Crochet versus Knitting

Crocheters often gets the short stick ( or is that hook?). People often assume that all yarn work is knitting. Those who know, can see there is a big difference between knitting and crochet. It can drive a crocheter crazy if you call her handiwork knitting. Most of us have a preference for one over the other, although many can do both. Both crafts have their pros and cons.

Crocheting tends to create a denser fabric so it tends not to be as nice as a knit garment, but it makes crocheting great for toys. Crocheting, some say is much faster, so it is great for making larger items like afghans which can take a long time to knit. Crocheting is great for making lacy items which is why it is often seem as a trim on knit items. With crocheting it is much easier to change the direction of your work. In knitting, to change direction means having to pick up stitches or attaching separate pieces after you are done knitting.

As far as equipment goes, crocheting has knitting beat as far as not needing as many accoutrements. If you take a look at our stock of needles and hooks, far more real estate is devoted to knitting needles than there is to crochet hooks. Knitting needles come in double points of various lengths, straight needles in different lengths, circular needles in various lengths, interchangeable and fixed and metal, carbon, wood or plastic. Crochet hooks on the hand come in wood or metal and Tunisian or regular. To crochet in the round you only need the basic crochet hook unlike knitting where you either need double points or circulars. Most crocheted items can be made with only the simple crochet hook unless you want your crocheting to look more like knitting when you would need a Tunisian or afghan hook. Knitters tend to have multiples of their favourite size needle because if you are knitting more than one project at a time you need multiple needles. Crocheter can just put a stitch marker in their last loop and take their hook and start a new project.

When you make a mistake in knitting you may need to rip out multiple rows which may mean taking all your stitches off the needle and then having to make sure you get then all back on properly. In crochet you rip back to the mistake and pick up 1 loop and you are on your way again. In knitting it is possible to fix some mistakes by just dropping the stitch down to the mistake and correcting it. This is not possible with crochet.

There are definitely a lot more commercially available patterns for knitting than there are for crochet. I think in Canada, knitting is much more popular than crocheting. In the States, there seems to be more interest in crocheting than there is in Canada. If you are not comfortable working without a pattern then maybe knitting is the more practical choice for you. I think in the end it comes down to personal preference. Some prefer the look of crochet and some the look of knitting. Whichever you prefer, there are so many beautiful yarns in so many colourways that you will never have to worry about not finding something wonderful to knit or crochet.

Cestari Yarn for Spring

We have just received our new shipment of cotton yarn from Cestari yarns. We have two different cotton yarns – Ashland which is a 75% cotton and 25% wool blend. It is made exclusively with Virginia-grown cotton and blended with Cestari’s Natural White Traditional Wool. This yarn is very soft feeling. It is marked as a DK yarn but the gauge given on the ball band is more consistent with a worsted weight. We have it in grey and white.

Cestari Ashland

The second yarn we have from Cestari is their Monticello. It is a 75% cotton and 25% linen blend. The cotton grown in Virginia and the linen is imported from France.  The yarn is kettle dyed so each skein has subtle colour changes within the ball making for a more interesting knit. We have a rainbow of colours to choose from in the Monticello yarn. We have 10 colours in stock, from red to purple but also in cream and grey for the not so adventurous. The yarn will hold its shape well, making it well suited for garments such as summer tees. It would also be beautiful as a summer shawl.

Cestari Monticello

Both yarns can be machine washed in cold water but make sure to lay flat to dry. Cotton does not have any elasticity so it is important not to hang a wet cotton garment or it will stretch. The Ashland has wool in which the lanolin has not been removed so you do not want dry clean it as this would remove the lanolin.

If you have not tried any of the Cestari yarns (http://www.cestarisheep.com/ yet, these would be perfect yarns to try. We also have two wool yarns from Cestari – the Tradition and Mount Vernon collections. The Mount Vernon is 100% merino which has not had the lanolin removed so it retains all those qualities that we love in wool while also being soft. The Tradition is a Targhee Columbia so it is not as soft as a merino but it makes great hats and has great stitch definition.

Many people do not associate spring and summer with knitting but with these cotton and blend yarns you can make some beautiful summer garments. Who doesn’t need a gorgeous wrap for those cool summer evenings? Come in and try a skein or two of these great yarns!