Crochet

With the nights and days getting colder all I want to do is curl up in a blanket and read a good book.  Some of my most treasured blankets are the crocheted blankets my Grandmother made me.  I have memories of her crocheting in her chair while I played.  While I never learned to crochet, I could see it was a skill that she had mastered.  You can crochet much more than blankets.  For example, we have a wonderful woman’s crocheted collar from 1934 in the Virgil and Thelma Linam Collection.

The word crochet comes from the Middle French word croc, or croche, meaning hook.  Crocheting is the act of using a hook to pull loops through other loops, but unlike knitting, it also incorporates wrapping the thread or yarn around the hook.  The origins of crocheting are unknown but there are multiple theories.  Ruthie Marks in her “History of Crochet” (www.crochet.org) states that the origins of crochet in Europe comes down to three interesting theories.  1) Crochet originated in Arabia and traveled to Spain on the trade routs.  2) Crochet came from tribes in South America.  3) Crochet originated as Chinese tambour.  Whatever the origins, crocheted items became all the rage in the 1800s.  At first it was a pastime of the upper class but with the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849) all that changed (Marks).  Crochet work was introduced in Ireland as a form of famine relief and men and women both would crochet between farm chores.  Thus Irish Lace was born and became a highly demanded item.  Since then, crocheting has fallen in and out of style.  It resurged after World War II and has come back once again.

If you would like to learn to crochet there are many books available.  Patterns are available for almost anything you can think of like the collar that we have from the Virgil and Thelma Linam Collection here at the Western Heritage Museum Complex and Lea County Cowboy Hall of Fame.  The size and type of hook needed depends on your material and what you’re trying to make so consult a crocheting friend or a book.  Happy crocheting!