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Updated 2025.

During my yarn store hopping in Austin, I met Kerry. She had decided to learn how to crochet (woo hoo!), and said that once she became comfortable with crochet, she might try knitting.

I didn’t really learn to knit until after I became proficient at crochet. I had tried to learn to knit first, but it was an abysmal failure. (That’s a whole other blog post.) It finally did take, and I now enjoy both yarn crafts.

What follows are some tips specifically for crocheters learning to knit. So, Kerry, enjoy your crocheting, and when you decide to try knitting, here you go:

Ditch the Long Needles

One of the biggest difficulties I had with knitting was maneuvering the long needles. They just felt so awkward and uncomfortable. Luckily, some friends showed me how to knit back and forth on circular needles. With circular needles the flexible cable can be long, but the actual needle part you are holding is shorter, like a crochet hook.

My go-to needles are the Hiya Hiya Interchangeables.

Try Continental

Continental knitting requires holding the yarn in your left hand. This is something that you’re probably already comfortable with from your crochet, and you’ll be able to focus more energy on learning how to form the stitches.

To see how it works with the yarn held in your left hand, you can view my youtube video on combintion knitting technique.

A Yarn Over is Not a Yarn Over

Crochet and knitting both involve wrapping yarn around, but they do it differently. In the beginning, pay careful attention to whether your yarn over is front to back or back to front. With practice, it’ll become automatic, and your hands will wrap the yarn the right way without you having to think about it. (Note: Tunisian crochet wraps the yarn like standard crochet.)

crochetyarnover
Crochet: Yarn goes from back to front.
knityarnover
Knit: Yarn goes from front to back.

Use Your Crochet Hooks…When Knitting

Most knitters use crochet hooks to pick up dropped stitches, but there are several other ways they can come in handy. Take advantage of your crochet know-how and use a crochet cast on. The crochet cast on uses a crochet hook to create the stitches on to a knitting needle. If you use a piece of scrap yarn, it becomes a provisional cast on. You can also use a crochet hook for a crochet bind off.