Do you love yarn? Do you get all gushy over well-made knits? Do you crochet almost every evening while watching telly?

I've always had an interest in knitting/crocheting and taught myself how to knit when I was about 15. I'd go in and out of knitting phases, doing it mostly for pleasure, knitting mainly swatches because I wasn't very good yet. This year however (I'm now 22), it's become a full-blown hobby. I got patterns, different needles, lots of yarn, and have been knitting away happily. I'm currently working on some amigurumi/softies, but when my super awesome yarn comes in the mail, I will be moving to making these lovely Slytherin House knee-highs for my best friend :3

So why do you knit/crochet? Is there anything you particularly love about one or the other? What do you like to make? Have a favorite yarn type?

I would like this thread to become a discussion about fiber arts, and maybe even a hangout/club where we can discuss our current projects, aspirations, and maybe help each other out.

One rule however --- please DO NOT get into an argument over whether crochet/knitting is better than the other. This argument has been going on since the first sheep's wool was spun into yarn. Just don't even go into that, there will never be a consensus, and I don't want to see the dramatics here.

Hi Amaitae! I crochet, have tried knitting but I'm terrible at it - beyond casting on (which takes me a really long time, lol) and the basic stitch I'm pretty lost.

My nonny (now 82) used to make very intricate doilies with a tiny little crochet hook and cotton string. She taught me basic crochet stitches when I was little, but I only took it up again recently. I'm trying to teach myself how to read more complex patterns now, which is frustrating to say the least. My favorite thing to make lately has been little animals (amigurumi, I suppose, though I just freestyle them based on a doodle or image from the interwebz - a lot of those patterns are way beyond my comprehension level).

Currently I am working on making a trio of stuffed owls for a handmade gift exchange I joined. I've just got to sew on faces and I should be done.

.. that knee-high pattern looks intense! :O

It seems to go like that for a lot of people: you're either good at knitting or you're good at crochet. Very few people do both. I like how some crochet things look, but for my taste, I prefer the look of knitted things more. HOWEVER, amigurumi for the most part looks MUCH better when done in crochet. It seems to hold up better when bent around in odd shapes than knitting does. Either that, or i haven't found very many good knitting patterns for amigurumi.

I'd love to see your stuffed owls when you're done with them :D I love owls!

The knee-highs aren't really that tough since you're doing a plain flat (stockinette) stitch the whole time in the round, so really, you're doing the same stitch down the entire leg. The only "hard" thing there is colorwork, which isn't hard once you get the hang of it. I haven't ever worked the heel, gusset, and foot part of a sock before, so i forsee a lot of frogging happening there. Gonna have to remember to keep my cool. There's nothing worse than having to frog a whole bunch of rows you messed up. Ugh, I hate it. Makes me want to rage quit.

Here's a pic of the 4 I've made so far. Forgive the bad lighting/photo quality - just a quick shot from my phone.



I'm going to keep at it until I have enough for my little cousins' holiday gifts.. so, at least 6 more! .. now I feel crazy

edit: I should add - these are little, just about card-deck size, and using scraps so mismatched.

I actually suck at crocheting but can knit like a fiend. Yeah, I haven't figured out how that works, either.

BellyButton: Oh my gosh, those are so cute! :D I especially love the one second from the left.

ElysiumFate: Same here. I wish I was better at crochet... Not that I'm unhappy with knitting, cuz I love that!

I'll post a picture of my current project this evening or something. I'm trying to make a Loch Ness Monster for my boyfriend. I finally got it to a point last night where its body is stuffed, though it's still missing its flippers and its horns. It's actually my second time knitting the body... the first time, I used the recommended needle size and the whole thing came out all kinds of wrong. Stitches were too loose, the neck had some weird tension going on in it so it twisted in a corckscrew, ugh. I frogged the whole thing and started again, downsizing the needle from a 5 to a 4 (US). Looks perfectly fine now.

I don't knit or crochet but I really want to get in to it. I'm not sure how to go about this and have literally no knowledge on the topic. I love seeing all the things people have made and it seems like such a lovely hobby to have. Any sort of hand-crafted art like this always seems so personal and thoughtful to me.

How would you guys suggest I start getting in to this? I'm not sure where to begin but I'm tired of telling myself I'm going to do it and then not doing it.

I used to knit and crochet a bit when I was a teen, it has been quite a while since i did either of them though, I should get back to again and try once more

@Amai: I like to knit, too, but I actually prefer the look of crocheted things so it grinds my gears that I suck at it so badly, lolz.

Sadly, I can't knit or crochet. My mother can knit, and she went on this knitting craze, making me scarves and beanies which was nice. I've always liked how crochet things looked.

As for learning, I don't know if I'd have the patience. I know it's probably not as hard as it looks, but my attention span tends to fizzle out fast.

I tried to teach myself how to knit, but I just couldn't get the hang of it. Been working on trying to learn to crochet instead, which so far is going a bit better than my attempt at knitting.

All I can do is make a straight line over and over again, I've been meaning to ask someone how to do patterns. Just so I can learn properly or something. I can, however, just a hard-plastic, circular loom to make a scarf.