Tuesday, September 23, 2008

History of Victorian and Edwardian Crochet

Found another article about the history of crochet. The website link is:
http://www.victoriancrochet.com/history.tpl

The History of Victorian Crochet
The exact origin and date of crochet is in great doubt. Some believe it goes back to before the time of Christ, but there is no record of this form of needle art before the 1800's and it was not until the 1840's that written instructions began to be published. Crochet has been handed down from generation to generation through family and friends and from what I understand in the early years, without written patterns. It was very common to work directly from a picture of the finished work or from a sample of crochet. Have you ever tried to crochet a pattern from the 1800 or 1900's and found that most of the directions seem to be missing? Needlework was taught to the young women in school from the early 1800's through the early 1900's. The women of that time knew what the publishers meant because they were all too familiar with crochet instructions from their needlework classes. Thus, publishers didn't think they needed to put all that extraneous stuff in the written instructions. Have you ever wondered why most crocheters hold their hook like a pencil? At that time it was thought that it gave the lines of the hand a more feminine and graceful look. Now they are discovering that if you hold your hook in the palm of the hand it cuts down on carpal tunnel problems.
Did you know that if the piece being crocheted was not worked in the round in other words worked from row to row, that at the end of each row the thread was broken and retied to the beginning of the row? The backs of the stitches were never meant to be seen and were viewed as crude. In some of the old Victorian patterns you might find directions that tell you to work one pattern using loose crochet and another pattern using tight crochet. Now days all patterns come with a specific tension requirement and are largely dependent upon the crochet hook if done properly. Stitches in that time were generally crocheted into the back loop of the stitch. It was a method that was taken for granted during that time period. Now it is the accepted practice to crochet a stitch using the front and the back loop of each stitch.
Crochet began as a cottage industry in Ireland with a lace called Irish crochet or guipure lace. In the mid 1800's it became a large industry because of the need of the people to supplement their income due to the great potato famine of that time. It has been suggested that four Irish nuns who were trained in a French convent introduced crochet to Ireland. It was a common practice in that time for each person to become skilled in making one thing and one thing only, such as a leaf or a flower. Another person would then crochet the different motifs together using a background stitch. If you have ever tried to crochet an Irish crochet pattern you can understand why it becomes such a difficult and tedious a project. The people who crocheted the Irish laces were truly masters of their craft. They didn't have radio, television, or even access to very many books during this time in history. This contributed to their ability and desire to focus on such an intricate and elaborate art and create such finely detailed work.
It is still a cottage industry in some countries such as India, Greece, Italy, and some Asian countries.
For a more detailed history please read "Crochet History & Technique" by Lis Paludan.It is a fabulous book. I recommend it highly.

Monday, September 22, 2008

History of Crochet

Just recently began to do some research on the history of crochet. So many people have called my crocheted doilies a "dying art". So I found this article about how the art started. Enjoy.

"But let's speak about crocheting. As in 1589 William Lee invented a special knitting machine so nowadays knitted things can be easily made. But crocheting is really unique. One can't invent a special machine to replace hand-made crochet things. So in crocheting you can find originality, singleness of the thing. Laces are very famous. In 16th century laces began to walk over Europe" and in 19th century this art became really jewellery. Crocheted things of that time kept safe in some houses and museums charm with beauty and grace and amaze with mastery. Russian laces are also very popular. For ages Russian people improved this mastery. Every girl should have a dowry. And all women of her family provide a dowry for her. Usually they get together and wave clothes, crochet laces for towels and bed linen. In old times every peasant woman had to do needlework. To provide clothes to her family she had to be able to weave, embroider, knit, and crochet. The most skilled took part in making lord's clothes. For the first time Russian lace was mentioned in the Ipatiev's chronicle. It was called gold lace because it was made of gold and silver thread. This lace was even sold by its weight. "