tejer o no tejer
what's the subtle difference between one needle or two?
I’m sure I’ve made my personal aversion for crochet clear.
When I was younger, I hated both knitting AND crochet and vowed to do neither. As I got older, I would to crochet during class just to keep my hands busy. I hated it.
How little we know, though I’m now wondering if my initial feelings of hatred were an attempt to expose myself to weaving as quickly as possible.
Where I live now, tejer refers to both the act of knitting AND crochet. You can clarify which one by clarifying how many needles you’re using. I’ve only found one store near me that sells dos agujas*
Don’t get me wrong. I admire the craft, as it is one of the oldest fabric making techniques in the world. There are so many crafters making beautiful, sexy, iconic things like bbymutha (https://www.freakbastard.net/), Ore Akinde and A Cup of Stitches. I’ve even used crochet to make things I could ultimately be proud of.
But I really really really don’t like crochet. I don’t like how I hold the crochet hooks and it seems to worsen my knitting injuries. I have never been able to read my work and I don’t love the fabric crochet creates. I hate counting yarn overs and I hate unraveling. It uses so much yarn.
I’ve used it before to create quick lace, to repair knitting, to stabilize knitting, to seam…knitting. It’s really just a tool for me, never the main attraction. Yes, amigurumi is adorable, and it’s hard to pass up a stuffed toy, but crochet is rarely front of mind for me.
The only granny square I know is the willow granny square. I once used it to make a wedding blanket and now I’m using it to memorialize some paintings my parents have had since I was a kid. But that project lives at their house, worked on maybe once a year, a lot less these days.
I do use crochet. I just don’t crochet.
To it’s credit, because I do think crochet deserves credit, I really do want to learn to remake my cute little crocheted skirt that knows how to groove with me and my tía has some doilies, the patterns of which I would hate to be lost to time. I am crochet curious, but I also recognize how little I actually enjoy of it.
My tía is really good at crochet. In the past month, she’s made two pillowcases from random fabrics we’ve been given, crocheting a border along the top. She just makes up patterns as she goes, listening to her inner voice without overthinking it.
I used her awl fabric piercing technique to pick up crocheted stitches along a skirt to knit up a waistband. Now she’s trying to convince me to crochet a hem, since it is a pretty short skirt. Who knows, maybe I’ll take her up on it.
I WANT to like crochet. I feel like I have to like crochet. Crochet feels Black to me. I know far more Black crocheters than knitters, and in the parts of the world I am from, crochet is actually more useful.
I just can’t get over my aversion to it. I once made a wonderful set of sleeves with mostly the chain and treble stitches. It was so easy and so cute. I could never make it again.
My greatest story as a costume tech was when I used a bobby pin and thread to crochet a fabric to repair a dress, DURING a performance.
So I’m really trying to understand why, what’s my beef with crochet? Why isn’t it relaxing? What do I enjoy so much about knitting that I want to be a master?
Knitting is just a nicer fabric for me. You can make it dense, you can make it light, you can make it twist and stretch. It can’t hold itself like crochet can, but it has such a great drape.
I’m a fashion designer, not a sculpture artist. They are similar processes but very different disciplines.
Knitting math works better for my brain. I enjoy the calculations more. It’s two movements (sometimes more, but mostly two), over and over again. I feel satisfied when I complete a project, or a swatch, or work out a tricky design. I love the journey. I don’t have to think too much, once the upfront math is done. I just make it up as I go, too.
I love looking at knitting needles, comparing plastic to steel to bamboo. I once had a beautiful set of olive wood knitting needles that were just a dream.
I wish I knew where my love of knitting comes from. I likely wouldn’t have started unless a childhood friend gave me a kit and a classmate taught me how to purl. If I didn’t know I could pursue knitwear as a specialty in fashion school or become a master hand knitter when I was over architecture school, I probably wouldn’t have continued.
Knitting has helped me through so many traumatizing moments, rough breakups, a van crashing into me, growing up. It’s given me so much passion and purpose and discipline. Knitting has taught me to meditate, to appreciate details, to feel time. To hold time in my hands.
It’s given me an excuse to travel. It’s given me new friends. It’s taught me new skills, even outside of knitting.
Weaving does something similar for me. With my floor loom, it’s a whole body experience, connecting my mind to my presence. With my table loom, it’s a science experiment and music lesson all at once. Even my little pin loom is at least a game.
Tunisian crochet, sort of the happy medium between knitting and crochet, is so much fun for me. The things I like about crochet and the things I like about knitting come together to create something lovely and new. I like to use tiny crochet hooks with Tunisian crochet techniques to have these delicate bits of fabric to play with.
I know, just as well as anyone else, there’s a world for all of these crafts. I don’t think I have a similar gripe with various sewing techniques (well I don’t love needlepoint). I recognize that they all have their place and if I’m fortunate enough to have the skill, then may I also have the wisdom to know when to use them.
I don’t think it matters much why I like to knit or why I don’t like to crochet. I like to ask myself questions about what and why I do things, really dig into what the point is. But there may not be an easy answer.
Or maybe the answer is incredibly easy.
I just do.
ON THE HEDDLES
I’m working on a panelled fabric with Noro yarn and wool coned yarn. I’m trying to practice doing the same thing over and over again to learn more about the technique and the fibers I’m using.
ON THE NEEDLES
I’m working on some stock for markets, including more Mitered Square Shawls. I’m planning to start another CHISE sweater by Maysa Tomikawa. This is one of my favorite knitwear garments and probably my favorite test knit ever. I have all blue yarns in different shades that I think will look wonderful in this pattern.
FLIPPING PAGES
I’ve been reading I Deliver Packages in Beijing by Hu Anyan. Probably one of my favorite books this year and a reminder that work and commercialized labor are ass across the world. We really need to think about what kind of work we want to do and see others have to do in the future because our lives really don’t have to be like this.
If you like my reading my voice, you’ll love the sound of it! I stream twice weekly on Twitch /followingfatestrings (MON & WED 11-2pm)
You can see more about my schedule on Discord