Knitting verses Crochet - Hats

I learned to crochet by making slouchy beanie hats. My first crochet project was a Boshi crocheted hat. After that I was hooked and had a great desire to learn more about the secrets of crochet.

The main reason I was hooked so fast on crochet was the speed at which my first hat was completed. The patterned called for a large hook and worsted/chunky yarn, thereby enabling me to whip through the hat in less than eight hours.

My plan for learning more was simple. I purchased two crochet hat books; Quick & Simple Crochet Hats: 8 Designs from Up-and-Coming Designers!, and Crochet Celebrity Slouchy Beanies for the Family (Leisure Arts #75358), picked out a few patterns and started crocheting.

Knit Hat

I've been knitting for seven years. I love it! Depending on yarn and needle size projects can take months or be finished in a few days. The hat above was knit using DK weight yarn and #5 needles. I created my own pattern to construct this hat.

cast on 128 stitches
k2, p2 for one inch
increase to 195 stitches by knitting one stitch in the front and one stitch in the back in every third stitch
knit for 3.5 inches
decrease over 24 rounds:
k11, k2 tog
knit
k10, k2 tog
knit
k9, k2 tog
knit
and so on until there are only a few stitches left on the needles

thread yarn through remaining stitches and bind off
weave in loose ends
*change to double point needles when stitches become too tight

It came out nice but took months to complete because I used small needles and thin yarn, and I don't have that much crafting time.

Crochet Hats

Learning to crochet went fairly quickly once I understood the basic stitches. A few times I got stuck, but the tutorials on youtube quickly came to the rescue.

Following the patterns in the new crochet books I quickly learned that I crochet loose, just like I knit. Therefore, it was necessary to make some adjustments in order for the hats to fit. The solution was to remove several holes from the crochet project. Although there are other methods, this was done simply by skipping holes when crocheting around the hat.

Each new project taught me a new stitch or two.

The above hat used a V-stitch constructed from two double crochet stitches placed in the same hole.

Crocheting the turnbuckle cap incorporated bobbles which were constructed by chaining a few stitches in the round and then single crocheting around the chain several times turning the work.

Knitting VS Crochet

I think it's interesting how similar style hats can be created by both knitting and crochet, but the most interesting thing about knitting verses crochet is the stitches.

In knitting there are two basic stitches: Knit and Purl stitch. Aside from casting on and binding off, everything is a variation of those two stitches.

In crochet the basic stitches are:
chain
slip stitch
single crochet
double crochet
triple crochet
half-double crochet

Like knitting, the designs are all created with variations of the basic stitches.


 




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