Crochet History Confidential: The Fascinating Origin Of The Craft

Crochet has shaped fashion, challenged norms, and even played a role in wartime espionage. Intrigued? Let’s explore its extraordinary history.

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Table Of Contents

• The Mysterious Beginnings
• From Humble Irish Origins To Royalty
• Crochet In The Modern Age
• 21st Century Crocheting

Mysterious Beginnings: History Of Crochet

The origins of crochet as we know it today, is more recent than you might expect! Evidence shows it originated as its own craft in the mid-1800s. 

Crocheted edging was often used to decorate lace pieces in 18th & 19th century (shown in many items housed at the Victoria and Albert Museum.)²

The earliest known published crochet pattern was in a Dutch magazine called Penélopé, in 1823. It listed instructions and systems for five types of purses. 

The first patterns for crocheted bags were published in Germany and The Netherlands in magazines in 1835. By this time, patterns introduced two more stitches to create a variance in the single and double crochet designs.

Yet crochet’s family tree is full of fascinating ancestors! Here are some who no doubt made their mark…

It’s hard to narrow down the exact origins and who invented it.

The most reliable and oldest link to crochet is a unique Chinese embroidery technique or the French method of ‘tambouring.’ 

Tambour lace was a lace fabric technique popular in 18th century. It was where you stretched fine netting over a frame,³ and used a tiny, pointed hook to create chain stitches to form patterns over the netting.⁴

Some sources suggest crochet originated in Arabia.

The technique was reportedly passed along the trade routes towards the Mediterranean and into Europe, having originated in the far east.

In the early 1800s, another often-cited precursor to crochet came about: shepherd’s knitting, along with the shepherd’s hook. It’s thicker than a modern crochet hook but still has a hooked end. It looks like a shepherd’s staff.

A journal entry written by Elizabeth Grant in The Memoirs of a Highland Lady (1797-1830) references shepherd’s knitting. It’s the art of making garments made of cloth by looping string/yarn with tools like a hook:

“When he was not well, he wore a plaid cloak and a night cap, red or white, made by his industrious wife in a stitch she called shepherd’s knitting. She did it with a little hook she manufactured for herself out of the tooth of an old tortoiseshell comb. She used to go on looping her home-spun wool as quickly as fingers could move, making not only caps but drawers and waistcoats for winter wear for the old husband she cared for.”

The Memoirs of a Highland Lady (1797-1830) by Elizabeth Grant

There’s historical proof shepherd’s knitting was practiced in Estonia, The Balkans, Sweden, Iceland, Scotland, and Romania.

Where Did The Word Crochet Come From?

People only started using ‘slip stitch crochet’ to refer to the craft in the mid-1800s. It was only later it became known as just crochet.

‘Crochet’ comes from the Old French as a diminutive of ‘croche’, which in term is derived from the Germanic word ‘croc’, meaning ‘small hook.’¹

(The word also has roots in ‘crochetage,’ meaning a single stitch used to join separate bits of lace together, used in French lacemaking in the 1600s.)

When Was The Crochet Hook Invented?

The modern crochet hook is related to a tambour needle and the shepherd’s hook. Crochet hooks have survived from the 19th century.

According to the recent historical record, in 1917 America, the Boye Needle Co. manufactured the first American crochet hooks. In 1923, the first aluminum hooks appeared.

For more, read this article by Nancy Nehring.

Past crochet hooks have been made of ivory, bone, and porcupine quills.

The Origins Of Crochet Stitches

• The slip stitch, first originating from shepherd knitting, is used as a crochet method and joining stitches together to create rings.
• The chain stitch, developed after the slip stitch, is the most basic one. It’s used to begin nearly every project.
• The single crochet stitch is the easiest stitch to learn besides the two first mentioned. (Double crochet stitch in the UK.)
• The double crochet stitch is a more complicated version of single crochet, and it’s versatile. Used in many situations and projects. (Treble stitch in the UK.)
• The half-double crochet stitch was developed as a half stitch or an in-between stitch to single and double crochet. (Half treble stitch in the UK.)

What Came First, Knitting Or Crochet?

Knitting came first, by hundreds of years!

The ancient technique of Nålebinding is an ancestor to knitting and crochet. Nålebinding is Danish, meaning ‘binding with a needle.’

The women of the Nanti Tribe (indigenous people of Camisea in Peru in South America) still practice Nålebinding! The technique also remains increasingly popular in Scandinavia and the Balkans.

Nålebinding is often mistaken for knitting, like in the often-cited ancient Egyptian socks found in a tomb as the ‘oldest knitted items in the world.’

For an informative and entertaining video on the the ancient origins of crochet, watch this mini essay by Ella Rose.

From Humble Irish Origins To Royalty

Because of the awful poverty, the Irish needed to make money. Irish crochet lace needlework was a great answer. Introduced to Ireland due to the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849), the Irish used it as famine relief.

Developed in the mid-1800s in Ireland, Irish crochet lace imitated expensive Venetian point laces. The new method was cheaper.

A French crocheter born in 1829, Mademoiselle Riego de la Branchardiere, wrote the first crochet pattern, and published crochet and knitting books. Despite being French, she’s credited for the invention of Irish crochet.

Traditionally made with a thin steel hook and crochet linen thread, it’s produced by crocheting separate lace motifs.

When you finish, you assemble them on a cloth. Afterward, you baste it together (sew together with thread for short-term tacking).

Following, you join the motifs together with picots and chain stitches. Remove the basting stitches. The modern version is with mercerized thread instead of a crochet linen thread. Want an example of how it looks? See this photo.

For more, read Crochet: History and Technique by the author Lis Paludan.

Teachers were taught the craft and taught young people how to crochet in schools. People sent them to show their knowledge to others.

Around 16,000 women were crocheting lace by 1851.

When Irish people migrated to the US, they introduced their crochet skills to Americans. That might be why it’s so common as a hobby!

Since Irish Crochet was a cheap way of making lace, the higher class society in early Victorian Britain considered it ‘below them.’

To make crochet more fashionable, Queen Victoria bought the lace from the women in Ireland who were trying to make money. 

She learned crocheting herself and produced eight crocheted scarves.

She gave each one to veterans of the South African war. Her efforts gave crochet a boost in popularity!

Further Developments In Europe

1844 – The process of mercerization was invented. This is a process added to cotton manufacturing to strengthen it and more durable. This means it becomes a lot easier to crochet with and becomes a more popular fiber of choice. 

1846 – In the UK, magazines published patterns on making Spanish needle lace. The method of making crochet has changed too. Instead of only working through the back loop and the yarn cut off at each row’s end. It shows working both, and the rows worked back and forth and turned. Like crochet today.

The Later 1840s – As discussed in this post, people produced the method of Irish crocheted lace. It becomes a way for impoverished people to make money in The Great Irish Potato Famine.

The 1850s and 1860s – Due to the industrial revolution, things became mass-produced and cheaper to buy.

This includes crochet hooks. It also causes middle-class and upper-class women to have more free time. Crochet became popular as a hobby.

1867 – The popular, and still running to this day, fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar was founded.

1910–1920 – Due to the Edwardian period in the UK, fashion changed and became more detailed. Popular styles of crocheted clothes and pattern books change to reflect this.

Crochet In The Modern Age

The World Wars – The governments encourage women to contribute to the war effort and crochet items for the troops and soldiers in need on the home front.

After World War II – With restrictions on textiles lifted, crochet is rediscovered as a hobby. It became more popular, as did other fiber arts.

The 1960s & 1970s – Crochet items have become fashionable due to the hippie and other alternative subcultures. In the 60s, the granny square and crocheted homeware appeared and became more popular.

1994 – Gwen Blakley Kinsler founded The Crochet Guild of America. She aimed to encourage people to discover the enjoyable hobby of making a crochet item.

21st Century Crocheting

Crochet and social media have merged, becoming famous among North Americans and causing the creation of crochet blogs and communities.

Previously forgotten crochet techniques got a revival as many more people embrace handmade crafts.

In 2007, Ravelry, the knitting, crochet, and fiber arts forum, is created. People publish crochet designs there.

Creators offer online workshops sharing techniques and patterns to crochet. Generous designers supply free crochet patterns as a way to showcase their work and gain exposure within the making community.

Conclusion

There’s the history of crochet. Did you discover something interesting? As crochet evolves, may the amazing origins never fade from memory. 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this fascinating topic. Leave a comment!

Looking for more info on crochet? See here.

References

1. Earnshaw, Pat. 1984. A Dictionary of Lace. [Second edition]. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
2. Museum, Victoria and Albert. “Border | Unknown | V&A Explore The Collections.” Victoria and Albert Museum: Explore the Collections, n.d. https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O293925/border-unknown/.
3. “Tambour Frame,” June 13, 2017. https://trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/tools/tensioning/tambour-frame.
4. Encyclopedia Britannica. “Tambour | Crewelwork, Needlework, Embroidery,” May 27, 1999. https://www.britannica.com/art/tambour.

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