In January 1864, a Swedish monthly publication for fashion and fancywork commenced publication with the title Iduna, a Norse goddess associated with femininity and knowledge. Iduna, Journal for the Tasks and Concerns of Women, with Supplementary Patterns for Counted and Free Embroidery, Crochet, and Knitting, plus Fashion Plates. It was the latest in a series of… Continue reading Tunisian crochet in Sweden
Several accounts of the history of crochet in early Victorian fancywork texts mention a transition to it from shepherd’s knitting that began in the second half of the 1830s. One such statement is found in the 1844 edition of My Crochet Sampler by Frances Lambert. Crochet — a species of knitting originally practised by the peasants in… Continue reading Scottish and shepherd’s knitting revisited
In 1861, Cornelia Mee and Mary Austin published a book titled Novelties in Crochet. It includes three illustrated instructions for “crochet à frivolité” that emulate tatting, using an ordinary crochet hook and standard crochet stitches. One is for the “wide festoon edging” shown here (with the written instructions at the end of this post).They published… Continue reading Novelties in crochet — crochet à frivolité
Sweden is a good place to be located for someone researching the historical and contemporary use of flat hooks for slip stitch crochet. It’s only a thirty minute walk from the desk where this blog is maintained to a folkcraft store in central Stockholm that regularly stocks such hooks, so it was easy for me to… Continue reading From shepherd’s knitting to shepherd crochet
I’ve devoted quite a few posts to historical evidence of slip stitch crochet. It is firmly attested in illustrated instructions beginning in 1785 and there are vaguer footprints of it having been around significantly longer than that. One of the more important issues raised by the less certain evidence is the possibility of slip stitch crochet… Continue reading Crochetedness vs. nalboundness
A few months ago, I began a series of posts discussing two pieces of child’s footware which might conceivably be the oldest exemplars of what is now generally termed slip stitch crochet that have yet come to light. If their provenance is correctly attributed, they represent two regional traditions, one Northern European and the other… Continue reading Shepherd’s knitting in 1780
The term ‘slip stitch’ has figured prominently in the preceding suite of posts, designating the definitive element of plain crochet. The same label is used for something quite different in knitting, where a slip (or slipped) stitch is a loop that is moved from the holding needle to the working needle without knitting a new… Continue reading Knitless knitting
