The History of Crochet

Hook

Little is known of crochet's early history. There are theories that crochet could have existed as early as 1500 BC, as part of nun's work, which included needlepoint lace and bobbin lace. There are three main theories for the origin of crochet. During the Renaissance, women crocheted several strands of thread producing fabrics similar to lace.

At the end of the eighteenth century, tambour evolved into what the French called crochet in the air, when the background fabric was discarded and the stitch worked on its own. Tambour hooks were as thin as sewing needles, and therefore the work must have been done with very fine thread.

A type of lace called cheyne lace was made with a hook from the late eighteenth century and a primitive form of crochet called pjonting can be found from about 1820.

Lis Paludan theorizes that crochet evolved from traditional practices in Arabia, South America, or China, but there is no decisive evidence of the craft being performed before its popularity in Europe during the 19th century. In Europe Crochet began boosted by Mlle Riego de la Branchardiere, well known for her ability to take needle and bobbin lace designs and turn them into crochet patterns that could be duplicated. She published numerous patterns and also claimed to have invented lace-like crochet, today called Irish crochet.

Crochet

The first published crochet patterns appeared in the Dutch magazine Pénélopé in 1824. Other indicators that crochet was new in the 19th century include the 1847 publication A Winter's Gift, which provides detailed instructions for performing crochet stitches, although it presumes that readers understand the basics of other needlecrafts.

Donna Kooler proposes that early industrialization is the key to the development of crochet. Crochet technique consumes more thread than comparable textile production methods and cotton is well suited to crochet. Kooler identifies a possible problem with the tambour hypothesis: period tambour hooks that survive in modern collections cannot produce crochet because the integral wing nut necessary for tambour work interferes with attempts at crochet.

In the 19th century, as Ireland was facing the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849), crochet lace work was introduced as a form of famine relief (the production of crocheted lace being an alternative way of making money for impoverished Irish workers).Fashions in crochet changed with the end of the Victorian era in the 1890s. Crocheted laces in the new Edwardian era, peaking between 1910 and 1920, became even more elaborate in texture and complicated stitching.

After World War I, far fewer crochet patterns were published, and most of them were simplified versions of the early 20th century patterns. There are many more new pattern books with modern patterns being printed, and most yarn stores now offer crochet lessons in addition to the traditional knitting lessons. Filet crochet, Tunisian crochet, broomstick lace, hairpin lace, cro-hooking, and Irish crochet are all variants of the basic crochet method.

Crochet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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