I started will be made up of about a hundred small squares that I will have to patch together. A dishcloth blanket as my friend calls it. It’s pretty but taking forever and currently sitting in a Rubbermaid container under my sewing table. Just saying. Agree? Disagree? Let me know here or chubbystar.blog@gmail.com .

MY RED SOCKS ARE DONE!!!

Fourth project of the year completed. Woo hoo!!