10 Random Things I've Learned About Crochet
Posted on
I’ve been a knitter for a long time. I’ve tried to crochet in the past and although I know how to make some basic stitches it’s not something I ever felt comfortable with.
So what changed?
At Yarndale 2014 we launched the mirrored linen stitch cowl pattern. It was a huge success. Most people loved it. The people who didn’t share the love were those who really wanted to make the cowl – but who wanted to crochet rather than knit. So I started playing with a crochet hook and came up with a crochet version.
I’m very much a beginner with a crochet hook, and there have been some things that I didn’t really expect.
- Crochet uses a lot more yarn than knitting. I knew this, but I was still surprised by how much more yarn it took to crochet things. This led to me actually using all of the yarn I’d taken on holiday.
- Multi coloured yarns work up very differently. It wasn’t until I used the same yarn to knit and crochet a cowl that I realised how differently. That’s great fun because it lets me thing about using colours in a whole new way.
- Even really slow crochet (as done by me) is a lot quicker than knitting.
- Working in the round is like knitting in tat it’s still possible to put a twist into your work as you join it into a loop. Sods law still applies so I did this on the 4 ply and not the chunky version.
- Crochet diagrams are prettier than charts for knitting. They’d make great prints. They’re a lot harder to draw a line through when you get to the end of a row or round.
- Crochet unravels very fast. This is especially true when you think that you’re just winding some loose yarn back onto the ball.
- Crocheting in public gets me lots more weird looks than knitting. This may be due to my expression of intense concentration.
- I cannot crochet and watch tv. Well I can but I will have absolutely no idea what is going on. Drama with subtitles needs knitting.
- You need different stitch markers for crochet. Otherwise you’ll find that you’ve decorated your work with stitch markers and they are embedded in your work. It could be a great effect, but it wasn’t what I was planning.
- When you crochet your last stitch you are finished apart from perhaps darning in a few ends. There is no casting off. That feels very weird. Weird in a good way when the alternative is casting off 600 stitches. But weird.
What unexpected things has a new craft thrown at you?
Add a comment: