I am SO excited. I took a knitting class on Saturday! I have taken one before, but I was a loser and didn't practice any because it was so much FASTER to crochet because I was already good at that (not practicing what I preach to my recorder students....). So needless to say, I forgot it all! The class was at an awesome LYS that I should go to more often, Friends and Fiberworks.
It was so fun!! One of my friends took the class with me and we started a cotton dishcloth. I am still too embarrassed of my shoddy beginning knitting to show it to you yet... maybe later. Our instructor taught us English-style knitting, which I found awkward as a crocheter, but I powered through. I downloaded the KnittingHelp app (SO good, btw) and used the video to try out Continental-style, which is supposed to be better for people who already crochet. The main difference (and if you knit and I am a wrong, please correct this noob) is in which hand you hold the yarn in. For crocheters, we hold the yarn in our left hand, which remains the same for Continental knitting. The English-style holds the yarn in the right hand, which is what make it feel so strange to me.
I found that my stitches from the class with the English-style knitting were much more even and my tension was more consistent than when I worked on the Continental-style at home. This really baffled me since that way felt so much more comfortable. I am going to keep trying out both ways, but I am leaning towards the thought that with the left-hand yarn I was working too fast and not paying enough attention (since it felt so much more comfortable) and I got careless. I am hoping that will remedy itself as I practice more.
I also had a few places where I messed up, either dropped a stitch, added a stitch or didn't follow through all the way to the right needle and didn't quite know how to fix it. I will have to study the knitting more as I practice in order to understand the stitch construction. I feel like it is more complex than the crochet stitch - that may not be true simply because I understand crochet so well (which is a great feeling and makes knitting that much more scary!).
I am so impressed by crochet badass, Alice, (at futuregirl) who recently starting knitting and she is amazing now! I do not think I will improve and expand my skills quite that quickly, but she is such an inspiration for me to continue practicing this time and not give up because it is more work right now than crocheting.
I'll keep you posted and maybe get up enough courage to show you my wonky dishcloth.
ps - I'm still working on those tutorials I promised you from the last post - I didn't forget!!
Go girl! Knitting is so much fun! I learned to knit first, thankfully continental style, so when I learned to crochet, my yarn was already in the left hand. Just keep practicing and those stitches will even right out! If you need a good reference book, you should check out "Stitch 'n Bitch". It has some cool patterns in the back, but my favorite part is the detailed instructions on how to fix mistakes without having to frog the whole piece.
ReplyDelete(And if you don't yet, save all those little yarn stubs in a box or jar, no matter how small. They make great crafting/play material for little guys) ;)