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"The Step-by-Step Book of Needlecraft":
Early samples of crochet have been found in China, Turkey, Africa and Europe - as well as the US and South America. (unfortunately, no dates were given).
Early samples have two distinctly different appearances; worked with very fine yarn to make a form of lace, and worked with thicker yarns to make denser fabrics.
The denser type of crochet was the more well-known of the two. The Chinese used it to make sculptured, 3-dimensional dolls. Africans used it to make caps for their tribal chieftains. Turks used it for hats as well, as did the Scots - who also used dense crochet work to make heavy cloaks, particularly for shepherds. Hence it became known as "shepherd's knitting".
Crocheted afghans seem to have originated with early US pioneers. As wool was often in short supply, worn knitted garments were pulled apart and whatever lengths of yarn were salvageable were then reworked into crocheted "granny squares" to create quilts - in much the same way scraps of fabric were used to make sewn quilts.
Fine lace crochet originated in Italy in the 16th Century, done by nuns for altar pieces and vestments. This type of crochet became known as "nun's lace". The technique spread to Ireland and Spain, where it was also worked by nuns for church use.
It wasn't until the early 19th Century that crochet began being used for garments and household use. Its popularity may largely have stemmed from the work of a French emigre (Eleanor Branchardiere) who, after settling in Ireland, studied the crochet work of nuns in a Dublin convent, and developed their craft by inventing stitches and techniques of her own - publicizing her work in her self-published magazine, "The Needle".
Another factor which influenced the development of the craft was the setting up of a home industry in Carrickmacross to help impoverished people, which was organized by a Mrs. Gray Porter in the first half of the 19th Century, and a similar industry was set up in Clones by a Mrs. Hand. The work in these two areas quickly flourished, and is still carried on today. The fine lace created in these two areas are very distinctive, and are still known as Carrickmacross lace and Clones lace.
I hope that answers your question. I'm an avid knitter and crocheter. I'm currently crocheted myself a fall coat out of "granny squares"! Having TONS of small balls of yarn left over from various projects over the years, I decided that rather than toss them out, I'd make use of them in this way.
I'm almost finished, and have enjoyed this project more than anything I've done in recent years. I mixed colours (vivids with muted tones) and textures (silks, linens, angora, wool, cotton, hemp - you name it, it's in there!)
I edged each square in a rather expensive black-with-metallic-gold yarn - but as the rest of the materials used were already-purchased scraps, it was the only financial investment I had to make in the project.
Happy crocheting!!!
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