Going to the Dark Side

Just kidding... No crochet vs knitting jokes here.

I've been thinking about this for a while. I LOVE crocheting, don't get me wrong, but there's something about the way knitted fabric drapes... I can't quite explain it. Anyway, to learn (or actually RE-learn) how to knit has been something I've wanted to tackle.

So yesterday I decided to finally take the plunge. I was out at Wal-Mart killing time looking at yarn and hooks and stuff like that, when it occurred to me that while looking at the crochet hooks and pattern books was fun, what I really seemed to be drawn to by some unknown force were the knitting needles. I thought that was my subconscious telling me that I was ready to try it. I picked up a pair of straight needles and a set of circular needles, both size 8 (which translates to my favorite H hook size in crochet.) I also bought some pink yarn because, well, my very first crochet project two years ago when I started back up again was a little pink afghan. I decided to continue that tradition.

I also bought Leisure Arts's book I Can't Believe I'm Knitting! which I've decided is absolute pants. (My book has a different cover, but same material.) The wording is ok, but the little diagram drawings don't do much for me, and I'm an equal parts visual and written learner. I NEED those pics. But I don't want little drawn diagrams. I want pics of real hands holding real needles and real yarn. I want to see the intricate twists of REAL yarn around the needle. So after a half hour of trying to cast on using the method in the book, I threw the book on the floor, stomped on it, sat back down, and tried to do it from memory how my grandmother taught me when I was around 10 or 11. (I figured if I could teach myself how to crochet with no book {and at the time I was doing it it didn't occur to me to look online for tutorials} then I could teach myself to knit with no book, too.)

It went ok, but apparently she taught me to double cast on using BOTH needles. I guess this is outdated because everywhere I've seen online shows to cast on in this weird method holding the yarn in your left hand curled around your fingers where it then does a little dance and laughs at you for having to contort your hand in such an unnatural way and THEN try to get the yarn to stay on a needle with nothing to really grab it with (like a crochet hook.) GRRRRR.

So yea, I cast on doing it the way I remembered, then started the knit stitch. Ok, we're rolling good, 20 stitches cast on, 20 stitches knitted, everyone's accounted for and all is right with the world.

Now we turn. Hmmm... I seem to remember my grandmother never turned her work, but simply just went back and forth. Apparently she was ambidextrous? I turned mine, because that's what the book said. Even though the book had led me wrong in casting on, but still, let's just give it another go, shall we? So we turn. And we knit some more. But wait.. why aren't these coming out the pretty braided look on one side and the ugly sideways loops on the other side? Why are the ugly sideways loops on both sides? YUCK! That's not how I want something to look!

Again, I delve further into the book and realize, oh yea. DOH! Purling. Ew. Just when the knitted stitch was starting to feel ok and my hands weren't ready to pretzel themselves, I have to do something even MORE cruel to them and make them work totally backwards to purl. Hmmm... So we purl a row. And though my hands and fingers were about ready to go on strike, we had 20 stitches purled, again everyone was accounted for and all is right with the world.

And we turn again, this time knitting. 20 stitches knitted: we're doing good. So I decide, ok, simple swatch thing is going all right, let's rip it out and try again. But after the horror of the text written cast on method, and my not-quite-sure-I'm-doing-this-right "remembered" cast on method, I decide to forage the wealth of splendid information available to me over the internet.

Annie's Attic stitching help section, which was SO VERY helpful to me when I was remembering to crochet two years ago, really let me down when trying to use it to help with knitting. It's almost like those little videos were snickering and making fun of me. Don't laugh!

So after a little further searching I come across a WONDERFUL site called KnittingHelp.com run by a lovely lady named Amy Finlay. Hurrah! I felt like leaping with joy across my living room. This site was simply that good.

First thing I looked up is casting on. Where I find there are like a million different methods to cast on. Wow. So I start with the first one, which looked similar to the dreaded laughing hands method in the Leisure Arts book, but not quite. She has little videos that show you exactly how to do everything and the neat thing about them is she TALKS and explains what she's doing as she's doing it. Fabulous! So we start. And hey look at that, I'm casting on using the one needle and curled yarn around fingers method and my fingers are no longer laughing at me - they're actually working the yarn on the needle! Life is good.

I then looked up how to do the knit and purl stitches on her little videos and found I'm a Continental Knitter (aka "German Method" and sometimes called "Left-Handed Knitting.") I found this amusing... A right-handed crocheter who's moonlighting as a left-handed knitter. Who knew?

Anyway, after this loooooong diatribe, I go back to the photo above. It's a simple basket weave. I cast on about 55 stitches, did a garter stitch for the first 5 rows, then knit 10, purl 10 across and alternating row after row. After about 12 rows, I switched it around to start the new set of boxes. What I'd eventually like to do is make a baby afghan with the pink yarn using this basket weave pattern, but I think for that I'll knit 20, purl 20 so that the boxes will be larger.

I'm in the process now of binding this off (after all that work I'm not going to rip it OUT!) And then I'll start the actual afghan after that.

And just to please my right hand, which is longing for a crochet hook instead of these blasted needles, I'll include this picture from two years ago of the very first thing I crocheted:













I remember when I was working on this and how awkward my hands felt holding the hook and yarn. It's good therapy because it makes me feel that eventually I'll stop fumbling over the needles and get better at knitting just like I did with crocheting.

Wish me luck!