Is Knitting or Crochet Easier to Learn?

Crochet is easier for most beginners. That's the short answer, and it's the one Google's own summary gives you too.

The longer answer is more interesting. We read 726 Reddit comments across 31 threads where people argue about exactly this, and counted who said what. Crochet won, clearly. But on knitting forums, knitting won. So the craft you hear about first shapes which one feels easy.

Here's what the count found, what the few people who actually timed and weighed things measured, and how to pick the right one for the thing you want to make.

Should a beginner knit or crochet?

Start with crochet if you just want to make something soon. Start with knitting if the thing you dream about is a soft, drapey sweater or socks.

The reason crochet feels easier comes down to live stitches. "In most crochet, the artisan usually has only one live stitch on the hook," as Wikipedia's crochet entry puts it, "while a knitter keeps an entire row of stitches active simultaneously." Drop a knit stitch and it can run down several rows. Let go of a crochet hook and your work just sits there, waiting.

Norman Schwarze, who runs the knitting blog Nimble Needles, says crochet "requires a bit less dexterity and multitasking and can thus be said to be easier." He adds the part people skip: once you're past the start, "advanced crochet projects or knitting projects will be very similar in difficulty." The gap is in the first few weeks, not forever.

What 726 Reddit comments actually say

We pulled the comments from 31 Reddit threads about knitting versus crochet in September 2026, across r/crochet, r/CrochetHelp, r/knitting, r/casualknitting and r/YarnAddicts. Then we sorted every comment by what it said. Most (475) never said which is easier. The other 251 did.

Comments that name an easier craft, by where they were posted. Source: PrettyPicked count of 726 comments in 31 threads, September 2026.

Across all of them, 118 said crochet is easier, 57 said knitting, and 76 said it depends. The upvotes lean even harder. Comments calling crochet easier collected 2,693 upvotes, against 417 for the knitting side.

Now look at where people were standing. On crochet subreddits, crochet won 52 to 14. On knitting subreddits, knitting won 29 to 18. Home turf matters a lot.

So the fairest number is the neutral one. r/YarnAddicts is a subreddit for people who work with yarn in general, and many of them do both crafts. There, crochet still won 48 to 14.

One more pattern kept coming up: 74 comments said the first craft you learn feels easier, and the second one feels clumsy. That's worth knowing before you judge yourself. Among the people who told us which craft they learned first, even the ones who started with knitting called crochet easier more often, 19 to 13. It's a small group, so treat it as a hint.

Off Reddit, crochet is also the more common craft. When the Craft Yarn Council surveyed 3,178 US yarn buyers in 2014, 48% said they mainly crochet and 32% mainly knit. The other 20% did both equally.

The case for starting with knitting

Not everyone agrees, and some of the pushback comes from people who've spent whole careers in yarn.

Nancy Queen founded the yarn shop NobleKnits, owned two yarn stores and wrote four books on needle crafts. Her advice goes the other way: "If you really can't decide which one to start with, I recommend getting started with knitting because it tends to be a bit easier to get the hang of in the beginning."

Matt Spiers, founding editor of Gathered and formerly of Simply Crochet magazine, refuses to pick. "There's no simple answer to which is easier when it comes to knitting vs crochet," he writes in his comparison, "it all depends on the individual."

Knitting has one real beginner advantage. You only need two moves, knit and purl, and almost everything else is built from them. Crochet asks you to learn several stitch heights early on. If your brain likes a small set of rules, knitting may click faster for you.

Even the Craft Yarn Council, the US yarn industry's trade group, won't settle it. Its knit vs crochet page ends with: "Decide for yourself. We hope you learn both."

Knitting vs crochet, side by side

Speed from Brooke Ali's timed test (2026). Yarn figures from Interweave's weighed swatches (2023). Prices from the Lion Brand store, September 2026.

Is crochet faster than knitting?

Usually, yes. Crochet stitches are taller, so each one covers more ground. According to Wikipedia's crochet entry, citing the author Margaret Hubert, a single crochet stitch is about twice the height of a knit stitch in the same yarn, and a double crochet is about four times.

Fiber artist Brooke Ali put a clock on it. She made a 4-inch square in each craft with the same acrylic yarn and 5 mm tools, and posted her times: 21 minutes 54 seconds knitting, 15 minutes 43 seconds crocheting. That's roughly 28% less time for crochet. It's one maker and one square, so read it as a sign, not a law.

Reddit agrees in bulk. Of the comments that talked about speed, 97 said crochet is faster and 32 said knitting is.

Does crochet use more yarn than knitting?

Yes, but the popular "a third more" figure is a rough guess. Interweave editor Amy Gunderson actually weighed swatches: same yarn, same 6 mm tool size, 20 stitches by 20 rows each.

Her numbers work out to about 60% more yarn for single crochet than knit stockinette, 36% more for half double crochet, and 27% more for double crochet. Garter stitch, the easiest knitting pattern, used more yarn than all three crochet stitches.

Why does this matter to a beginner? A crochet blanket eats yarn. If you're watching your budget, a knit scarf stretches a skein further. And if you'd rather buy the chunky blanket than make it, our nursery decorating ideas show where a soft knit throw earns its spot.

How much does it cost to start?

Almost nothing, and about the same for both. In September 2026 the Lion Brand store listed an aluminum crochet hook at $4.00 and basic 10-inch straight knitting needles at $3.99. A skein of worsted acrylic yarn ran $4.99 to $5.99.

So either craft starts at roughly $10. The costs split later. Knitters tend to collect needle types, and interchangeable needle sets run $37.95 to $125. Crocheters spend their extra money on yarn instead.

Which is easier on your hands?

Nobody has settled this, and anyone who tells you otherwise is guessing. The Arthritis Foundation's needlework guide gives tips for both crafts and doesn't pick a side. Reddit split too: 12 comments found knitting gentler on their hands, 9 found crochet gentler.

Left-handed? Both crafts use both hands. The Craft Yarn Council suggests lefties try "continental" knitting, where the yarn sits in your left hand, and recommends learning the standard way where you can, because patterns assume it.

Pick crochet if, pick knitting if

Pick crochet if:

• You want a finished thing this week, like a coaster, a hat or a granny square
• You're drawn to blankets, bags, baskets or little stuffed animals
• Dropped stitches sound like your personal nightmare

Pick knitting if:

• The dream project is a sweater, socks or anything that should drape and stretch
• You like learning two moves and repeating them until they're automatic
• Someone in your life knits and can sit next to you

That last point beats every other. The Craft Yarn Council found that people "usually learn to crochet or knit from friends or family." A patient teacher on the couch matters more than which craft is easier on paper.

Can crochet be made by machine?

Not in any shop you'll walk into. "Knitting can be accomplished by machine, while many crochet stitches can only be crafted by hand," says Wikipedia. Knit and crochet designer Marly Bird puts it plainly: "if you see real crochet in the store, then it's been crafted by hand."

To be precise, university researchers in Germany have described a prototype machine that crochets (Storck and colleagues, 2023). It isn't making your sweaters.

This is why a handmade crochet blanket costs what it costs. Every stitch was a person's hand. If you'd rather give something handmade than make it, our piece on why handmade gifts land harder explains what people actually notice, and the macrame wall hangings guide covers a cousin craft that's mostly knots.

Your first hour, either way

Buy one H-8 (5 mm) crochet hook and one skein of smooth, light-colored worsted yarn. Light colors show you each stitch, and smooth yarn doesn't split. Learn the chain and single crochet, then make a square 20 stitches wide.

If it clicks, you've found your craft. If your hands fight it, trade the hook for a pair of US 8 needles, the same size, and try a garter-stitch square instead. Around $10 and one evening tells you more than any argument online, including this one. Once you've got a square you're proud of, the vintage clothing hunters chasing deadstock Coogi knits can tell you exactly what good hand-knit work should look like decades from now.

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