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Hooks vs. needles


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It annoys me a bit, only because it's hard enough to explain the difference between knitting and crocheting to others, and I usually like to start with, "Well, crochet is done with one hook, while knitting is done with two or more needles". If someone has heard the hook referred to as a needle, they get more confused!

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Not so much, but that's probably because I'm familiar with where it comes from. Apparently the hooks used to do fine lacework in the past, including Irish lace, were actually modified sewing needles. I guess I consider it a complement to our craft because those laces are so exquisite!

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It doesn't bother me. They just don't know any better. I'm sure I could not call all of a doctors/dentists instruments by their correct name. Heck, I have trouble naming tools in my husbands tool box. Hammer, screwdriver, pliers.......;-0 that's it!!

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  • 4 months later...

My husband has learned, I am crocheting, not knitting...

but I have run into the similar of "sewing or knitting" when I'm crocheting "in public".

 

I suspect, if one refers to hooks as needles,

they learned to knit first, then picked up crochet,

and can't quite make the transition.

 

~Annie

@>--,---- (by any other name

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The crochet vs knitting feud is baffling to those of us who are far away from the USA. Not only in India ( my country), but elsewhere in the world knitters and crocheters manage to get along, and frequently overlap. Both are lovely fibre crafts - why is there a feud between those who practise them?

As for nomenclature would it surprise you to know that in my language one word is used to describe both, and that is the word for "weaving"? ( there are prefixes to differentiate betwen knitting, crochet, and loom weaving). Needles and hooks do not have separate names either, and are referred to by a common name, with prefixes to specify knitting or crochet. This does not cause knitters or crocheters any distress or irritation. We are just happy if people take an interest in our craft.

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But I don't like it when they call my crocheting knitting. LOL

 

Isn't that the truth! :lol I'll be sitting there crocheting and someone will say, "Oh, what are you knitting?" :P

 

It doesn't bother me one way or the other (needle or hook) as long as I can crochet with it! :hook

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It bothers me when CROCHETERS do it. But when other people do, I just correct them. Even though I know they're just going to continue to think crocheting is knitting. *sigh*

 

Sam

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We all have those things which irk, don't we?

 

I've heard a crochet hook called a needle by elderly ladies here in the US, and have seen it referred to as a needle in older books, published in America.

 

In other languages, what we call a crochet hook, is often called a crochet needle. I quite enjoyed Amdm's post.

 

I don't mind at all. It reminds me that the world is larger than the culture I live in. Needle or hook, their crocheting is beautiful.

 

What I do point out to others is that I'm only using one needle, and that it is crochet, not knitting. ;)

 

Some care and are interested, some aren't interested at all. To some, it's all "sewing". I appreciate it when someone makes the gesture to say something kind, regardless of what they call it. I only recently learned what channel locks are. (And then I asked for a small pair of my own!) Toolboxes are as mysterious to me, as the differences in my hooks, needles, pins, etc. to those who open toolboxes rather than sewing boxes.

 

I just try to keep track of my hook and enjoy myself. :manyheart

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The crochet vs knitting feud is baffling to those of us who are far away from the USA. Not only in India ( my country), but elsewhere in the world knitters and crocheters manage to get along, and frequently overlap. Both are lovely fibre crafts - why is there a feud between those who practise them?

As for nomenclature would it surprise you to know that in my language one word is used to describe both, and that is the word for "weaving"? ( there are prefixes to differentiate betwen knitting, crochet, and loom weaving). Needles and hooks do not have separate names either, and are referred to by a common name, with prefixes to specify knitting or crochet. This does not cause knitters or crocheters any distress or irritation. We are just happy if people take an interest in our craft.

 

I've got a couple of thoughts on the crochet vs knitting in the USA. These are observations and not facts.

 

I think crocheting was used in the US as a was of making do and saving money. You could make a child's toy, you could make a tablecloth. You could make blankets. You could make rugs. You could make hats. You could make a shawl. You could re-use. Crochet magazines published in the US seemed to be marketed toward a Midwest mentality. Farm wifes, small town, non-cosmolpolitan. Patterns were shared freely using letters to the editor or even special Readers' sections of the crochet magazines. You crocheted to save money. (And I don't think that Hippies living in communes wearing granny squares helped the crochet cause.)

 

Knitting was for fashion. Sweaters etc. Yarn shops for obtaining those beautiful yarns. You knit without thought for price of final product.

 

I bet the reverse side of yarn shop snobbery was the owners' experiences of having a crocheter enter the shop and see something for $15 / skein and saying, "Why, I could get that same color in K-Mart for $1.99."

 

Anyhow, the resurgence in crochet seems to have more people willing to cross those lines and break down the barriers.

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I think crocheting was used in the US as a was of making do and saving money. You could make a child's toy, you could make a tablecloth. You could make blankets. You could make rugs. You could make hats. You could make a shawl. You could re-use.

But of course you can do all of that with knitting too & as for saving money I've found that a knitted hat uses less yarn than a crocheted hat :think

I now refer to my needlecraft implements as sticks thanks to my hubby " are you one-sticking or two-sticking that?" ;)

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Mary Pat - So you feel it is due to snobbery on the part of the knitters. Here in India, knitting is viewed as something useful and practical ( because all sweaters are knitted - it is very rare to come across crocheted woollens) and crochet is viewed as something decorative ( because all doilies are crocheted). However, I have to admit that neither craft has very many followers, which could be one reason we don't feud among ourselves. Also, most of us who crochet also knit, choosing the craft which suits our purpose best.

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