Knit one, purl one

January 16, 2010

Today was a very uneventful day. It was mostly spent indoors - cleaning, doing laundry and cooking - but my roommate's mother came for a visit. She brought with her some knitting needles and yarn to teach me the basics of how to knit. My former mother-in-law tried teaching me once, but I found it really difficult to hold the needles and ended up with a very wavy looking 'scarf''. But this time, I actually got it! As I meditatively began to knit, I remembered that my mother used to crochet little doilies and baby socks. I began to wonder why she never taught me - but that's not today's questions Today's question is: what is the difference between knitting and crocheting?



A: It turns out that the end product of both knitting and crocheting are essentially the same - a piece of fabric made of interwoven loops of yarn or thread. These fabrics can be used to create sweaters, slippers, hats or any number of things. The difference is in the tools used and process that the fabric is made.

Knitting
Knitting requires a minimum of two straight needles – some patters require a circular needle, such as socks, or can require four or five needles, for seamless garments. Knitting projects are started by a process called casting on. The stitches that are cast on are the first row of the project and subsequent stitches are made by wrapping the yarn over one needle and drawing the wrapped yarn through loops on the other needle.

Crochet
Crochet is done using one tool called a crochet hook. To begin the process, a slip knot is made, then a loop is pulled through beginning a chain stitch. A series of chains, creates a foundation row, which can be built upon to create a project.

I will keep knitting, and hopefully be able to create something more than a scarf this time. Perhaps, once I get the hang of it, I will then ask my mother to teach me to crochet, this will help me to compare the two crafts.