View source for Crochet

==Origins==
[[File:Orvieto crochet.jpg|thumb|19th century crochet from [[Orvieto]], Italy]]

Knitted textiles survive from [[History of knitting|as early as the 11th century CE]], but the first substantive evidence of crocheted fabric emerges in Europe during the 19th century.<ref>Lis Paludan, ''Crochet: History & Technique'', Interweave Press, Loveland CO, {{ISBN|1883010098}}, p. 76</ref> Prior to the 19th century, classifications often failed to distinguish between crochet and knitting.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Karp |first=Cary |date=2018-07-03 |title=Defining Crochet |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00404969.2018.1491689 |journal=Textile History |language=en |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=208–223 |doi=10.1080/00404969.2018.1491689 |issn=0040-4969|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Earlier work identified as crochet was commonly made by [[nålebinding]], a different looped yarn technique. There are three main theories for the origin of crochet.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Myers |first=Cathy |date=July–August 2011 |title=Hooked on crochet |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A259465924/PPGL?u=uarizona_main&sid=bookmark-PPGL&xid=61cd3d48 |journal=Countryside & Small Stock Journal |volume=95 |issue=4 |pages=77+ |via=Gale Onefile}}</ref> Some believe that its beginnings can be traced to the Arab trade route, originating in Arabia and spreading to Tibet and then Spain as well as other Mediterranean countries.<ref name=":2" /> The second theory places crochet in South America where it was used as adornment in a tribe's puberty ritual.<ref name=":2" /> The third notes the use of crochet in China where early examples of dolls were worked entirely in crochet.<ref name=":2" />

[[File:Illustration of a crocheted purse in the Dutch monthly publication, "Penélopé", from 1824.png|left|thumb|A crocheted purse described in 1823 in ''Penélopé'']]

The first 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. This includes a color plate showing five styles of purse, of which three were intended to be crocheted with silk thread.<ref>[https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Penélopé_of_maandwerk_aan_het_vrouwelijk_geslacht?id=PtFeAAAAcAAJ] A. B. Van Meerten, ''Penélopé, of, Maandwerk aan het vrouwelijk geslacht toegewijd'', Amsterdam, 1824, pp. 90–94</ref> The first is "simple open crochet" (''crochet simple ajour''), a mesh of chain-stitch arches. The second (illustrated here) starts in a semi-open form (''demi jour''), where chain-stitch arches alternate with equally long segments of slip-stitch crochet, and closes with a star made with "double-crochet stitches" (''dubbelde hekelsteek'': double-crochet in British terminology; single-crochet in US).<ref>Sarah Hazell, ''200 Crochet Stitches'', Search Press, Kent, 2013, {{ISBN|978-1-84448-963-3}}</ref> The third purse is made entirely in double-crochet. The instructions prescribe the use of a [[Tambour lace|tambour]] [[Crochet needle|needle]] (as illustrated below) and introduce a number of decorative techniques.

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 (diarist)|Elizabeth Grant]] (1797–1830). The journal entry, itself, is dated 1812 but was not recorded in its subsequently published form until some time between 1845 and 1867, and the actual date of publication was first in 1898.<ref>Elizabeth Grant, [https://archive.org/stream/memoirsofhighlan00graniala#page/182/ ''The Memoirs of a Highland Lady''], John Murray, London, 1898 p. 182.</ref> Nonetheless, the 1833 volume of ''Penélopé'' describes and illustrates a shepherd's hook, and recommends its use for crochet with coarser yarn.<ref>A. B. Van Meerten, [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951002797142b;view=1up;seq=176 ''Penélopé, of, Maandwerk aan het vrouwelijk geslacht toegewijd''], Amsterdam, 1833, pp. 152</ref>

In 1844, one of the numerous books discussing crochet that began to appear in the 1840s states:

{{blockquote|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 and drawn through the work. These instruments are to be procured of various sizes...<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/handbookofneedle00lamb#page/92/] Miss Lambert, ''Hand-book of Needlework'', New York City, 1842, p.92</ref>}}

Two years later, the same author writes:

{{blockquote|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 seven years, aided by taste and 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 and Germany, and both countries, although unjustifiably, have claimed the invention.<ref>Miss Lambert, [https://archive.org/stream/mycrochetsample00lambgoog#page/13/ ''My Crochet Sampler''], London, 1844, pp. 9–10</ref>}}

An instruction book from 1846 describes ''Shepherd or single crochet'' as what in current international terminology is either called single crochet or slip-stitch crochet, with U.S. terminology always using the latter (reserving single crochet for use as noted above).<ref>Nancy Nehring, ''Learn Slip Stitch Crochet'', Annie's Attic, Berne, IN, 2008, {{ISBN|1596352159}}, p. 2</ref> It similarly equates "Double" and "French crochet".<ref>Mlle. Riego de la Branchardiere, [https://archive.org/stream/knittingcrochet00brangoog#page82 ''Knitting, Crochet, and Netting''], London, 1846, p. 57</ref>

[[File:Encyclopedie volume 2-140.png|right|thumb|Tambour embroidery in the Diderot Encyclopedia]]

Notwithstanding the categorical assertion of a purely British origin, there is solid evidence of a connection between [[France|French]] tambour [[embroidery]], french [[passementerie]] and crochet. A form of hook known as crochet was used to create 'chains in the air' as part of passementerie back in the 17th century. This is confirmed by a patent issued to the passementiers by [[Louis XIV]] in 1653, and there are earlier decorative examples of this technique. The patent lists various items, including "thread for embroidery, enhanced and embellished as done with a needle, on thimbles, on the fingers, on a crochet, and on a bobbin." Similarly, chain stitch appears in [[Elizabeth I|Queen Elizabeth I]]'s wardrobe accounts, starting in 1558, with further references to garments bordered with 'cheyne lace' in other inventories. One example from 1588 describes "a long cloak of murry velvet, with a border of small cheyne lace of Venice silver." While the exact design of the 1653 crochet is unclear, a 1723 French dictionary by [[Jacques Savary des Brûlons]] describes a crochet as a small iron instrument, three or four inches long, with a pointed, curved end and a wooden handle, used by passementiers for tasks like creating hat seams and attaching flowers to mesh. It is most likely that the hook used in crochet came from the ones used by the French pessamenterie industry.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/00404969.2018.1491689 | doi=10.1080/00404969.2018.1491689 | title=Defining Crochet | date=2018 | last1=Karp | first1=Cary | journal=Textile History | volume=49 | issue=2 | pages=208–223 | url-access=subscription }}</ref>
French tambour embroidery and the crochet needle used for it was illustrated in detail in 1763 in [[Encyclopédie|Diderot's Encyclopedia]]. The tip of the needle shown there is indistinguishable from that of a present-day inline crochet hook and the chain stitch separated from a cloth support is a fundamental element of the latter technique. The 1823 ''Penélopé'' instructions unequivocally state that the tambour tool was used for crochet and the first of the 1840s instruction books uses the terms ''tambour'' and ''crochet'' as synonyms.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/TheLadysAssistantForExecutingUsefulAndFancyDesignsInKnitting/gaugain_lady_01#page/n8/] Mrs. Gaugain, ''The Lady's Assistant for Executing Useful and Fancy Designs in Knitting, Netting and Crotchet Work'', Edinburgh, 1840</ref> This equivalence is retained in the 4th edition of that work, 1847.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/ladysassistantfo01gaug] [[Jane Gaugain]], ''The Lady's Assistant for Executing Useful and Fancy Designs in Knitting, Netting and Crochet Work'', 4th ed., 1847</ref>

[[File:Tapered-hooks.png|thumb|left|100px|Shepherd's hook, 19th-century tapered hook, modern inline hook]]
The strong taper of the shepherd's hook eases the production of slip-stitch crochet but is less amenable to stitches that require multiple loops on the hook at the same time. Early yarn hooks were also continuously tapered but gradually enough to accommodate multiple loops. The design with a cylindrical shaft that is commonplace today was largely reserved for tambour-style steel needles. Both types gradually merged into the modern form that appeared toward the end of the 19th century, including both tapered and cylindrical segments, and the continuously tapered bone hook remained in industrial production until World War II.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

The early instruction books make frequent reference to the alternative use of 'ivory, bone, or wooden hooks' and 'steel needles in a handle', as appropriate to the stitch being made. {{Citation needed|date=March 2023}} Taken with the synonymous labeling of shepherd's- and single crochet, and the similar equivalence of French- and double crochet, there is a strong suggestion that crochet is rooted both in tambour embroidery and shepherd's knitting, leading to thread and yarn crochet respectively; a distinction that is still made. The locus of the fusion of all these elements—the "invention" noted above—has yet to be determined, as does the origin of shepherd's knitting.

Shepherd's hooks are still being made for local slip-stitch crochet traditions.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} The form in the accompanying photograph is typical for contemporary production. A longer continuously tapering design intermediate between it and the 19th-century tapered hook was also in earlier production, commonly being made from the handles of forks and spoons.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}