Hello all, I'm not sure which forum to put this in, but I was wondering if anyone here knits or crochets, and can recommend some cool websites or resources for beginners.
I'm new to knitting/crocheting, but I would like to make a blanket just for fun, and I would be teaching myself. I figured I could also look at Youtube for instructional videos. However, does anyone know of any cool patterns for a blanket/afghan? I'm sure there are some cool and hip patterns and stuff to make. I'd like to stay away from the grandma looking stuff.
Also is what's the difference between knitting and crocheting?
Also is what's the difference between knitting and crocheting?
Knitting is two sticks, crochet is one. With knitting, you're creating loops by moving yarn from one needle to the other. An entire row of stitches is always on a needle. With crochet, you create loops using just one crochet hook and you only keep loops for the stitch you're actively working on at that moment on your hook, you have to pick the others back up as you move down the row. You can also make different types of stitches/designs depending on whether you're doing crochet or knitting.
I learned a little about how to crochet when I was a kid from my mom and then I learned to knit as an adult on my own. I personally find knitting a lot easier. Every time I crochet, I have a problem with the dishcloths I practice on getting narrower and narrower as I make more rows, LOL.
For knitting videos, this site is very helpful: http://www.knittinghelp.com
You might want to check out Lion Brand's pattern finder: http://www.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/patternFinder.fcgi You can select afghans/blankets and then select your skill level and it will give you several different patterns to choose from. The book Stitch N' Bitch has a baby blanket pattern you could try (a lot of libraries have that book, so you can check there for it). Also http://www.Knitty.com has a couple of blanket patterns in the archives.
Have you ever been to http://www.ravelry.com? It's a free site, but you have to sign up and wait for them to send you an invitation to join. It has a pattern section where you can search by category and find tons of patterns (some free, some pay) that you might be interested in.