History of Crochet

Crochet





You and I call it crochet, as do the French, Belgians, Italians and Spanish-speaking people. It is known as haken in Holland, haekling in Denmark, hekling in Norway, virkning in Sweden.

Other forms of handwork ­ knitting, embroidery and weaving ­ can be dated far back in time, thanks to archeological finds, written sources and pictorial representations of various kinds. But no one is quite sure when and where crochet got its start. The word comes from croc, or croche, the Middle French word for hook, and the Old Norse word for hook is krokr.

According to American crochet expert and world traveler Annie Potter, "The modern art of true crochet as we know it today was developed during the 16th century. It became known as 'crochet lace' in France and 'chain lace' in England." And, she tells us, in 1916 Walter Edmund Roth visited descendants of the Guiana Indians and found examples of true crochet.

Another writer/researcher, Lis Paludan of Denmark, who limited her search for the origins of crochet to Europe, puts forth three interesting theories. One: Crochet originated in Arabia, spread eastward to Tibe t and westward to Spain, from where it followed the Arab trade routes to other Mediterranean countries. Two: Earliest evidence of crochet came from South America, where a primitive tribe was said to have used crochet adornments in rites of puberty. Three: In China, early examples were known of three-dimensional dolls worked in crochet.

But, says Paludan, the bottom line is that there is "no convincing evidence as to how old the art of crochet might be or where it came from. It was impossible to find evidence of crochet in Europe before 1800. A great many sources state that crochet has been known as far back as the 1500s in Italy under the name of 'nun's work' or 'nun's lace,' where it was worked by nuns for church textiles," she says. Her research turned up examples of lace-making and a kind of lace tape, many of which have been preserved, but "all indications are that crochet was not known in Italy as far back as the 16th century" ­ under any name.

Tambour gives birth to crochet

Research suggests that crochet probably developed most directly from Chinese needlework, a very ancient form of embroidery known in Turkey, India, Persia and North Africa, which reached Europe in the 1700s and was referred to as "tambouring," from the French "tambour" or drum.

In this technique, a background fabric is stretched taut on a fra me. The working thread is held underneath the fabric. A needle with a hook is inserted downward and a loop of the working thread drawn up through the fabric. With the loop still on the hook, the hook is then inserted a little farther along and another loop of the working thread is drawn up and worked through the first loop to form a chain stitch. The tambour hooks were as thin as sewing needles, so the work must have been accomplished with very fine thread.

At the end of the 18th century, tambour evolved into what the French called "crochet in the air," when the background fabric was discarded and the stitch worked on its own.

Crochet began turning up in Europe in the early 1800s and was given a tremendous boost by Mlle. Riego de la Branchardiere, who was best known for her ability to take old-style needle and bobbin lace designs and turn them into crochet patterns that could easily be duplicated. She published many pattern books so that millions of women could begin to copy her designs. Mlle. Riego also claimed to have invented "lace-like" crochet, today called Irish crochet.

History Of The Knitting Machine

Knitting Machine



This is a picture of a knitting machine from the 1800's from this Company below

Lamb Knitting Machine Manufacturing Co.
Class 1, 96 needles, Serial Number 34992, Circa 1885
Patent dates: Sep 15, 1863 Oct 10, 1865 Sep 28, 1869 Oct 29, 1879

During the latter half of the eighteenth century, improvements in the British textile industry were ushering in the Industrial Revolution; machines were invented to speed the production of woven fabric as well as meet the rising demand for yarn and thread. While the focus of this activity seemed to be weaving and spinning machines, similar improvements to knitting technology were being made. Today, knitting machines are just as important to the textile industry as weaving machines.

The first knitting machine was constructed around 1589 by an English reverend named William Lee (1550-1610). As the story goes, Lee was tormented by the constant clack-clacking of his wife's knitting needles. He imagined a device that, instead of producing one loop at a time, could knit an entire row of loops at once. While devices of this sort had been used by carpet weavers thousands of years earlier, Lee added to their design a line of hooks that would release the knitted loops, making room for the next row.

Lee soon abandoned his position in the church, traveling with his brother to the court of Queen Elizabeth I. There he presented his invention, requesting a royal grant to exploit the device, as well as sole claim to its patent (along with all the ensuing profits). The Queen refused, and Lee left England to try his luck at the court of King Henri IV of France. Though the French sovereign granted Lee the privileges he sought, before the inventor could establish himself, Henri IV was assassinated. Lee died penniless in Paris in 161O.

Though disheartened, Lee's brother continued to seek a financier for the knitting-frame. He returned to England, where he entered a partnership with a Nottingham businessman to build the world's first knitting factory. Soon the factory was so successful that the local hand-knitters appealed to the government to limit the use of the knitting-frame; by that time, several factories were in operation, manufacturing stockings so cheaply that they were no longer considered a luxury item.

The methods for knitting clothing remained unchanged until the early 1700s. About that time, improvements in the design of the knitting-frame began to appear. Machines were constructed to produce warp-knit fabric, which was less elastic and more like woven fabric than previous knits. In 1758 Jedediah Strutt designed a loom that could knit ribbed material, ideal for use as hosiery. The circular loom was invented by Frenchman Decroix in 1798; it created seamless tubular fabrics that were often employed as undershirts and underwear, as well as ladies' stockings; the Decroix loom was popularized by Marc Isambard Brunel, who patented it in 1816. Matthew Townsend improved upon the circular loom in 1847, enabling it to produce ribbed fabric. Finally, in 1855, the first water-powered knitting frame was constructed in Loughborough, England.

Arguably the most important development in knitting technology was the latch needle, patented by Townsend in 1856. This needle was essentially a half-hook with a small latch that would open and close, depending upon the needle's position. By using the latch needle the entire knitting process was made faster and more flexible. By the late 1860s, small home knitting machines were made available.

Today, knitting takes place on giant machines employing hundreds of needles per line and capable of producing more than four million stitches each second. Patterns were initially read by the machines off of punch cards; today, both home and commercial machines can be computer controlled to knit complex patterns. In many areas knitting has even superseded weaving, partially due to the fact that it can be performed almost twenty times faster.