Knitting a lot slower than crochet?

[Mountain Made]

Hey all, I've been working on a knitted pattern hat and it's my fifth? knitted project and it is taking days to complete. Does knitting ever get faster, or is it just the price you pay to sometimes have projects work a certain way? (I've been crocheting for years and never had a hat take anywhere near this long) I'm using Caron Simply Soft and a size 7 needle. Is there any way to get faster besides practice?

Thanks!

[redrosesdz]

I am a long time crocheter and have only dabbled in knitting.  My knitting is excruciatingly SLOW.  I've asked a lot of people this same question.  The answers I got varied widely.  It seems to be that whichever craft was learned first is the faster one.  Some that have been doing both for a long time say that they're the about the same amount of time.  Which leads me to believe that practice is the only way to get faster.

[Tampa Doll]

I learned to knit first, so I am a long time knitter and a self taught Crocheter. 

 

I found that while you can get bored easier, knitting goes a little faster for me.

[magiccrochetfan]

Knitting is slower for me. But in general I like to crochet with lighter yarn, dk or preferably lighter, and to knit with heavier, so that evens it out.

[Becky Morgan]

Knitting is slower for me and I also learned crochet first. I knit Continental, so it isn't a huge difference, but crochet is my go-to when I need something fast.

[lhendrix35]

I noticed on t v's Create, the person uses a different style.  I think it is European.  It looks a lot faster, if you are game to learn it.

[Granny Square]

I did a little swatch experiment and found that garter and sc took the same amount of yarn to make the same size swatch, but the garter took 3x as many stitches!  That really surprised me.  So even if you make 1 sc stitch at the same speed as a knit stitch, you have to make more knit stitches to make a finished (garter) piece the same size...so your progress would seem slower.

 

I knit continental combined (western knits, eastern purls) and I find it easier on my wrists and hands than crochet now that I'm older and creakier .  I would say I make 1 knit or purl stitch faster than 1 sc (sc has more hand motions), and certainly 1 dc, but I don't consider myself an especially speedy knitter.  Just looking at someone knitting 'English' style makes my hands hurt--there seems to be so much motion (however, the fastest knitter record holder uses this technique, and I'm not knocking it--if it works, great!). Some people call continental combined knitting 'lazy knitting' or 'lazy purling', I just think it's more efficient.  You have to pay a little more attention to the stitch mounts, but I have found that to be an asset because alternate stitch mounts 'tell you what to do' in many stitch patterns, so you may not have have to look at the directions or count as much.

[NCcountrygal]

bump for new comers wanting to dabble in knit.

[Tampa Doll]

Actually I have found on some patterns that crochet takes more yarn than knitting.  I enjoy both, but yes, I find knitting takes longer.

 

[Granny Square]

I agree, my experiment I did a while back (mentioned above) showed that most knitting used less yarn than crochet - I was being careful to cut the same lengths of the same yarn and and using the same mm size hook and needle, and working as close to the same width as I could until the yarn ran out.

See my results below, the difference is small because I only used 6 yards for each swatch, but would amplified on a bigger project.  And I imagine one's stitch height gauge would affect the results.  

edit, bottom swatch was an experiment.  The top crochet samples were all 7 sts wide, the knit samples 10 stitches to hit as close to the same width as possible.  The bottom was stockinette but 7 stitches wide (like the crochet samples), using bigger needles, trying to hit the same width gauge as the crochet samples (4 mm wide on 7 stitches).  So looking at the top SC swatch, and the bottom stockinette one, is a truer comparison (I think?), or at least looking at it in a 'number of stitches' way.

 

Edited December 14, 2021 by Granny Square

[USpolishgirl]

It all depends on a person and how long that person was knitting or crocheting. I know some people can knit or crochet for many years and they NEVER can be fast in knitting or crocheting.

I knew one woman in Poland. She was knitting so fast that my head was "spinning" just by watching her... She could knit a beautiful-big mans sweater in less than 1 week.  She was also very fast in crocheting. Most of the time she did not even needed to look at her work when she was kitting LOL

That is how she was able to provide & pay for everything for her all family under Communist times. Her work was really beautiful.  Sweaters & everything else under  Communism wore very expensive & stores for a most part were empty.  When someone got a new sweater that usually was the only one they owned for next few years. That is why people were & are very poor in those country's. That is: "Socialist-Communist". Piece of bread with little jelly on top for dinner was "normal". There was no way to afford an egg for breakfast.  Almost no one could afford small piece of meat or chicken even for Sunday dinners. Only those "big shots" working for government could afford all of that... We are very Lucky to be able to live in this country :). 

I was a young teenager when I seen her knitting and I will NEVER forget her!. Since that time I NEVER seen anyone knit so fast.

Krys

[NCcountrygal]

I don't consider myself speedy nor that it's really important, unless selling items.  I know my knitting would be turtle speed compared to my crochet.  lol

[USpolishgirl]

On 12/13/2021 at 9:29 PM, NCcountrygal said:

I don't consider myself speedy nor that it's really important, unless selling items.  I know my knitting would be turtle speed compared to my crochet.  lol

I guess to some people it is important because that question was posted above.

I do not knit at all. I was never interested to learn, I never liked that idea working with two needles LOL. In my opinion crocheting is more relaxing. I could be wrong.

Krys

[Granny Square]

I agree Krys, it's a hobby and speed is irrelevant (to me).   It's nice to have the choice to do both.  I tend to prefer to do some types of items in knit and others in crochet; example, I'd choose crochet for a doily or blanket unquestionably, but knit for garments typically.  A hat can go either way, or sometimes both (like crochet the hat and knit the ribbing).

As far as relaxing...if you are mostly just plain knitting and purling (not bobbles or lace or cables) I'd rank knitting as more relaxing, 99.9% is  just "pull up a loop, repeat" (so, about as complicated as crocheting a chain).  And actually, a dropped stitch or (some) mistakes you make x rows down are easy to fix without ripping, where they aren't in crochet.  But it's a hobby, I can't think of anything you couldn't create (in some form) in 1 but not the other.

 

[USpolishgirl]

Granny Square you are right that some pieces looks better to be knitted than crochet.

But it is what it is: I do not knit!. I am almost sure I will never get that "itch" to want to learn LOL

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! 

Krys

[ReniC]

My mother could whip out a knitted project in nothing flat, even faster than I could crochet in my younger days. She learned as a child and kept it up forever. I still drag out the needles every 6 months or so and give it a try. I have the Continental cast on and knit stitch going ok, but, that's as far as I get. And geesh, am I ever slow. LOL 

I used to go to a local "Cancer" Arts/Craft Fair here every year that brought many people from out of town. A lady from Germany had a booth and I was fascinated with all of her knit items, Christmas ornaments, doilies, runners, throws, all knit. I bought one of her ornies that I still hang on my tree every year. It is so pretty and sparkly. I'm sorry I didn't purchase more at the time.