Knitting and Crocheting

I learned to crochet first, from my mother, a long time ago. It didn't kick in full gear until I learned to knit, from my friend Laura in college. I knit on green, size 13 aluminum needles, and wore off the color coating with my tight, tight stitches. Many years later, I have lots to show for my efforts. I've made countless blankets and scarves, and when I started getting more ambitious, I began to make hats, socks, and fingerless mittens. Right now I have about seventeen million half-finished projects, and a huge addiction to yarn.

Crocheting is still faster for me, but I do love to knit. It's therapeutic. Yes, even when I have to rip the whole stupid thing out because I made a mistake back in Row 3 that is totally visible now that I'm on Row 80. Plus there's nothing like the accomplishment of making something someone can use.

My friend Amy created a project last winter where knitters donated 100 hats to Hats for Emma, and I cranked out 10 or 12 preemie and infant hats. That seems like very little now, but at the time I was pretty proud of myself.

 

There is so much math in knitting and crocheting. More than one would think. Patterns upon patterns. Never mind counting the stitches, but just deciding how to divvy up the stiches on three or four double-pointed needles, or deciding how to create a design for a blanket. I crocheted a Granny-square blanket for a boyfriend many years ago, and used graph paper to hash out the design. It turned out pretty, but I invented a way to link the squares together that didn't survive the washing machine too well. My second Granny-square blanket, which I gave to my mother, was put together better, but was butt-ugly! I wonder what she did with it- I haven't seen it in a long time.

 

The blue blanket I'm showing here is one of the first blankets that I really liked once it was finished. This one was crocheted, so it didn't take me a long time to make, and because it's basically triple-crochet every odd row and double-crochet every even row, it was easy. Plus the yarn's pretty.

 The gloves in red are the fingerless gloves I made for my husband's mother. I'm not a huge fan of crimson red, but they look pretty good as gloves. They came out better than I thought they would, but I have to admit I had practice. I made four gloves before I had a pair that I was willing to give to someone else. They're nice to look at, but they're still too small for Troy's mom. Note to self: stick to fingerless mittens.