Tuesday 24 April 2012

Crochet - Thereby Hangs The Difference!

Crochet, something I only delve into now and then.  It is something I would like to master.  I know I will one day.  I know I have a mental block about it, I am slowly challenging it.  At the moment I do not have the hours in the day (or evening, my me time, it would mean that I would have to put my knitting down and I really don't want to at the moment).  I know the mental block will be lifted at the right time.  I had a mental block about sock making for quite a few years, then the epiphany.  Now I knit socks.  I had a mental block about driving around Birmingham, especially The Tunnels.  I can now do this with the greatest of ease and Central Birmingham, the city itself and The Tunnels hold no fear for me.  When I worked in Brum, I used Spaghetti junction twice a day.  It not longer phases me.

Back to Crochet.  Between the UK and US there is no difference is terminology.  The same words are used.  But, and yes it is a big But, the words mean different things.  Bit of a Bugger really!  Something you would really have to watch when using crochet patterns from 'the other country'.

One of my biggest drawbacks with Crochet was my tension.  It was always loose, particularly when the yarn had to be wrapped around the hook before it went through the hole (I hope that makes sense).  That is why I always stuck to Granny Squares made up of double trebles (UK).  At least that is what I think they are called.  After a while, tension didn't seem to matter overly much and if I used a thickish yarn, it kind of forgave my loose stitches.

I put this dilemma to LA at the back end of last year (or some months ago anyhow).  My problem we very soon rectified, with an explanation of how tension is created when the yarn is held in certain ways.  I needed to hold my yarn differently.  It was as simple as that.  If I don't concentrate too much, I soon revert back to my old way of yarn holding.  But on the back of this new learning revelation, I crocheted a beanie hat, making up a simple pattern and started making another.

Apparantly another difficulty a knitter has when they learn to crochet is the way the stitches are formed and the fabric that is created, this is quite different.  Crochet has to be seen as crochet and knitting has to be seen as knitting.  I guess you may only understand that if you go from knitting to crochet - or even vice versa!

1 comment:

Luneray said...

Interestingly enough, I never have any trouble following Japanese crochet patterns, even though I can't read a single character of Japanese. (I think I can recognize the character for "yarn" though.) Why? Because Japanese patterns are all graphed, and beautifully illustrated. To be honest, it might also be because the only Japanese crochet patterns I use are for amigurumi (little toys) and there is rarely anything past increase, decrease, or single crochet (US term).