Crochet & Interweave Crochet

Re: Spinning and Crochet are knitters being snobs?

knitnut@8 — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 04:17:17 GMT

Hi Anne. I spin and dye my yarns, I knit and crochet with them. I also use commercial yarns, I find that when I work with hand spu, I get positive comments, and have never felt snobbed. Perhaps because I'm an aussie, and we are very tolerant of others foibles and idiosyncracies! keep doing what you love and let the world watch! Barbara

Re: Spinning and Crochet are knitters being snobs?

AnneSpins2CrochetNWeave — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:20:55 GMT

purpleraine,

Spinning is not as difficult as it seems. There are just a few more steps involved, but it's a total rush to see something that you have made from the actual fleece out to the finished garmet.

I actually got started spinning by buying a few small kits and items on ebay. Being curious and also having to know everything there is on a subject, I looked up what the micron counts meant, what other than meriono and corredale wools there were. That was over 3 years ago, now I have several spindles for hand spinning and my own spinning wheel. It's a schacht ladybug, and I love it. There is something totally relaxing about being in a comfortable chair and just spinning and spinning. I do spin a lot but then my very spoiled pug/poodle puppy (she'll be 2 years in May-but is so small she will always be a puppy) comes over and lays on my feet across the treadles. It's her very cute way to say that spinning time is over and playing with her time is started... She's more spoiled than our daughter ever was...lol

I agree with you completely about crochet. Fixing mistakes, correcting pattern errors on your own, all these are soooo much easier with crochet than knitting. My mother can knit in her sleep, but I've seen her pull out more than 30 rows if she sees a mistake that she made when the TV was making her sleepy or when the grandkids distracted her...

You GO my Crocheting buddy!!!!!

Re: Spinning and Crochet are knitters being snobs?

purpleraine — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:56:10 GMT

I crochet & knit. I always had that feeling that some knitters snub. I think it's great you can spin. I'm not that brave. It seems there are a lot more crochet patterns now then in the old days. I think it's a lot easier to do different patterns etc. with crochet and to correct mistakes!!

Re: Spinning and Crochet are knitters being snobs?

AnneSpins2CrochetNWeave — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:27:55 GMT

Dear Sue,

Spinning is fairly easy and inexpensive to start. I have tons of extra fiber, dyed and undyed, and extra spindles. Are you a righty or a lefty?

I am more than willing to send you out a spindle and some fiber for you to get started with.

Oh, and a great book to have is From Needles to Hook, the Complete Guide to Converting Knit Patterns to Crochet by www.needlecraftshop.com Seriously, it has Great pictures and very well explained ways to make our beautiful (sometimes better than knitting, so there...lol) crochet look just like knitting. There is some playing around and pattern adjustments that you'd have to make but this book is well worth it. I've noticed that most libraries (except the pitiful ones near me) have this book on the shelves. I got my copy on ebay, for about $6.00 with free shipping. I am an ebay officianato..lol..and I only buy if the shipping is reasonable or free.

I would love to help you learn to spin, and we could do a lot of it on line together. I just started spinning on a wheel. For that I took a fairly inexpensive class about 2 hours plus, north of where I live.

Feel free to email me at home and we can talk more privately, and if you do that and give me your address I will send you out that spindle and some fiber-just tell me if you want to dye your own (and you can use koolaid or food coloring, so dyeing is not that expensive-but if you want a color and I don't have it "pre-dyed" I'll just send you the dye powder and you can "do it yourself", if you want to.

I feel very strongly that all yarn crafters should at least try to learn to spin. As for the spinning different for crochet and knitting, there is really only one way to spin. But, we can talk about that later. I also know about a ton of fiber sites, and other info that you'll need if you really want to try spinning.

First check "spinning your own yarn" or "spinning on a spindle" on YouTube-believe it or not, I learned a lot from that.

I am also disabled. I have a Chiari Malformation, I cannot sit for long periods, nor stand for long periods. Because my condition went undiagnosed from about age 8 through 33, I have permanent spinal cord damage and my condition is progressive.

I've been thinking about starting a blog for disabled crafters, as I've never found one before... I'm discussing it with Ann Budd as she is a blogger that I have a lot of respect for.

You can email me at pas3@verizon.net

My honey and I share that email address, but he gets the postal mail, and I do the email...lol...if he actually gets an email I put it in a folder for him to look over...lol...men...so cute and easy to manage, if you get the right one.

Blessings to you sweetie, and I will be praying that you feel better. If I can get another copy (cheaply-money is tight, like it is for everyone else) I'll send you this book too. And there is always rake or loom knitting. I've won bets having experienced knitters do the same pattern as me, and I've used a loom or rake, and we had an impartial judge (and used the exact same yarn of course) 8 out of 9 times MY loom knitted item got picked as the needle knitted one... So smile, we the disabled, can do anything that we want!!!

Anne

Re: Spinning and Crochet are knitters being snobs?

dizzysue — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 10:15:36 GMT

Hi Anne. I too crochet and knit . I have always had the same feeling about people regarding crochet as the poor relation to knitting. I have always just put it down to lack of interest. When I first started crochet I thought the stitches were few and it is only in later years that I learnt that you can do all sorts in crochet. I spin as well and wondered if you could help me with spinning yarn for crochet, I believe it is spun slightly different from yarn for knitting. I too have a disability and find the "sitting down" crafts very theraputic. Happy crochet. Sue.

Re: Spinning and Crochet are knitters being snobs?

AnneSpins2CrochetNWeave — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 22:07:19 GMT

Thanks Mandyangela and I agree with you completely.

My daughter loves scrapbooking but uses no stamps, only her own drawings anecdotes, and quotes on her pages, and I think that they are fresh and wonderful. But though she is not into making paper with me, she's the first one to ask for a page or pages for her scrapbooks.

The other thing in my spinning guild is that all the spinning/knitters own alpaca or lamas. I don't have enough acreage in my township to own more than a dog and a cat...as you can see, I have the dog..lol...

It's interesting the things that people get in a tizz over

Thanks for your response!!

Re: Spinning and Crochet are knitters being snobs?

Zoe — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:32:09 GMT

Anne loves to spin:

Does anyone else feel that we are looked sort of down on for liking crochet more than knit?

Hi Anne,

I do both crafts and others. According to Elizabeth Zimmermann, there is no right or wrong way to knit. If it is knitting you do, then it is knitting you do. It matters not if it is done on straight needles, dpns, circulars, knitting machine, or knitting loom.

However, if you are in a knitting web site, then it is likely that more knitters will be on that site than a crochet person. I do not think for one minute that any knitter would make a crocheter feel inferior the same as any crafter of any craft would try to be superior to any other person.

Happy knitting, Zoe

Re: Spinning and Crochet are knitters being snobs?

mandyangela — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:23:04 GMT

Hi there, Anne!!

I suppose some knitters dislike crochet, and some happy hookers dislike knitting, but I think most people are not too bothered.

I am a knit-wit and a happy hooker. For me, all crafts are wonderful to those who like them.

Now I don't like papercrafts such as card-making & scrapbooking. However I can appreciate the love & enthusiasm a papercrafter has for his or her craft, as I have the same feelings towards my knitting & crochet. I like to see the beauty in any craft.

Enjoy what you enjoy, Anne!! :)

Spinning and Crochet are knitters being snobs?

AnneSpins2CrochetNWeave — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:49:36 GMT

I don't know if any other crochet-ers spin their own yarn, but I do, and I sometimes feel like people look down on you if you crochet. It's as if when you are a spinner you just "have to knit" or you are doing it all wrong.

I can only loom or rake knit, and I have about 20 different types of looms in many sizes and shapes, this is because my left hand is damaged from a spinal cord injury and I cannot knit with knitting needles. I used to knit, but crochet always felt more natural to me.

I am in a spinning guild locally-the only one we have-and out of about 20 women there is only one other crochet person. If we even start discussing a crochet pattern, the conversation is switched over to knitting before I can even blink.

Does anyone else feel that we are looked sort of down on for liking crochet more than knit?

I was just wondering.