I have never done either but I am pregnant and nervous and looking for a craft to keep me busy, plus I really want to be able to make cute stuff for the baby. How would I go about learning and which is better to try? How long would it take to learn?

The secret to successful cross stitch is counting accurately.
The best way to learn, is with a small kit.
The patterns in the kits will be printed on a grid, with a different symbol for each color. The thread colors are numbered.
Start with something simple. You would not want to attempt a rose that has 20 different shades of pink for your first project. Take your time in setting up, so that even if you only have three shades of pink, you won’t get the light pink confused with the medium pink.

How long would it take to learn? Can I learn from a book or the internet? Is it difficult to learn? where is the best place to find patterns?

I learned cross-stitch in under 1 hour, you can find patterns for this for free on the internet or you can buy books.

You can buy single-pattern sets which contain the needles, the embroidery thread, the pattern, the fabric and often also have a tutorial leaflet included. This is a great way to start.

Tutorials are available on Youtube.

I also recently taught myself crochet through a free pattern on the internet.

So, I’m a guy and I LOVE to do crafts. A long time ago, I had a needlepoint kit. It was SUPER fun! And now, I really want to start up again. But I also learned there is something called Cross stitch which is similar. I just don’t know which one to chose! Can someone help me, listing the pros and cons of each? Thank You!

Actually, you’ve got three different choices:

Counted cross stitch (XS) – which starts with the basic ‘X’ stitch, but also includes what are called ’specialty stitches’ (of which there are hundreds), uses all sorts of different colors and types of fabrics and uses everything from basic embroidery floss to silks to metallics, with occasional ’specialty fibers’ like fuzzy stuff and chenille, and plenty of beads, buttons & charms, depending on the design. In XS you start with the chart of a design you’d like to do, then either follow all the choices set out in the chart (fabric, threads, etc.), or change it to suit your preferences and start stitching. You follow the chart very closely as you go, that is where the ‘counted’ part of the stitching comes in. You can stitch with your fabric in a hoop, a frame, a q-snap, stretcher bars, or even just ‘in hand’. Something wonderful about XS is that there is no one ‘right’ way to do any of it, so there is a lot of flexibility in it, and opportunities to create truly unique works of needleart. Stitching can be done on pre-made items (like hand towels and bibs), or on fabric and then finished into everything from framed pieces to pillows to bellpulls to needlework accessories, to work to be fitted into boxtops, coasters, trivets, and mugs, to aprons, napkins, placemats, tablecloths, and breadcovers, to holiday ornaments, holiday stockings, afghans and quilts. You can also use a special fabric called ‘waste canvas’ that gives you a removable grid to work on pretty much any fabric surface – denim jacket, jeans, oxford shirts, t-shirts, etc. So, you have a lot of flexibility in what design you stitch (there are hundreds of thousands of patterns out there, many for free), what you stitch it on, what your end product is going to look like and what you’re going to finish it up into. The cost can range as little as under $10 for everything needed to complete a design (needles, hoop, threads, fabric, design) to $300 – depending mainly on the cost of the pattern, fabric, and threads/beads.

Needlepoint (NP) – which starts with a painted design on a canvas, uses everything from a basic tent stitch (‘/") to hundreds of different types of stitches, using all sorts of specialty threads (floss, perle, satin, ribbon, rayon, suede, metallics, fuzzy stuff, etc.) and occasional beads. This can result in a truly spectacular piece of needleart, but can be extremely expensive. Because you are starting with a canvas that has been painted with a design, the canvas can range in price from $5 to $600, and then the specialty threads can also be expensive. Depending on how picky you are, it may be difficult to find projects you want to stitch that are in your price range (or not. = ) Since the ground material is quite stiff, it is best to finish into items that don’t need much flexibility (ornaments, stockings, pillows, boxtops, framed pieces.) However, because the design is already painted on the canvas, there is no chart to follow, you’re filling in the segments of color on the canvas with whatever stitches you’ve chosen for that section. Some more complex designs have a ’stitch guide’ available to purchase, with what stitches & threads to use in different sections. These you do follow along with, just not as closely as in XS. Most NP needs to be worked on some sort of frame or stretcher bars, to keep the canvas from being pulled out of true while being worked on. (My first piece of NP I ever did ended up looking like a parallelogram because I didn’t know this. = )

Canvaswork (CW) – is a combination of the freedom of the former with the stitchwork of the latter. That is, you start with an unpainted piece of canvas, but use a pattern to count where to place the design on the canvas. The design is often a combination of all those special stitches to create a (usually) geometric work of art. A design may use and of the previously listed threads – basic floss, silks, perle, and plenty of those cool specialty fibers – as well as beads, to complete the design. You can change anything about the design – adding something or taking something away, the colors, the fibers, etc. to create your unique piece of needleart. Since the ground fabric is on a stiff canvas, like NP, it needs to be worked on some kind of stretcher bars and then finished into something that doesn’t need a lof of flexibility.

Whatever you choose – have fun with it!

I want to start a new hobby and I was thinking about knitting but then someone I know brought up crocheting and I’m just wondering whats the general difference between the two.

Also…

If I want to start either one, what are the first steps to start? Such as what type of yarn or needle to use, what patterns I should begin with, etc.

Thank you!

You can go to knitandcrochetnow.com they have good advice for beginners and videos to watch.

I am a teenager looking for some cute, quirky knitting patterns to knit for myself and friends. Any idea’s?
*NOTE* I do not knit with Double Pointed Needles because I am still learning. ALSO: I have been knitting thoroughly for almost a year.

I suggest you check out yarn manufacturers’ websites. They have fun patterns for all ages of knitters. Sites like www.lionbrand.com, www.coatsandclark.com, www.redheart.com. www.patons.com and many others have free patterns and lots of helps and tutorials available. A few of the patterns cost a little bit on some of the sites (Lion and Bernat, I think; maybe others) but most are free.

I also suggest you start working with DPNs as soon as possible. They are not hard to use, honest, and it only LOOKS like an angry porcupine attacked your knitting. If you’ve been knitting for a year, I think DPNs are next for you. Give them a try. I thought they would be impossible to use until I had to use them. A friend needed something that required DPNs. I only picked them up because I love this friend and knew this item was truly needed. It turned out to be a whole lot of drama about nothing. They aren’t hard to use at all. Sure, there are some things I do not use them for, but for other things I would now not use anything else.