If you've been in the webiverse lately and follow anything to do with knitting, you've probably heard of knooking. It's not a craft that I would say has taken the world by storm, but it has sparked some interest among knit and crochet enthusiasts. I'm not sure who invented knooking, but it was originally published by
Leisure Arts. Basically, knooking is a technique by which you use a crochet hook with a point end that has a hole in it. That hole holds a piece of string and helps to carry the stitches that are picked up along the starting chain of the piece. The technique produces a piece that has actual knit and purl stitches, just like in knitting, but with only one hook.
I sat down to try this out last night. I encountered a few problems - mostly due to already knowing how to crochet and having to get over the mindset that I was crocheting because I had a hook. The second problem was that I was making a hat in the round. This means that my holding cord was sometimes sitting on two rows at a time and making the piece bunch. I would need to stop, pull some of it out, and lengthen the knitting back out. Other than that the going is kind of slow because I'm still training my hands. Once I get the hang of it I'm sure it will be faster.
Overall, I think it would be a process that could come in handy; especially for beginners that would like to make knit objects but have problems manipulating both needles. I enjoy picking up new techniques and getting started cost me about $20. Ten for the needles and ten for a hat pattern book I wanted. You can also buy a large set of the hooks for thinner and thicker yarns for $20 from Leisure Arts. I am hoping fervently that more patterns appear for knooking, but I also think that ANY knit pattern can be adapted to the knook technique. Bigger projects require a longer holding yarn. I may even write some myself. :)
An eclectic mix of knitting, crocheting, quilting, spinning, and adventures of a dynamic mother of five. I enjoy life and pursuing what it has to offer!
Craftsy
Hello... I am a male crocheter and have been only crocheting for about 6 years now. I am self taught for the most part. I have tried Tunisian and double headed crochet. Lately I have been learning knooking. I have 2 major problems... Tension and fixing dropped stiches. Any help with these problems would be greatly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteDan a crochet man
Hi Dan, and kudos on being a "crochet man"! I taught my now 16-yr-old son to crochet and he still does. As for the tension and dropped stitches, I must confess I only made the hat and haven't made anything since then. For me, I had a ton of trouble with the tension mostly because the cord let the stitches fall into the fabric. This made it hard to pick them up on the next round. As for dropped stitches, they're a lot like knit stitches in that you have to use a crochet hook (not your in-use knook hook) to weave the stitches back up. I wish I could be more help! However, if you're also on Ravelry (and if not you should be. we need more men!) there is a group on there for knooking. They may be able to offer you some more advice.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information... I have never learned to knit so I am unsure on the picking up of the dropped stitches. If there is a video out there that someone knows about I would love to view it.
DeleteAgain Thanks
Dan
There is an excellent video by Jimmy Bean's Wool on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaQheXkVdvA You can also find resources on knittinghelp.com. I would also like to say that when you knook, you are as close to knitting with a crochet hook as you can get. What I've found is that it is similar to using a circular knitting needle to hold the live stitches, but with the hook as the only tip. It's also very similar to tunisian crochet, which uses the long hooks. Tunisian is limited to the length of the hook, though, which gives knooking a little bit of an advantage. It's only limited to the length of rattail (holding cord) you have available.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the tips. I have used the Knook hook to do Tunisian when it called for 200+ chains to be cast. I will look at the videos to see what I can learn from them also... Again... Thanks
ReplyDelete