Crochet Assumptions - What annoys you most?

[PBLKNP]

What is the most annoying assumption people in your life make about crocheting?

 

For me, it's:

 

1) That people seem to think crocheting is "beneath" knitting in importance. I personally do both, and I think both have their good points and their bad points. One is not better than the other.

 

2) When people think crocheting is only about the granny square and nothing else. There is so much more in the way of different stitches possible and all the different garments, throws, afghans, socks, etc. that one can make.

 

3) That a crocheted present means you got off cheap.

 

What are all your different pet peeves about this?

[Blondie]

Your pet peeves are exactly the same as mine!!!!

Blondie

[papersmiles]

That when I am crocheting in public, frequently people will come up to me and ask what I'm "knitting". The general public doesn't seem to have a clue to the difference in these skills. It must be an assumption that if you are working with yarn it has to be knitting.

[Knit Happens]

my only peeve would be that people who are not dear to you will assume that you would want to crochet or knit something for them....lets say like a coworker who is in a different department on a separate floor sees you crocheting and all of a sudden has ideas for what you can make for them personally, or for their grandkids, etc.......and I politely decline

[~Kel~]

that I'm wasting my time, that drives me crazy

[mustang lady]

Everyone has already said most of my pet peeves. The only other one that I have is when someone ask you what you would sell something for and then tell you that the price is too high. That just burns me to no end. they think that you should almost give it away.

[Kbear]

I guess it would be. When they say Were do you find the time??

Like I have to go to the store and get time to crochet.

I just had a thought. I'm going to say that next time. I picked up some time at the store last night to crochet! That should make them think for few minutes.

[ZoeZoesmom]

Mine would be that people just think you just whip something up, just like that!...they have no clue about the time put into a crochet project.

[Feederofthepack]

Its and "old fashioned" hobby.

If you do it you must be old.

Nice, safe, domestic, lady like, hobby. ie-keeps you out of "trouble" and "off the streets"!

[PBLKNP]

that I'm wasting my time, that drives me crazy

 

Yes, wasting time...and these are the same people who spend hours mindlessly staring at the TV or browsing for useless stuff on-line. I'm at least crocheting while doing these things .

[Lunsmann]

My biggest pet peeve is the " getting off cheap ". Maybe I should have them buy the yarn for thier gift, and I'll just put in the labor, then they won't think it's so cheap. My other pet peeve is that people think it is so easy. My daughter-in-law thought both of these, so she didn't apprieciate the wedding ring afghan I made for their wedding. Then she thought she'd learn how to crochet. What a wake-up call she got. That afghan is now on display on their couch, for everyone to see.

[Tiga]

Mine would be that people just think you just whip something up, just like that!...they have no clue about the time put into a crochet project.

 

Oh, that's mine. I'm making an afghan for my grandmother, and she knows that they can take a long time. I don't work on it every day, b/c my daughter has physical therapy three times a week, speech three times a week and occupational therapy three times a week. And now I have PT twice a week, plus all the household chores.

 

And it's been hotter than the Devil's tushie, so she's very patient.

 

My DAD, on the other hand, thought I'd have the afghan done in a week or so, b/c I can make a purse in a week.

 

Yes, a purse is EXACTLY the same size as an afghan, Dad.

[oliveoil]

What is really annoying to me: I'm the only one in my family of 6 that does any kind of craft!!!! So when I do make things for the adults, they just look at the "afghan", "purse", "hat and matching scarf", etc. and say,(barely audible) Oh, thank you!! I guess they don't stop and think that maybe I made it out of love for them, that when they do use these things, they know that I was thinking of each and everyone one of them!!!! There is one "positive" to this: My grandkids, nieces and nephews love for me to make them whatever!!! I too have friends that don't do any kind of crafts, so when they see me crocheting/knitting, they think "Old Lady"!!

[danucia2]

Most of mine have already been posted but i have two more to add.The first being that Pavo (my other half) Said to me "don't you think that's a big waste of good money and time? Especially since i want to donate most of my projects to charity.He just doesn't understand that for one I feel like i get far more back by making the items i do and donating them to others who have less than i do and for two it brings me just as much happiness to know that to some one else it means the world.For two (i know this is going to come off the wrong way) It's MY money i use not OURs so what's it to him.(i use my disability check money for my supplies) so it's not like it's coming out of his pocket.and secondly wasting my time? That's all i have these days is waaaaayyyy to much time on my hands.and like some one else said already it's better then sitting around staring at a t.v all day.LOL The other thing that kinda burned my behind was that i go to the hospital for infusion treatments every week and so i bring my projects to pass the time and keep my mind off how sick the treatments make me feel.anyways.one of the nurses took it upon herself to give my number to the hospitals Oncology charity leader and told her i would be more than happy to make cancer hats for their dept as i have nothing better to do! she never even asked me first that is what upsets me.Then this woman starts calling me putting presure on me to do it even though i explained nicely that for 1. i knew nothing about them "offering my services" and 2. i don't know the first thing about making hats." i tried to be polite about it and say that i would like to help but am just not able at this point.The woman gave me a sad story about how the auxilry people don't help out any more for all of these sick cancer patients and how I of all people should know how it feels to not have a hat to wear.So i gave in and said if she could find others to join a group and teach me to make the hats i would see what i could do to help.well she got me to give her my e-mail address with the premiss that she would contact me only when there were other people to help.well that isn't what has happend.she keeps emailing me asking how many i have done etc and do i want patterns! ugh.

[CrochettingMama]

That it is confused with knitting.

That it is old fashioned.

That people don't appreciate crocheting.

And most everything else posted in this thread!!

[shelly_bean]

Most have been posted.. I too hate when people volunteer you to make stuff for them.. because you are just dying to do that..

 

that it shouldn't take you that long to make something because it's not that hard right??

 

that I am too young to be crocheting... i was unaware there was an age limit for crochet.. must look into that.

 

when i make stuff for charity, people seem to think it is a big waste of my time, yet if they ask me to sell them something, they get sticker shock.. I tell them my time is valuable, and not sold cheaply.

[redbird51]

this one irritates me the most and then the one about where do you find the time. (i no longer work a public job) people assume that i just sit around all day and "piddle" with crochet. crochet is almost a reward for me when i get my other chores done and obligations met.

[bgs]

one of the nurses took it upon herself to give my number to the hospitals Oncology charity leader and told her i would be more than happy to make cancer hats for their dept as i have nothing better to do! she never even asked me first that is what upsets me.Then this woman starts calling me putting presure on me to do it even though i explained nicely that for 1. i knew nothing about them "offering my services" and 2. i don't know the first thing about making hats." i tried to be polite about it and say that i would like to help but am just not able at this point.The woman gave me a sad story about how the auxilry people don't help out any more for all of these sick cancer patients and how I of all people should know how it feels to not have a hat to wear.So i gave in and said if she could find others to join a group and teach me to make the hats i would see what i could do to help.well she got me to give her my e-mail address with the premiss that she would contact me only when there were other people to help.well that isn't what has happend.she keeps emailing me asking how many i have done etc and do i want patterns! ugh.

 

That's just not right. She shouldn't have passed your phone number along to someone else and they certainly shouldn't be pressuring you into things. You obviously are dealing with not feeling all that well yourself and need to focus on getting better and certainly don't need any extra hassle. I know the more aggressive someone is in trying to push me into doing something the more I back away from doing it.

[CLLinda]

Mine would be that people just think you just whip something up, just like that!...they have no clue about the time put into a crochet project.

 

No kidding! You mean you can't whip up a full size afghan in the Polish Star stitch overnight? Well, just how long will it take you? They have no idea how long it takes, the craftsmenship involved, and the materials needed to produce any kind of beautiful piece.

 

It can be frustrating.

 

[Jadzia]

Yes, wasting time...and these are the same people who spend hours mindlessly staring at the TV or browsing for useless stuff on-line. I'm at least crocheting while doing these things .

 

I was told I was wasting time by my father; I once gave my mother a afghan and I was proud of it. It was my FIRST project. His comment was "what is so big about it; I can buy a better looking one at walmart and buy it cheaper". I was heart broken, and I never made him one nor showed him anything anymore.

 

Another thing is "its for old people", my sister refuses to do it because "in her mind" it is a "old person thing":think and it is beneath her. I am 34 and have been doing it for 10 years.

[Angeleyz14]

I think all of mine have been covered by others:lol .

But the co-workers asking and then complaining about the price is what gets to my 2 fellow crochet/knit co-workers and I the most. Joe (yes another guy who does amazing work with a hook in hand) made a purse out of patons sws which cost about $45 for the yarn...a co-worker asked about it and he said he would sell it to her for $40 (he didn't like the way the yarn felted) and she said that was too much...Carol, the other member of our little trio, told her that the yarn alone cost more than that...she looked stunned that we would take the time to make something that might cost that much:eek .

[Craftymomma]

The sticker shock thing is annoying to me. If you truly priced it at an hourly wage you would never sell anything or give anything away. I usually make things for people as gifts for this reason. They ask you if you take orders and then about flip out when you tell them how much. It is very irritating.

 

I also get the "when do you find time" comment daily. I'm a natural born multitasker. I have a small ds, but so do half these people that ask me this, but here's the kicker...when I sit to watch tv or watch my son I don't just veg out. I enjoy being busy and my ds sees this and he likes to try out my blankies and hats and my hooks. My chibi case is his favorite. This is my "ME"time so sometimes I stay up too late. People just don't take the time to understand that different people have different hobbies.

 

This is a very good conversation question becuase it really does get a person fired up!

[Aelita]

I remember when I went to the so called E.R. (I was there for 7 hours so I don't know what's so emergency about it) and I was crocheting a baby sweater and there was an older lady there who was knitting a scarf or something. Well we were sitting like two chairs between us and this other person asked us which is better knitting or crochet and I said neither but the lady said knitting and then she looked at me. Well I gave her a not too friendly look and said, 'why is knitting better then crochet?' and she said 'you can make more things with knitting then crochet' and when I asked her to name them, everything she named I said that they can be crocheted as well. She named hats, scarves, sweaters, afghans, booties, socks, etc. and then I said that that scarf or whatever she was making, I can make that with crocheting too and she even went as far as to say 'prove it' so I took the other end of the yarn I was using to make the baby sweater and I started to make the scarf thingie she was making. Before her named was called I had 22 rows done and the lady who asked us the question that started all this looked at the lady knitting and said, 'looks like you can crochet pratically everything you knit and faster' and the lady who was knitting said, '.......' that's right nothing and then a few minutes later her named was called. The lady who asked the question said she liked my scarf thingie better then the other ladys' but not to be rude I said I liked her scarf thingie which in fact I did. That's my peeve and also what you said PBLKNP. Also some people think it's wrong for a 20 yr. old to crochet what's up with that crocheting and knitting has no age limit.

[jess315]

Its and "old fashioned" hobby.

If you do it you must be old.

Nice, safe, domestic, lady like, hobby. ie-keeps you out of "trouble" and "off the streets"!

 

ah, but it DOES keep me out of trouble

other than that, what everyone else said. i posted up a sign in my office cubicle that lists differences of crochet vs. knitting, with red arrow pointing to crochet column. lol

[Sockmad]

Everything everyone said plus it is such a nice little hobby. I'm sorry it is NOT a hobby it is a way of life! It is what keeps me somewhat sane and helps calm me down so I don't tear insensitive sods heads off!