Lavish crochet emerged alongside other forms of elaborate needlework in the nineteenth century. When printed material began to be mass-produced in the middle of that century, the popularity of crochet increased enormously.
Patterns for silk thread purses were among the first published, from around 1824 in Holland. Before that, crochet passed between generations without written patterns – it was copied from small worked samples, hand to hand.
That shift, from sample to printed page, is what turned a local practice into a widespread one.
The Victorian period
Crochet hooks of the period were often elaborate objects in their own right, made in bone, ivory and silver, sometimes with decorated handles. The tool signalled that the work was a genteel accomplishment rather than mere labour.
Much of what was made was fine thread work – collars, cuffs, edgings, doilies and household linen. Crochet at this point was competing directly with lace, and doing it more cheaply.
The early twentieth century
Crochet continued as thread work through the early decades, producing the household items that survive in enormous numbers in family collections. Almost everyone has an inherited doily somewhere.
The wars pushed the craft toward practical production – socks, blankets and comforts made in volume for troops – and away from decorative thread work.
The mid-century shift
The great change was yarn. As affordable synthetic yarns arrived, crochet moved from fine thread onto thicker material, and the craft changed character with it.
The granny square belongs to this period, and so does crochet’s association with the 1960s and 1970s – blankets, ponchos, waistcoats, all in bright acrylic. It became a craft of colour and speed rather than of fineness.
That era also gave crochet a reputation it took decades to shake off.
The revival
The last twenty-five years have been very good to crochet, and several things drove it.
The internet did the most. Patterns became instantly available, video tutorials removed the need for someone to teach you in person, and crocheters found each other across the world rather than only in local groups.
Amigurumi arriving from Japan gave crochet something knitting genuinely cannot do as well – sculptural, three-dimensional work.
And fibre shows, including international ones, gave the craft a professional and commercial infrastructure it had not had before: designers, indie dyers, and a market for both.
Where it stands
Crochet is no longer the poor relation of knitting. It has its own designers, its own publications and its own techniques that knitting cannot reproduce.
What has not changed is the accessibility. One hook, one ball of yarn, and instructions that can still be passed hand to hand – which is how it started.
