Its the beginning of a new year and its a time when people make resolutions and try new things. I figure I have some readers who are darn fine crocheters and might want to learning knitting. I figure I have the oppsite too; talented knitters who would like to take up crochet. So this Sunday Monday Stitch let’s have a few basic lessons for the hookers that want to try pointy sticks… and next Sunday I’ll have tips for the pointy stick crowd that want to be come hookers.

For crocheters that want to learn knitting here is what you need: a thick yarn, say bulky weight (or thicker), needles in size 10 (or bigger) and two crochet hooks in size K (or bigger). Yep, crochet hooks. Just bear with me.

Brava Bulky Yarn – $2.99 Versatility meets affordability; Brava is a 100% acrylic yarn that will keep up with all of life’s adventures! Brava Bulky is a hard-wearing yarn that is sure to work up quickly and works wonders for …

Now promise me you will remember that:

1) Beginners always hold the yarn too tight. I betcha you did that when you were a beginning crocheter. You are going to go through that phase again and that is perfectly okay.

2) Your tension and gauge are going to be all over the place and that is okay too. Beginners need to learn the motions first. Refinements come later.

3) Playing with yarn is fun. Even when it makes you say dirty words and throw things at the walls, it still counts as happy-fun-play time.

Caspian Straight Needles – $7.99Oceanic waves of sea green, teal and marine ripple across Caspian – the newest addition to the Knit Picks Options family Showing off a sea-inspired colorway, Caspian boasts the same strong,…

(FYI, these lessons are a bit non-traditional. I figure that there are TONS of videos out there with the basic, long tail cast-on and the traditional way to make knit/purl stitches. If those worked for you, you probably wouldn’t be reading this tutorial. This one is skewed. Its geared for crafters that are comfortable with crochet and haven’t been able to pick up the trick of knitting. I think there is an audience for it.)

Knitting Lessons for Crocheters – Part 1, Casting On

There are hundreds, yes hundreds, of cast-ons for knitters. We are going to start with the cast-on that uses a crochet hook and a knitting needle. Its called the crochet cast-on.

Once you have a line of stitches on your needle, you’re ready to knit. So lets start by making knit stitches… with crochet hooks. Think of this as working your way up to knitting with needles. You’ll get there (and faster than you think) but let’s start out with thee training wheel on the bike. After all if you’re a crocheter you are probably pretty comfortable using that hook.

Knitting Lessons for Crocheters – Part 2, the Knit Stitch

Knitting Lessons for Crocheters – Part 3, the Purl Stitch

There you go, Jenn’s way of getting happy hookers to be happy knitters. It may be a bit unconventional but I’ve had good results with these techniques. Hope they work for you too!