Knitter’s Block

This is something I have never heard of before, but am experiencing at this very moment.  It’s very, very similar to writer’s block, except my affliction requires knitting needles, and not a pen(or a keyboard nowadays).

I can’t find something to knit.  There is plenty of material to work with in both the yarn and pattern situation.  In my room, there is a big box of assorted skeins of yarn.  I’m talking a few feet tall and a couple feet wide.  Big.  But, it’s no help to have all these options because as someone who has trouble making decisions in the first place, increasing the number of options typically just makes things worse.

What about a specific pattern?  Well, you remember how I mentioned all those knitting magazines I got in the ‘March Madness’ post?  I have all those to choose from, plus some knitting books that I got for my birthday and Christmas.  The possibilities are semi-endless!

Given the plethora of yarn and potential patterns, I find myself even more at a loss to make a decision.  There are too many options!  My brain just can’t decide which potential project I should work on next.  Any suggestions are very welcome!  I probably have whatever is needed for anything you can come up with, as far as supplies go.  Unless you are that one individual that picks the one type of yarn that I don’t have in my ridiculous stash.  Please don’t be that person.  Then I’ll feel inclined to go buy more yarn, instead of diminishing the vast amount that I already possess.

Does anybody else experience this problem?  Maybe in some other area?  Writer’s block?  Thankfully, I haven’t had that problem….at least, not this week.

My last project was done right around a week ago- I finished a Mohawk hat for my cousin, C4R.  That’s his stage name.  There’s a picture of the hat on my Instagram, if you’re bored and want to check it out.  If you know anybody that wants one, let me know! 😉

Just one more thing- if you happen to be a crafty person of some sort, you might have possibly thought coming into this post that I was talking about blocking some of my knitting.  For those of you that knit, I apologize for being misleading.  And for those of you that don’t knit, yes, that is something that exists. 🙂  Here’s a mini-explanation of the process-

Blocking a knitted project is normally done for a lace project, but I’ve heard of it being done for other things as well.  Anyway, it’s done to make a lacy garment even more lacy.  When a knitted garment is done, sometimes it tends to curl up on itself(depending on the project, yarn type, etc.), so blocking consists of soaking the finished project, stretching it out over a towel, and pinning it down in it’s stretched out form.  This may not sound good for a knitted garment you just finished, I mean we aren’t supposed to stretch out clothing, right?  But, trust me, it’s how blocking is done!  Once again, if you are bored, look up before and after pictures- the lace comes out quite lovely, and is actually easier to appreciate the lace design.

So, there you go- why knitters stretch out their stuff.  Just one more thing you learned today.  If you already knew that, chances are pretty good that you have a suggestion for me to get my hands busy again.

Let me know what you think below, or just please try to avoid any kind of ‘block’ for yourself- it’s really not a good feeling.  Have a great week, and be block-free!  Thank you for reading. 🙂

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!