Crochet Hooks and Knitting

  I told everybody I'd get back to knitting some day, and it's finally happened! Well... I should say it's happening. Maybe - It's starting to happen? I seem to be accomplishing the craft of knitting, although it appears to need much improvement. Once upon a time, I could produce a finished knitted project that didn't look like a kindergartner's first attempt, but my tension and technique is pretty rusty.

  Still, I'm excited to be knitting again! I have all these vintage needles and all this yarn, and the only thing I ever do is crochet. It's nice to sit down with a different craft for a change. I've got a lot of practicing to do before I'm back to making anything other than dishcloths, but you have to (re)start somewhere! I think one of the biggest mistakes I made was picking up these newer plastic needles. They don't glide so well with this Red Heart Super Saver, and I can tell it's throwing my tension off.

  So, the biggest thing that's been holding me back from knitting again was casting on. Not only did I forget how to do it by hand, I always hated trying to measure out the correct amount of yarn. I would either run out of yarn before I cast on all my stitches, or I would end up with an extra foot of a tail. Plus, I'll admit that my casting on never looked very nice... Some loops too big, others too tight, and once in a while there'd be a twisted one... Yeah, not casting on is the part I love about crochet.


  Ta-da! Thanks to Jenn over at Roving Crafters, now I can cast on with crochet! It's perfect for me! There's actually a whole series of tutorials in the post for how to knit with your crochet hooks, which I tried, but it's not for me. No offense to Jenn... The tutorials are awesome, and they helped me remember which way is "knit" and which is "purl". But, I tried to knit with one knitting needle and a crochet hook, then I tried with two crochet hooks. Jenn makes it look so easy! Maybe it's because I was once a knitter? Or just because I'm such an inexperienced knitter? The whole experience was very awkward for me. I found that I prefer to keep knitting with two needles, but I LOVE being able to cast on with a crochet hook.

  So, if you're a crocheter that isn't a knitter... Yet... Then stop looking at my horrid attempt at becoming a knitter again, and go check out the tutorials! (And don't even try to say something nice about my knitting like "It doesn't look that bad", because I'm stretching it into a better shape for the photos, and cutting out the worst of it to try to keep a little of my dignity... Oops, there it went... Oh well. The best thing about that swatch is the crochet cast-on!) I'm going to have a go at fixing these stitches that I dropped, but I bet I'll be ripping the whole thing out soon. My purls are too tight and my edges are wonky, but at least I'm doing it again!


Oh, wait... Does this mean my pile of WIP's will be growing some more? Darn it, Jenn, I'm supposed to be downsizing! (LOL)

Happy Knitting!    

(Thanks to Roving Crafters!)