Learning to Knit...How did you learn to knit/crochet

[dlfoxy1]

I'm just learning to knit again after 20 years and am taking classes at a local yarn shop called "Lamb's Wool". I completed my 10 classes and just signed up for an entire year's worth of lessons. I can go knit or crochet every day at the shop, it's only about 2 1/2 blocks from where I work and I get an hour lunch so that leaves about 50 minutes worth of stitching. The year's worth of lessons runs $225.00. I didn't think that was too bad since 10 lessons cost $80.00. I know I will certainly get my money's worth. It's also a nice way to break of my days at work (I work at a police station, look at a lot of guys and always something not so nice happening). Going to the Lamb's Wool brightens my day and gives me something to look forward to during the middle of the day. My problem is not to buy any more yarn......

 

I learned to crochet from a boss I had in the early 1980's. She tought be to make granny squares. I got bored with that and put it down. Then in 1989 I wanted to quit smoking and started to crochet again and quit smoking doing it. I've been smoke free ever since. Crocheting will always be my foremost love between the two.

[tmpinsnty]

i took up crochet to help me quit smoking also...it's only been a month for me since my last cigarette...

[magiccrochetfan]

I learned to crochet in the late 60s from my mom. My grandmother also crocheted and I learned from her as well. I've crocheted off and on since then.

 

I remember watching a knitting show on PBS in the early 70s and I started to learn to knit then, but never did anything with it. I finally learned to knit for real a couple of years ago, using the knitting section here, knittinghelp.com (love their videos, very clear and to the point, and short), and the book Knitting in Plain English by M Righetti.

 

Your noontime yarning break sounds great! I'm in a local stitching group that meets every week and it is so much fun!

[HomekeepingGran]

Crochet: a friend taught me the granny square but after that I learned more about the stitches from a magazine I bought. This was the early 70s.

 

Knitting: mainly from books, especially Pam Allen's Knitting for Dummies book, which was extremely helpful. The Internet was great, too. This was about 6 years ago.

[Pyroteca]

Crochet: Learned from a friend's mom when I was 12, and haven't stopped since. I have used books to help supplement what she taught me.

 

Knitting: My mother originally taught me to knit when I was 10. I have since expanded my knowledge of knitting again from books.

 

Recently, I taught my MIL to knit, so now I have a crafting partner. Whenever she comes to visit, DH goes out with my FIL and my dear MIL and I work on our various projects and chat. It is nice to have someone to share my crafts with.

[dlfoxy1]

tmpinsnty, keep up the good work in not smoking. My worst time was in the car. I would have a skein of yarn in the car with a hook right along side of me. I would just make a winter scarf, basic double crochets back and forth. When I stopped for a red light or in traffic, I would pick it up and start crocheting until I had to go again. The car was the hardest for me and that helped me.

 

For everyone else, it is really nice to be able to find someone to do your crafts with. My lunchtime knitting/crocheting sessions are great. It gives me a lift in the middle of the day.

 

No one else in my family knits or crochets. When I was younger, my Great Grandmother use to crochet pineapple doilies all the time but for some reason she would not teach me, she said I was too young. I guess I get my crocheting addiction from her. I'm going to try to teach my SIL to crochet again. She was just diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer and she needs to fill in her down time with something to do that's not too exhausting. I will be doing that within the next two weeks.

[HomekeepingGran]

I'm going to try to teach my SIL to crochet again. She was just diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer and she needs to fill in her down time with something to do that's not too exhausting. I will be doing that within the next two weeks.

 

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope she enjoys the craft and especially, that it takes her mind off her troubles and gives her a little peace. How sweet of you to want to help her that way, doreen!

[aseknc]

I learned to knit first. I had always wanted to know how, but didn't know anyone personally who knew how. One day I seen the sign for a LYS & decided to go in and ask if she knew anyone who taught it. She said she did for $5/hour. I ended up paying her about $20 & got a good foundational knowledge. Whatever I didn't remember, or was more advanced than what I learned from her, I learned from the videos at KnittingHelp.com.

 

As for crochet, I was taught to do a basic chain by a lady in the neighborhood where I grew up. I had tried to learn from books, etc. but drawn pics just weren't very clear to me. On top of that, there were other things I needed to know besides just the stitches (like the first ch#sts count as the first #ch of the row and you need to make sure you work it as such or your square will be slanted, and things like that). Again, I knew NO ONE who crocheted, including the lady at the LYS where I learned to knit. Finally I found video tutorials at Nexstitch and a Learn to Crochet series at Crafty Daisies. The video tutorials paired with the lessons did the trick!

[Lilly Flower]

I learned to knit first from my neighbor and learned to crochet from my aunt and online.

[Lefthook]

I taught myself to crochet when I found skeins and skeins and skeins of yarn in my mom's house after she died. I tried to teach myself to knit, but I always grew extra fingers and my fingers refused to follow my brain's directions. When I stopped to look at the pattern I dropped lots of stitches. So I decided not to knit. I read the stupid instructions out loud so many times I bet my dog can knit!

[thetokenlady]

My grandmother (Mom's mom) taught me to crochet sometime back in the early 70s, though I never had the patience to actually finish anything. I tried to learn to knit from my Mom in my teens but being the only lefty for miles around made things difficult. With crocheting I was able to watch and reverse things but knitting seems to be beyond me.

 

I made a giant granny square afghan in my 20s, but that was the total of my crafting until a couple of months ago. I'm not sure why I got into it again, but I'm having a blast! So far I've made a heavy shawl, a lighter shawl, a purse and a water bottle carrier and I'm working on another shawl.

 

I'm finally turning into a girl here in my mid-40s, a fact that makes my husband nervous, and I'm developing a "style" that seems to include wraps and wide-brimmed hats!

 

Kathy

[dlfoxy1]

Boy, do I feel for you Sheila. I had learned to knit about 20 years ago, made 2 sweaters and that was it. Just recently I decided to give it a try. I'm approaching the big 50 at the end of the year here and I couldn't pick it up on my own. You know, those senior moments are becoming more and more. Talk about extra fingers, I think I had about 20 of them when Betty at the Lamb's Wool was trying to show me how to knit. And, of course, I knit continental style....which throws a curve into things.

 

That's why I decided to go to the Lamb's Wool. It's turning out to be fun, meeting alot of new people and learning alot of new and different things from all these people.

 

My two dogs could probably knit and crochet themselves, especialy my basset, Angel. She keeps pulling out my skeins of yarn. I think if she had needles or hooks in her paws, something would be completed.....probably an afghan (she loves blankets).:dog

 

It's so nice to hear everyones different ways of learning and what they did to get to where they are today. Everyone keep on knitting and

[PBLKNP]

Knitting: My poor, long-suffering mother attempted to teach me, but I really never got beyond garter stitch. I think I knitted, at most, a few misshapen scarves. Years later, at age 40, I decided to have another go at it. I took a class at Michaels, which taught me the basics. From there, I picked up everything else from a combination of the Internet, magazines, books, and my wonderful SnB group.

 

Crocheting: My mother always felt that crocheting was sort of low-class, so she had no interest in learning how to do it. My aunt had a housekeeper who was an avid crocheter who made beautiful afghans. She taught me how to make granny squares and the rest is history. I was a teenager at the time, so there was sort of a subversive, rebellious excitement over engaging in some craft my mother heartily disapproved of! Like knitting, I picked up everything else from the Internet, books, magazines, and my SnB group (there are about three of us who knit and crochet).

 

Crocheting is still my favorite of the two.

[papersmiles]

Crochet: learned the basics from my mom and the more advanced skills from pattern books.

 

Knitting: Just took that up again this year. Checked out a "how-to" book from the library and bought a Knitting magazine at the drug store.

[Cheeria]

I taught myself how to crochet and knit through many trails and errors mostly through self learning books. When I learned to crochet there was no youtube videos to watch. I'm also a new knitter and it took me almost a year for me to be finally knitting. At first I couldn't understand why the yarn kept falling off the hook. LOL A big help to me in my knitting venture was knittinghelp.com. They have good videos on almost everything you need to know about knitting and knitting techniques.

[grabble]

I learned to knit first, although saying that I learned it is an overstatement. My grandmother tried again and again, but I never got a hang of it, no matter how much I wanted it. My grandmother is sort of my "hero" (I really couldn't find the word I was looking for, English is not my mother tongue:P) And I wanted to be like her. Still want to in some areas. There were also a project in school when I was in the 4th grade, it was really simple, back and forth, but I gave up after 10 cm, and haven't really touch it again. I don't know if I ever finished knitting a scarf!

 

Crocheting I learned in school in the 8 or 9th grade. I've noticed that many say they started by learning to make granny squares, but I started with double crochet stitches back and forth. The first project var miserable! It became tighter and tighter, and what was originally intended to be a square ended up looking like the cup of a triangle bikini! But I finally got the hang of it and made potholders for my grandmother, and she is still using them! Praising me for making them so thick. In 10th grade we could choose our own project and I chose to make a baby blanket made up by hexagons with a flower in the middle. (The book were I found them actually called them great grandma "squares"(There really wasn't a good English word for it, sorry!))

 

Since then I've crocheted on/off, but after I moved away from home I started back up. And I enjoy it a lot! After "discovering" that I could actually read English patterns I could make cool stuff, not just table cloths and blankets. And a "fun fact:" I made my first granny square just before Christmas 2009!

[Feederofthepack]

A few years ago I tried to teach myself to knit but just didn't get it. I heard that crochet was easier and taught myself pretty easily. Now, trying to learn knitting again but I still am not getting beyond the basics of knit/purl and have holes I don't intend to make!

[dlfoxy1]

I do have to say, knitting to me is more difficult to learn than crocheting. I'm coming along with is as long as I keep it up every day just a little bit. When I stop for a couple of days, 3-4, I end of forgetting how to pearl. Can you believe that, talk about short term memory loss. I have total memory loss. When I finally get two rows done, I then realize I goofed on my pearling and end of twisting my stitches. Man does that irritate me. I'm not giving up this time. I'm just afraid to get back to knitting, I haven't knitted since last Friday. I guess I better wait until Tuesday, I'm off and I'm going knitting if I can. I'll pick up between now and Tuesday with my crocheting to keep me busy. Good ole reliable crocheting.

 

Everyone, don't give up on the knitting. It is one of those things you have to keep at it. My teacher told me not to do anything too difficult. People end up giving up knitting because they do something too hard. I know I chose a difficult pattern to make for a baby gift, but I'm determined not to give up....I have a whole years worth of lessons....I can't give up. Hang in there!

[Grammie Essa]

I learned to crochet about 10 years ago. My husband, (we were just beginning to see each other then, before we married in 2003) was a big time softball player and I needed something to do while going to the games and riding in the car for long periods of time to games and such. My granny crocheted when I was growing up, I never wanted to learn when I was young, but I loved to watch her!! So, I thought maybe I could crochet, since my granny did!! I bought the book "Learn to Crochet in Just one Day!" Of course it took me every bit of 24 hours, but over several weeks time!! I learned to do it and was totally impressed with myself, for the first time ever basically!! I have made many many afghans and hats and scarves, and many more wonderful items! I have given them away and sold some too. I have taught, or helped to teach about 100 people now! Just from teaching some small classes and volunteering as a mentor through the Needle Arts Mentoring Program (which is a great program I just stumbled upon while surfing the net!) Then I wanted to learn to knit, and figured out the knit stitch , but oh how that purl stitch eluded me! I finally bit the bullet and found a great video that taught me how to make the purl stitch, and what a wonder it is to make the stockinette stitch!!!

 

Now I am teaching a class, and I am totally loving it and the very, very cool ladies who sign up for it over and over again(thank you, you guys are great!!), and I am always on the lookout to get a group of kids together to teach them now to knit or crochet (with the help of the Needle Arts Mentoring Program!! they provide the start up supplies for the kids, yarn, hooks needles, instruction books, the works!! It is a great organization. There is just nothing better than teaching a young person to knit or crochet!!)

 

okay, I will stop going on and on now and let sometone else share how they learned this magical, mystical wonderful craft!!

 

and good for you to be so close to a yarn store and get to go there on a daily basis!! What a dream come true!!!

[dlfoxy1]

Grammy Essa, that's it just wonderful on how you learned and now you teach it. That's great. I often said to myself, Self, if I ever get to a point that I don't have to worry about bills, etc., I would like to get a job in a craft store or crocheting and now maybe even knitting. I hope you get a group of kids to work with. I think that's a wonderful thing to do.

 

Keep up the great work.

[eyrthmother1]

just had a thought on this. when i was trying to teach myself to knit, the books i used all had the "throw"/european method. w/ this last class, the teacher talked to me about the continental method, that it might would be easier since i already crocheted, since the working yarn would still be on the same finger as when i crochet.

 

I was able to learn this time. maybe that would help those having difficulty.

 

Sandy