Suggestions for productiveness

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My son was pried from my fingers by the grandparents and whisked away to Texas for a couple of weeks (I KNEW there was a reason they begged repeatedly to visit us for Christmas). Hubby is working long hours and I am just so so sad with my son gone. Literally everything reminds me of him, I don't know how I will let go in 11 years. Is it bad I wish for him to be one of those middle-aged men that lives in our basement lol? Everyone keeps saying this is time to do "me things" and I just want to imagine cartoon anvils falling on them lol. I don't have any "me" things. Everything I love to do I did with my Samuel so before my heart completely shrivels up in the next two weeks I thought I could try knitting or crocheting? I watched YouTube videos and they make it look so easy and cheap. All I need is one thing of the big ball of giant thread and either a crochet needle or a pair of knitting needles right? Doesn't look like it will take up space if I just get one (or one pair of) needle(s) and a one ball of thread. Although knitting seems a tad more complicated than basic crocheting. So I thought I would ask all you experienced folks who probably have done/do both. Which would you suggest?

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Oh I just wanted something to do, but something productive to do AND it can bring my son glee?! Sign me up! I will request hubby to take me to our 24/7 Walmart when he gets off and get the crochet needle. You're right I did find from the videos crocheting is less intimidating and it seems almost easier because they look to be gigantic stitches (crochets?) versus the knitting seems to be really small, almost precise stitches (knits?) due to them needing to be/look uniform. I am noticing some of the videos say different sizes of crochet hook. One of the pretty videos I saw at www.youtube.com/watch?v=npIsh-o9AM0 she has 12 different needles (yes I paused the video and counted lol) and they all look the same size to me, but she pulls one out and says you need a 4 mm crochet hook. What size hook would I need to make a crochet animal (my son would loooove that)? She also said for the yarn she's using she needed that hook. I didn't know there were different sizes of yarn, so what size should I look for in that? Would all these sizes be written on the hooks and yarns or the packages they come in? Thanks for the suggestion Red!

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Jan 1, 2016 1:32:16 GMT @redfish said:

Usually the pattern you want,, and the yarn package itself suggests the hook size to use. They aren't always the same, though. Sometimes it depends on the project and, of course, you gauge. Don't worry about that yet!

Yarn comes in many different sizes called weights. From lace weight up to super bulky. Your standard is worsted weight. There is also crochet thread. I saw a lady make a beautiful cardigan from crochet thread. Took her forever and she swore she'd never do it again! Just cruising through a few animal patters, most use worsted weight.

What animal(s) does you son like?

Ah I see, it's slightly more complicated than I thought. I initially thought there was only one big yarn and all the crocheting used that now I see that's not the case. My son likes penguins

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This could be the start of an obsession, @rachelmcmurtrie, specially if you visit the Ravelry site. I do both, but I agree that crochet would probably be easier to learn (and it grows fast). Also, it's very portable. Hope you have loads of fun learning. Samuel will be thrilled with his penguin. And this will be something you can teach him as part of home-schooling. Knitting, crochet and other fibre arts aren't the exclusive domain of women.

Oh, and we want a picture in time, OK?

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@redfish, Red thanks SO much for hunting those links for me, I will definitely go look! That pack of crochet hooks was the exact one I was looking at Walmart as well. Great minds.. I was reading up yarn today and did find about a few different types. Lace yarn tugs at my heart since it is so fuzzy and soft and cuddly looking/feeling, but I was reading that worsted weight yarn (red heart brand) would be the one to go with for beginners. In a light color so I can see the stitches. Our Walmart carries this brand so I think I'll double check if I can use those for the patter I pick and then go with that.

@kiwifarmgal, I am very much hoping for it to be an obsession. I need a healthy obsession that doesn't center on vanity, although I'm sure crocheting could go in that direction as well lol! Really boys and/or men knight and crochet? First time I've heard of that. I think my husband might object, as it is he doesn't like our son watching My Little Ponies the cartoon lol. He would rather he enjoy cartoons about dinosaurs and manly trucks lol. I will make sure to post pictures of how lopsided and awful my first crocheting endeavor turns out just for you

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Hey @redfish , what do you think of www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oK_xiMrA9M or www.youtube.com/watch?v=N36EVCTbe1M Do you think that either would be too hard/complicated to embark on as my first crochet endeavor? The first video I would have to look at other videos since she just says "make a magic ring of 10 double crochets" and such and fast forwards it, the second one is a bit more in-depth.

I also tried both of your third links www.web.archive.org/web/20111124225231 and www.freepatternsdonnascrochetdesigns.com/penguins-free-crochet-pattern.html separately as well as together how you typed it as www.web.archive.org/web/20111124225231/http://www.freepatternsdonnascrochetdesigns.com/penguins-free-crochet-pattern.html and nothing pops up. What did I do wrong?

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Melissa and/or Wendy I do want to apologize for mistakenly posting this threat under this section. I assumed sewing included knitting and crocheting until @kiwifarmgal, mentioned fibre arts in a post above. Sure enough I went to the fibre arts section of this forum and there were all sorts of knitting/crocheting threads there. Please do move the thread if you are wanting to, I will keep my future posts on this subject in that area instead of this sewing one.

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@rachelmcmurtrie, there are a lot of men that are into knitting, quilting, sewing and all that stuff - did you know that knitting was reportedly a man's craft at the beginning, before becoming more of a womanly thing? For some inspiration to get your 2 men looking at these crafts from another perspective, check out Kaffe Fassett (fibre artist, quilter, knitter). He's doing a workshop here in Wellington at the end of this month and I broke the bank to afford to be one of the participants. Can't wait.

Also worth looking at:
www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/11/men-who-love-to-knit/

and

whileshenaps.com/2015/01/gender-and-sewing.html

and

www.crochetconcupiscence.com/2012/09/20-wonderful-male-crochet-designers-and-artists/

Have fun.

[Maura]

It's fine to shop at Walmart for your first crochet hook and icky yarn. If you decide to really do something, find a knitting store. Even Joanne fabrics if that is the best you can do. I suggest Wool-Ease yarn for a beginner. The price is very very reasonable for what you get. Online, there is knitpicks.com and several other sites.