Knit vs. Crochet, the world cup final

[firecat]

Last night, my sweetie kyubi and I were discussing making fabric using yarn and sticks, including the fact that a lot of people either knit or crochet but don't do both.

Therefore, I want to ask a bunch of questions. Answer as many or as few as you like, or whatever else you feel like talking about.

Do you knit and/or crochet?

If you do both, do you prefer one or the other?
Why?

Is one harder than the other for you?

What was it like learning knitting and/or crochet?

If you do one but not the other, have you tried to learn the other?
Why or why not?

Do you feel like one or the other (or the products thereof) is "cooler"/more hip/more fashionable? Why or why not? (This isn't about what you think rationally but what you feel.)

Have you encountered people who do one looking down on people who do the other? What's that about?

I'll give my answers in a separate post.

Comments

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit late, but I have to join the fun too.

I knit and crochet. I wouldn't say I prefer one over the other, they're different things, good for different purposes. For most clothing, I much prefer the look and texture of knitting, and the pattern possibilities. For sculptural and mathematical things, crochet all the way. I don't really understand people who try to make one look like the other, or imitate the other's strengths.

I don't find either harder, difficulty for me usually depends most on the yarn and the pattern. There are types of knitting and crochet I do quickly and easily, and types I'm slow at (I like to think I'm still learning).

I learnt both by the time I was 10, and don't remember terribly much about either. I can remember my mum showing me crochet, and doing a bit, and almost having the hang of it, and her helping me with the last bit (the chain at the end of each row). Knitting was more frustrating, as I couldn't get the very basic pulling of the yarn through from either my mum or the diagrams. I thought I wanted a little hook at the end of the needle, and I forgot about it all for six months. In the end, a friend of my mother's showed me how, and it was suddenly easy. Once I was past the basic mechanics of each, I could use books to teach myself everything else.

At the moment, I think knitting is more hip, but there are more ultra-trendy crochet things for sale. I am wondering if crochet is about to become hip to do.

One important factor to me, particularly with bought finished items, is that knitting can be done on machines, whereas as far as I know, crochet has to be hand-made, stitch by stitch. I'm really hesitant about buying anything where the price, relative to my estimate of the time and effort required, suggests slave labour to me.