I believe that once you’ve been crocheting for awhile, you may find knitting easier. That is how it was for me. BTW, I’m a bad crocheter but an okay knitter. I get sloping edges in crochet; I need the crutch of counting.
As far as counting goes in rib stitch, some people develop a rhythm after awhile and just have to count for a few rows.
Back to the OP:
Try Knitting Help for video instructions on knitting. Very basic and helpful. If you want more, you can order the DVD.
I taught myself how to knit just two months ago and I have to say I am completely addicted. ( Mind you I am on the Scarves and Pot Holder stage still, but I.am.a.knitter.)
Crack is Whack, baby. Yarn is where the Real High is at.
For those who need to jones over knitting supplies, may I humbly suggest:
Knitting for a Better World - (Charity Knitting)
Knitty great articles with great links to hip knitting sites.
Yarn Market Great supplies.
Knitty’s Message Board forum for Yarn Sales. It’s addicts like YOU keeping an eye out for the stuff you crave.
Herschnerr’s One of my fav’s to peruse.
Supercrafty Great prices . On ebay. One of my favorite dealers.
Craftster By far one of the best craft places on the web for all kinds of crafts ( no matter your addiction: sewing, making purses, knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking, papermaking, making toys, jewelry.) with an excellent forum and outstanding people who create shit you wish you had a nth of the time, talent and money to create. This place is to the crafting world what SDMB is to Fighting Ignorance. Very hip and give a great view of what is trendy with the young upstarts.
AFG, check your mailbox.
You don’t have to count. Just see what the stitch you’re knitting into is. For ribbing you knit on the knit stitches and purl on the purl stitches, so as long as you’re able to do one row of ribbing you can just follow previous rows. For seed stitch you knit on purls and vice versa. And most sweater patterns call for stockinette stitch, which is just knit on one side, purl on the other. What could be easier?
I can knit but can’t crochet. I learned to knit from knittinghelp.com which is a fabulous site. I haven’t found a similar video site for crochet, and I have trouble following along with the crochet instructions in books. My roommate’s sister knows how to crochet, though, so I may try to learn it from her. I do think that crochet has a much more limited range of projects, which I don’t like. For instance, most of the crocheted sweaters I’ve seen are pretty dowdy. I did like a lot of the projects in Hip to Crochet, but not the sweaters. However, crochet is the only way I’m ever going to make an afghan, as knitting one would take probably a year.
SCARY KNITTING LANGUAGE! SCARY KNITTING LANGUAGE! :eek:
LOL.
Back away from the knitting, AFG. Just pick up a crochet hook and evvverything will be fine. Come to the dark side…
I find crochet is easier, but lately I started knitting again. I borrowed some books from the library about both, though my Grandma and Mom taught me the very basics over the years. The book I’ve been reading right now is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Knitting and Crochet, it has LOTS of good tips in it for both knitting and crochet.
Best way might be to find someone who knows and would be willing to teach, or check out the book I linked above. I already knew the very basics (cast on, knit, cast off) but it’s helped me a lot.
The ribbing issue has already been addressed. Honestly, ribbing used to drive me mad, when I was first learning, but once you recognize the stitches, it’s just a question of purling in the purls and knitting in the knits.
The question of counting things in patterns–that’s what stitch markers are for. Look at the pattern–is there a border of eight stitches, say? Put a stitch marker on the needle where you need to start the border. If you have to have a marker every two stitches to remind you, then do, they don’t cost much.
Lissener is right about KWT, too.
Honestly, it’s worth giving knitting another shot once you’ve crocheted. It took me a few tries to get it, and there’s nothing like having someone to actually show you (and there are lots of links above to good instructional sites) but don’t just give it up.
Crochet is very nice, too, and there actually are some number of nice sweater patterns, etc. If your willpower is strong, go type “crochet patterns” into the search box at ebay.
Thanks, I’ll check out the book. The only person I know who knows how to knit is my grandma, and she’s at the other end of the country. And she’s 82, you know.
Maybe see if there is a knitting or crochet group around your city? I know my city offers classes in darn near everything, including crochet and quilting. There are also groups such as Stitch n Bitch, and I’m sure you could contact them and see if there is a local chapter who might help you.
Mom crochets like a fiend, cannot knit. Is a very craft-y person.
Grandmother crochets like a fiend, cannot knit. Is a very craft-y person.
I was confounding them both with my inability to pick up most handicrafts. I can’t sew, I can’t crochet, but I can knit. I taught myself from a cheapo beginner’s book and knittinghelp.com and getting occasional help from a knitting friend of mine, and my stitches look like what a machine might do – nice and even and not lumpy, most of the time. Sometimes I lose track while ribbing, but I’m doing it on DPNs with twelve stitches per needle so counting back isn’t too hard. Sometimes I forget what stitch I JUST DID. “Did I just… purl that?” Because it gets so mechanical and instinctive.
Now Mom is begging me to teach her to knit and my grandmother fetches me yarn. 
Knitting is one way.
Purling is the opposite.
That is all there is to the two stitches.
Just making loops and knots.
Just break it down to something simple.
Mind you, I have barely mastered purling and doing a K2 P2 combo is more harderer for me to remember than a commerical for Burger King that was popular 25 years ago. Two all beef patties special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles onions on a sesame seed bun. But, I can always rip out my mistakes and get a do over.
Can’t do that so easily (HA! sew easily) with sewing.
Then you can move on to the scarier knitting language like CO K1 P38 WTFOMFG* and BO.
Um, that was McDonald’s.
This cite has very helpful videos- and is how I learnt to knit.
So. I picked up a kid’s crocheting kit. “For beginners!” It proclaimed in a pink font. “Learn quickly and easily! Ages 8 and up!”
8 and up. I have…lessee…18 years up on that. So it should be a cinch for me!
Yeah. Took me about an hour just to get a hang of the chain stich. I’m still fumbling with the single crochet. Forget about double yet.
“Don’t forget, the first row of crochet is the hardest!” Says the book in the kit. If you could hear the text I’m sure it would be laughing.
This is going to hurt. But I’m going to keep trying till I finally make the shitty purple hat on the box.
Different people have different styles of learning. I learned how to knit, crochet, embroider, and tat out of various books. It’s generally pretty hard for me to learn from someone in person. This goes for just about everything that I want to learn. The trick is to find your style and go with it.
Once you get the hang of it, it’s fairly easy to knit or crochet to the pattern…I’m working on a shawl right now that has alternating single and double crochets, with increases at each end. I don’t count the stitches on the body of the piece at all, I just single crochet into the double crochets of the previous row, and double crochet in the single crochets. I only have to slow down and count when I make the increases at each end.
Shirley Ujest, you are an evil, evil person for posting those links. You do realize that I’m going to have to spend a gazillion hours at each site, don’t you?
Don’t give up!
If you know someone who crochets, can you get them to start a row or two for you and give you a piece to work from? The first row IS the toughest, after that it’s much easier.
I’ve been watching my grandmother crochet for years. She taught me once at 7, once at 15, and finally about 5 years ago I gave up and taught myself from a book. Now I’m decent enough at it that I’m about to finish my third sweater (I’ve been working on it for 3 weeks this next Monday and should have it finished within the week).
I just took knitting class last Thursday because I couldn’t for the LIFE of me figure out how to knit. Now I know, and knowing crochet helped a LOT. I can’t imagine learning to knit without crochet experience.
By the way, if all you can do is chain stitch, have you considered making some of the things that can be made with just chain stitch? For instance you can cover a wire hanger with fuzzy yarn (simply put the hanger in your lap and do chain stitches from either side of the hanger, which means the wire gets wrapped with yarn) or make pretty hair ties out of plain elastics. Making something that is pretty or useful makes you a lot more likely to continue crocheting, and practice is what makes you better and more able to make pretty things.
Also, don’t be afraid to get nice yarn, even though it’s more expensive. You will be much more impressed by your somewhat-sloppy beginning efforts if they aren’t in scratchy, nasty acrylic that the sweat and friction from your hands has already started the pilling of.
I’ve been trying to learn to crochet for two years (on and off). I bought a beginner kit with a bunch of different hooks and a book. Then another book. Then another book. I still can’t quite get it. I think part of the problem is my left-handedness. The other is that I have too much tension (my yarn does, too! 
) - after about two rows, the stitches are so tight that I can’t put my hook through. I keep hearing that crochet’s so relaxing - I’m concentrating so hard I get headaches! Can anyone give me advice (Shirley once suggested crocheting while drinking…)?
FTR, I’m good with other (more obscure) fiber-crafts - I love card-weaving and lucet braiding and just learned kumihimo - so I don’t know why conventional ones escape me.
Jolly Jimmy Joyce, thanks for the link! It looks like the perfect place to get started. I’ve always wanted to learn to knit, and now I can’t wait to get off work so I can go to Joanne Fabrics. I’m going to get some yarn and needles and give this thing a go. Knowing me and how I react to new projects, maybe I should stop by the liquor store, too…
I think crocheting patterns are very pretty, but I’m still a bit nervous. I’m getting my courage to the point where I will be knitting my first garment :eek: , a shell from Knitpicks.
Sidebar…anyone notice how hard it is to find needles? I went to both Michael’s and Joann’s and neither one carries the smaller size needes. I had to go online to Joann’s to buy a size 2 and a size 3 set of circular needles. And it’s nigh impossible to find a range of straight needles.