What is THAT?!?

Did I get you to look?  No?  Oh….

Here is the long-promised bit on knitting. 🙂  The suspense is over everybody, you can chill now.

Now, being honest, that’s not exactly how most people respond to crafters doing their thing in public, but it’s come pretty close before.  When commencing this post, I started to go on a rantle(a rambling rant, but it was a polite rant), but I decided to delete it, and start over.  All you need to know is the #1 most asked question when knitting, knotting, or needling, in public is “Is that knitting or crocheting?”.  The second most asked question is “What are you making?”.  So, I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and here are some helpful tips to tell what exactly that person is doing to pass time in the waiting room(or wherever you come across a crafter).  Normally it’s nice to ask instead of awkward silence, which is good, but here’s some information to help you have a little more knowledge about it.  And just a hint, if it looks like a sock….It’s probably a sock.  I promise there aren’t very many people who will bite you if asked what they are making. 😉 This is looking more and more like my previous rantle, so we’d better get started-

Without further ado, the differences between knitting and crocheting…..

1.  The tools.

Knitting is a craft that requires big needles(as opposed to sewing needles), crocheting requires a hook.  Another difference is how many of the tools they are using- crocheters always have one hook(as far as I know).  Knitters can have anywhere from 2 needles, up to 5.  You never know…..Unless they are using a circular needle- that’s a whole different subject….

If for some reason you can’t tell because someone is knitting with crochet hooks, or crocheting with a knitting needle, keep reading….

2. How it builds on itself.

That really isn’t the best description, but I can’t think of how to say “what you do to make your project bigger, and how the tools help”….That right there doesn’t even make sense.  Bear with me, please.  The difference I am trying to describe is how with knitting you actually have a whole bunch of “live” stitches, where if you take out the knitting needle that they are sitting on, your project will unravel.  Crocheting on the other hand(haha, can you knit with one hand and crochet with the other?  I would love to see you try….), is done where you only have one live stitch on your hook at a time.  So, it’s really easy to finish a crocheting project- cut the yarn, tie a knot through the loop, you’re done.  Knitting has a fancy technique called “casting off”, which isn’t a big deal at all once you get the hang of it, but the trick is getting the tension to match the cast on.  That’s a doosie.  Summary- crocheting looks like it’s hanging on by a thread(literally) to the crochet hook, and knitting has all the stitches on the needle and comes unraveled so easily it will appall you.  At least it has me.  It’s a sad day, but I’ve coped and learned how to fix it. 🙂

3. The appearance.

This one is tricky- knitting and crocheting look totally different.  There are some stitches done in one craft that sort of resemble the other, but for the most part there’s almost no similarity.  Other than the fact that they are both comprised of yarn.  Because this takes specific knowledge of at least one or the other, I’ll stop right there.  Just stick with the other two ways to tell, but know that there is a difference between the appearance of knitting and crocheting.  Try asking someone that, maybe instead of which they are doing.  It could lead to a much more interesting conversation!

So, now you know.  You can shock a yarn-loving person with your amazing knowledge of their work.  Or you can just ask them the regular questions, because that’s what they are accustomed to answering.  Either way, it’s fine.  But hopefully, you learned something today about knitting and crocheting!  I apologize if you were looking for a detailed history of both crafts- I recommend Wikipedia for that. I honestly don’t know a whole bunch about their history, but I do know that they’ve been around for a LONG time.

As always, thank you for reading!  I appreciate your time. And….if you have any more knowledge you can share on how to tell knitting apart from crocheting , there’s an empty little comment box below just waiting for you! 🙂  Or you can just tell me what your favorite craft is!  Or you can take a wild guess which my favorite is…. I’d love to hear it all.  Please enjoy the rest of your week, and  have a Happy Thursday!

The Benefits of Knitting….

And how it can lead to World Peace. I bet you’ve never heard that one before! 🙂

You might have been wondering (or not) when I am actually going to write about knitting or knotting, because I haven’t since the beginning of my blog.  Well, here goes.  I’m going to explain how knitting could bring about World Peace (theoretically).  This is merely a humorous speculation (hopefully). To accomplish World Peace, we would need a lot less sin in the world, not just more yarn, and regrettably knitting rarely has that effect on people.  I should also inform you that this revelation ‘came to me’ when I was rather young, which may help you understand why it’s so impractical.

My brilliant plan for World Peace was to teach everyone to knit.  This way, those people with evil intentions would be too busy to carry out any of their plans….  Those people without any intentions at all would be given something to do…. Those with too many intentions would be able to relax with a simple knitting project and take their stress out on that….  And those who are formulating intentions could do something productive while contemplating!  Just imagine how warm the world would be!!! 🙂  That’s another benefit-  we could clothe so many needy people!  I’m just waiting to be contacted for my Nobel Peace award…. Just kidding!

Now, obviously there are flaws with this.  I am sensible of that.  For example, I know many people who have tried knitting already, and it just isn’t for them.  Maybe we could have World Peace through knitting and crocheting…. Another flaw would be all those poor little naked sheep, alpacas, bunnies, etc., that gave their way of staying warm to others….however, they can just grow some more.

Here are some practical benefits of knitting, if you made it through the silly speculations above. 🙂

• It really does give you something to do, if your hands need an occupation while sitting at a doctor’s office, watching TV, etc.
• It really is stress-relieving, depending on who you talk to, and what pattern they are working on….If it’s an easy pattern, yes, but if it’s involved, no, and don’t bother trying to ask them because you’ll cause them to lose count of their stitches or rows.  Not that I’m speaking from experience or anything…. 😉
• It really is productive- you get a lovely handmade item when done, as opposed to having nothing to show for other things….like watching TV (which is why you should knit at the same time!)
• It really is a great way to make some gifts!  That is, assuming those receiving the gifts actually need the item, and its quality renders it useful….I know some of the first gifts I made were *not* useful, that’s for sure.  In cases such as that, I like to think it’s the thought that counts…. 🙂

So, there you go.  Hopefully, if you were considering trying to knit, I have made you eager to start, and not scared you off!  The world could always use more knitters….even if it doesn’t lead to World Peace.

If you’d like to see an example (or two) of knitting, I’d love you to visit my shop on Etsy- To Knit or Knot.  Have a lovely day, hopefully with a little knitting, but I don’t wish any knots your way!

Do you have any ideas for World Peace, be they impractical or just plain silly?  Let me know in the comments below!

The Beginning of ‘To Knit or Knot’….

My love of crafting started a long, long time ago…in this galaxy. 😉 As a young girl, I tried several forms of needlework, and handwork in general. This included a little bit of embroidery, quite a few things made from a lap-loom(they make great gifts! Or at least, I thought so….), making a quilt with my sisters and my mom for our babysitter when she was getting married, attempting to learn crocheting, and so on. All of these kept my hands busy, but I never really went very far with them….

When I was eight years old, I got a basket for Christmas. And it was not an empty basket! It had probably between eight and ten skeins of yarn in it, a beginners knitting book(specifically for children), and a pair of knitting needles.

Over the next year, I learned(with the guidance of my dear mother) how to finger-knit, roll skeins of yarn into balls of yarn, and knit the garter stitch. Thankfully, the phrase “Practice makes perfect” is true in my case(or at least, mostly true- my knitting still isn’t quite ‘perfect’!)- my first doll blanket is a little bit of an eyesore. But, at the time, you can imagine how proud of it I was. This blanket was something I had made, and it could be used by my dolls!

I love to knit!

By the next Christmas, I was knitting presents for all my family and friends. I will tell you now, they still were not quality pieces of work…. It’s the thought that counts, right?  The next thing I was taught by my mother was how to purl. I actually had to learn this several times, being completely honest(thankfully, my mom is a patient teacher).

At this point, I was on my own. I had reached the limit of my mother’s knowledge of knitting(she’s more of a quilter). So learning new techniques was a little bit more of a challenge, and involved books, or the Internet. But I continued to learn more, and love it!

Cables and lace came next- both kept me fascinated! I struggled the most to learn how to cable, the instructions I read just didn’t make sense. And I really had an urge to learn cables!!! Finally, I found the explanation that just ‘made sense’, I guess it had to be put a particular way….

A knitting project in process- a hat for my sister….

Tatting has become another craft that I have more than a passing interest in, although it’s still not like knitting…. My experience with tatting has been a little more ‘knotty’ and I have only been doing it for a couple of years. Hopefully, I will become a proficient before long.

My goal is to be like the woman described in Proverbs 31, and among her other characteristics, “She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands…” ~Proverbs 31:13. I have been knitting for over 10 years now, and it still is my favorite thing to do. So much so that I decided to open a shop on Etsy-  https://www.etsy.com/shop/ToKnitorKnot1013

And that’s all folks! You now know how I began knitting, and why I haven’t stopped. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!