It's About Time : Search results for Knitting

Girls Learning to Crochet while bored Cat Sleeps Edward Thompson Davis (British 1833 - 1867)

When one of my daughters recently began to crochet, I decided to find a few paintings & a quick history of the art & craft of crochet. It wasn't that easy! Proud of her, as usual, but not many proven facts about the origins of this lovely & practical artistic craft exist to share with her or you. Hope you enjoy this brief overview Still working on it...

A Bit of the History of Crocheting

Speculation on the origins of crochet remain largely scientifically undocumented. Some sources suggest that crochet originated in Arabia, where it spread along Arab trade routes to other parts of the Mediterranean. Others speculate that crochet has roots in faraway indigenous South American tribes. Some historians believe crocheting developed independently in various cultures. Various researchers trace its roots back to ancient China, Egypt, & South America, where similar techniques of interlocking loops with a hook were used.

Crochet has been called many names throughout history including, but not limited to, netting, knotting, needle-coiling, looped needle-netting, Tunisian crochet, Irish crochet, shepherd's knitting, lace making & tatting. The term in use today, "crochet," comes from the word croc/croche, the Muddle French word for hook. It could be connected to the Norse word krokr, which also means hook. The French, Dutch, & Swedish people call it crochet, while in Italian it’s uncinetto.

Woman Crocheting 1847 Julius Exner (Danish 1825 - 1910 )

What is considered to be crochet today can be traced back to the 15C - 17C. Many cultures from that period have claimed their crochet history including: France, South Africa, England, Italy, Arabia, & China.

Some believe that crochet started in the Middle East & then was found very soon after in Spain, much like knitting. The Middle East is known for vast trade routes that crossed the continents & some speculate that the art form would be traded along the routes as well. Much like knitting, it is difficult for archeologists to find evidence of crochet as many pieces were made from natural fibers degrade over time.

Woman Crocheting William Adolphe Bouguereau (French 1825 - 1905)

Earlier work identified as crochet was commonly made by nålebinding, an early looped yarn technique. Both knitting & crochet were born from this technique called Nålebinding, which literally means “binding with a needle” in Danish.

Nalbinding is much older than crochet or knitting. The oldest known piece dates back to 6500 BC. It was found in the 1983 excavation of Nahal Hemar Cave, an archeological cave site in Israel, on a cliff in the Judean Desert near the Dead Sea & northwest of Mount Sodom. The fabric objects found in the cave included rope baskets, fabrics, & nets. The fabric items were found covered in what was thought to be asphalt from nearby construction projects. Closer scientific analyses revealed it was, in fact, an ancient glue that dated to around 8310–8110 years ago.

Girl Crocheting Alexei Alexeivich Harlamoff (Russian 1840 - 1925)

Many of the fabric pieces found there were dated from the 7C BC. The flax fiber items were processed & spun into yarn. The archaeologists divided the fabric finds into 4 groups: yarns, nalbinding (looping), knotted netting, & twinning. The fabrics contained nalbinding assembalages, which is an early form of looping or single thread looping crochet akin to modern crochet. Nahal Hemar Cave has been currently noted as the earliest presently known site of crochet.

Nahal Hemar is conjectured to have been to be a place for religious ceremonies or magic from an ancestor cult because of the decorated skulls & carved limestone masks. Celebrants may have worn the masks to honor the dead. Other artifacts at the site such as the partial garments & animal & anthropoid figurines have bolstered the notion of activities in this cave principally serving magical beliefs. Complicating this theory is the possibility that the statue fragments may have been brought from distant locations as a donation that was part of these recognized religious rituals.

Woman Crocheting Pierre Auguste Renoir (French, 1841-1919)

Another example of of Nålebinding is believed to date back to 6000 BC. The women of the Nanti Tribe (an indigenous people of the Camisea region of Peru) still practice it. The Nanti women used nalbinding to make bracelets. The Nanti people live along Camisea & Timpía Rivers as well as along the headwaters of the Ticumpinía River in the southern jungle of Peru. Their land is part of the Kugapakori, Nahua, & Nanti Reserve. Sadly. of the 300 Nanti peoples, 2 studies reportedly written by the Energy & Mines Ministry & Health Ministry detail the negative impacts of a large gas project in the Amazon region of Peru. One report claims that as a result of the project, 22 indigenous people died between May 2002 & May 2003, & at that time 30 percent of the Nanti tribe had died since 1995.

Early evidence of Nalbinding was also found in Tybrind Vig, a Mesolithic fishing village in Denmark dating back to 4200 BC. The Late Mesolithic Stone Age settlement of Tybrind Vig, which today is submerged, is located on the west coast of the Danish island Fyn (central Denmark) facing a sea called Lillebælt. Carbon-14 dates inform us that the occupation period spanned some 1,500 years, from about 5500 to 4000 .BC. Currently most Neolithic specimens are found in Denmark, although there are some fragments from the Lake Dwellings in Switzerland. The most extraordinary finds were textiles made of twisted strings of lime & willow knitted together in a technique called "needle netting;" these are the oldest European textiles found to date. However the fabric remains from this period are extremely few so nalbinding’s true extent is unknown.

Young Woman Crocheting Pierre Auguste Renoir (Frebch, 1841-1919)

Since the Stone Age a number of Nalbinding examples have surfaced. A large quantity in cross-knit & simple looping variants appear in the Paracas & Nazca textiles from Peru & surrounding Andean regions. In Egypt over a hundred examples ranging in date from potentially as early at 200 CE through to the 12C. There are also contemporaneous examples from surrounding regions such as Dura Europos in present day Syria, Masada in present day Isreal, & Semna in present day Sudan.

Woman Crocheting Edith Martineau (British 1842 - 1909)

In other cultures, crocheting had been used for creating clothing & other decorative purposes. In east Asia, crocheting was used to create dolls dating as far back as China's Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 B.C.E.).

Surviving crocheted pieces include Egyptian socks, with a divided toe, from the 200 or 300 AD. now at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

The 550 B.C. slip-stitch is an obvious descendant of nalbinding. There is evidence that slip-stitching was done by a hook in Scotland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Estonia, Romania, & the Balkans. Crochet was known as “shepherd’s knitting” in the British Isles & in Denmark.

Tapestry crochet is a technique for designing imagery with stitches. This colorwork called for the development of a taller stitch. Instead of a stitch consisting of a single loop, a taller, square-shaped stitch—the single crochet stitch—was created. Some historians theorize that tapestry crochet possibly developed in Arabia, & it spread eastward to Tibet & westward to Spain, following the Arab trade routes immigrating into other Mediterranean countries. These routes were used between 300 A.D. to 1453 CE.

In these areas, Rashti Duz, which literally means, Rashti-style crochet, was a hugely popular fabric of the time. In Iran, Rashti Duzi is a form of traditional sewing & crocheting of Rasht. Some historians believe Rashti Duzi an ancestor of crochet began between 550 - 33 BC, using a crafted hook & brightly colored silk yarn on a woven fabric. Textile exports from Iran in the 400 AD were popular all over Europe – so much so that European kings & elders would use them to cover the graves of iconic historical figures. The Hermitage Museum in Russia houses an exquisite piece of Sassanid fabric decorated with crocheting work.

Young Woman Crocheting Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French 1841–1919)

Crochet started to take shape in Europe during the 16C (but it still wasn’t what we would recognize as crochet yet). It was originally known as “nun’s work” or “nun’s lace” due to its association with religious orders. Italy was the epicenter of handmade lacework for church textiles & exported to royalty & nobility in Europe. And Venetian lace was considered the finest quality, this was extremely delicate work done with a needle, not a hook, & the finest thread.

Arles Women Crocheting Published on Magasin Pittoresque, Paris, 1843

Crochet lace made its way to France with the help of King Louis 14th. His finance minister grew livid about the money that was being sent to Italy for lace, so he banned it's importation to France. He brought Venetian lace makers to teach locals in Normandy the art of lace making. The French eventually made it their own by changing some of the techniques & became the superior lace makers in Europe. Called “The Lace of Queens,” French lace making passed down the generations through the Benedictine Monastery Notre Dame D’Argentan Abbey.

Woman Crocheting 1903 Emilie Mundt (Danish 1842 - 1922)

In 1567, the tailor of Mary, Queen of Scots, Jehan de Compiegne, (d 1581) was a French tailor who served Mary in Scotland & England. He supplied her with silk thread for sewing & crochet, "soye à coudre et crochetz." Mary, also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scotland, Mary was 6 days old when her father died & she inherited the throne.

Woman Crocheting Eugène de Blaas (Italian 1843 - 1932)

The 1st known published instructions for crochet explicitly using that term to describe the craft in its present sense appeared in the Dutch magazine Penélopé in 1823. The 1833 volume of Penélopé describes & illustrates a shepherd's hook, & recommends its use for crochet with coarser yarn.

The earliest dated reference in English to garments made of cloth produced by looping yarn with a hook—shepherd's knitting—is in The Memoirs of a Highland Lady by Elizabeth Grant (1797–1830). The journal entry, itself, is dated 1812 was not recorded in published form until some time between 1845 & 1867.

Crocheting in the Garden at Marly Mary Stevenson Cassatt (American 1844 - 1926)

In 1844, one of the numerous books discussing crochet that began to appear in the 1840s United States: "Crochet needles, sometimes called Shepherds' hooks, are made of steel, ivory, or box-wood. They have a hook at one end similar in shape to a fish-hook, by which the wool or silk is caught & drawn through the work. These instruments are to be procured of various sizes...:

Two years later, the same author writes: "Crochet, — a species of knitting originally practised by the peasants in Scotland, with a small hooked needle called a shepherd's hook, — has, within the last 7 years, aided by taste & fashion, obtained the preference over all other ornamental works of a similar nature. It derives its present name from the French; the instrument with which it is worked being by them, from its crooked shape, termed 'crochet.' This art has attained its highest degree of perfection in England, whence it has been transplanted to France & Germany, & both countries have claimed the invention."

Lydia Crocheting Mary Stevenson Cassatt (American 1844 - 1926)

In the 19C as Ireland was facing the Great Irish Famine (1845–1849), crochet lace work was a form of famine relief as the production of crocheted lace became a method of making money for impoverished Irish workers & their families. It was triggered by a blight on the potato crop, which around 40 percent of the Irish people depended on, & resulted in around 1 million deaths. Locals would form a co-operative in order to crochet & produce products. Schools to teach crocheting were started. Teachers were trained & sent across Ireland to teach this craft.

During the Irish Famine, a woman called Mademoiselle Riego de la Blanchardiere started to teach the farmers wives a new trade & that trade was Irish crochet. The craft was perfect for famine times as it was made from easily accessible materials, could be made in any conditions (droughts, floods, harsh winters) & the final product was coveted by higher society. Crochet had the look of lace which was very fashionable at the time but crochet was much quicker to produce which helped Irish crochet become very popular, very quickly.

Lydia Crocheting 1880 Mary Stevenson Cassatt (American 1844 - 1926)

Mademoiselle Riego figured out how to crochet lace that resembled Venetian needlepoint but instead of taking 200 hours to make (as needlepoint would), the labor would be reduced to 20 hours with crochet. This suited mass production because Irish crochet is not worked in rows, instead it consists of motifs that are made individually & then joined with fans or mesh. This meant that Irish crochet creators would specialise in a particular area according to their abilities. In fact, rare & unique Irish lace designs ‘belonged’ to certain families or local groups & the construction of particular motifs was a closely guarded secret as the family & locals relied upon it for their income.

When the Irish immigrated to the Americas, they were able to take with them crocheting. Mademoiselle Riego de la Branchardiere is generally credited with the invention of Irish Crochet, publishing the1st book of patterns in 1846. Irish lace became popular in Europe & America.

Woman Crocheting 1883 Francis Davis Millet (American 1846 - 1912)

England's Queen Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria 1819–1901) popularized crochet by purchasing Irish crochet instead of expensive lace, helping women make a decent living during the potato famine, when their family farms weren’t producing an income. Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years & 216 days, which was longer than any of her predecessors, is known as the Victorian era.

1900 Queen-Victoria Crocheting

In 1900, Queen Victoria presented British military commander Lord Roberts with 8 woolen scarves, all hand crocheted by Her Majesty, with ‘VR’ embroidered in one corner. These were to be presented to “the most distinguished private soldiers serving in the South African Campaign.”

Woman Crocheting 1882 Bertha Wegmann (Danish 1847 - 1926)

Basic materials required for crochet are a hook & some type of yarn or thread. The spun fibers of the 19C were generally divided into animal & plant fibers. Animal fibers include silk, long hairs of animals such as sheep (wool), goat (angora, or cashmere goat), rabbit (angora), llama, alpaca, dog, cat, camel, yak, & muskox (qiviut). Plants used for fibers included cotton, flax (for linen), bamboo, ramie, hemp, jute, nettle, raffia, yucca, coconut husk, banana trees, soy & corn.

Woman Crocheting Norbert Goeneutte (French 1854 – 1894)

In the 19C were 6 main types of basic stitches (US crochet terminology often differs from the terminology used in Europe).

Chain stitch – the most basic of all stitches & used to begin most projects.

Slip stitch – used to join chain stitch to form a ring.

Single crochet stitch (called double crochet stitch in Europe) – easiest stitch to master

Half-double crochet stitch (called half treble stitch in in Europe) – the 'in-between' stitch, sometimes called short double crochet in vintage publications

Double crochet stitch (called treble stitch in in Europe) (yarn over once) – many uses for this unlimited use stitch

Treble (or triple) crochet stitch (called double treble stitch in in Europe) (yarn over twice)

Barefoot Young Woman Crocheting 1905 Francois Alfred DeLobbe (French 1835 - 1920))

Woman Crocheting 1918 Anna Ancher (Danish 1859 - 1935)

Girl Crocheting with her Cat 1905 Peder Mønsted (Danish 1859 - 1941)

Woman Crocheting Bruno Liljefors (Swedish 1860 - 1939)

Woman Crocheting Paul Fischer (Danish 1860 - 1934)

Woman Crocheting Peter Vilhelm Ilsted 1861 (Danish 1861 - 1933)

Women Crocheting 1900 Elin Kleopatra Danielson-Gambogi (Finnish 1861 - 1919)

Woman Crocheting 1904 Edmund Charles Tarbell (American painter) 1862 – 1938)

Woman Crocheting 1922 Louis Valtat (French painter) 1869 - 1952)

Woman Crocheting 1916 Harold Charles Francis Harvey (British 1874 - 1941)

Young Woman Crocheting Elisabeth Sonrel (French painter) 1874 - 1953

Woman Crocheting 1908 Lucie Cousturier (1876–1925)

Woman Crocheting Ada A. Wolfe (American, 1878 - 1948)

See:

For Art see Christa Zaat, Art Researcher & Virtual Curator. https://www.facebook.com/christa.zaat

"Art That Saved the Irish From Starvation" by Zelda Bronstein. Berkeley Daily Planet, April 19, 2005.

"Crochet History - Crochet Guild of America (CGOA)." www.crochet.org.

Barber, E. J. W.; Prehistoric Textiles: The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic & Bronze Ages with special reference to the Aegean; Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1991;

Bar-Yosef O, Alon D (1988). "Nahal Hemar Cave. the excavations". 'Atiqot. 18.

Ben Zion, Ilan (5 March 2014). "Israel reveals eerie collection of Neolithic 'spirit' masks". The Times of Israel.

Goren Y, Segal I, Bar-Yosef O (1993). "Plaster Artifacts & the Interpretation of the Nahal Hemar Cave". Journal of the Israeli Prehistoric Society. 25.

Paludan, Lis. Crochet: History & Technique, Interweave Press, Loveland CO.

Pollock, Susan; Schier, Wolfram (2020). The Competition of Fibres: Early Textile Production in Western Asia, South-east & Central Europe (10,000-500BCE) (ebook). Oxbow Books.

"Science: Cave Cache - Treasures in a hyena's lair". Time. 8 April 1985.

Walker, Amélie A. (21 May 1998). "Oldest Glue Discovered". Archaeology. Archaeological Institute of America.