Introduction.
Crochet,—a species of knitting originally practised by the peasants in Scotland, with a small hooked needle called a shepherd’s hook,—aided by taste and fashion, has, within the last seven years, obtained the preference over all other ornamental works of a similar nature. It derives its present name from the French; the instrument with which it is worked being by them, from its crooked shape, termed “crochet.” This art has attained its highest degree of perfection in England, whence it has been transplanted to France and Germany, and both these countries, although unjustifiably, have claimed the invention. Crochet has been applied, with considerable success, to the production of numerous useful and decorative articles, such as shawls, table-covers, couvre-pieds, pillows, ottomans, chairs, rugs, slippers, bags, cabats, purses, caps, waistcoats, and the like. Silk, wool, cotton, chenille, and gold, are all suitable materials for this description of work, but the purpose for which it is intended must necessarily determine their choice.
Crochet has the recommendation of being a less intricate method of working than knitting, and therefore claims a more extensive cultivation than perhaps it has hitherto met with. It is particularly adapted for making articles for charitable purposes; hence, the instruction of children in blind schools, in this easy and useful art, is well worthy the attention of philanthropists. Waistcoats, shawls, knee-caps, sleeves, comforters, mittens, gloves, etc., may be made, without difficulty, in crochet. It has not, however, been deemed necessary in the following pages to give directions for any of these simple articles, as, when the crochet stitch is acquired, the modes of working such, and a variety of others, in daily use, will readily present themselves. As an example of the double appropriation, which almost all the following directions admit of, we may instance the bottom of a bag;—this, if commenced with a chain of about fifty stitches (not joining the ends), and worked in coarse wool, with a large needle, in rows backwards and forwards, gradually increasing with a seam stitch, will form a warm and comfortable round cape. A paper pattern, the size of any desired object, can easily be cut,—and the making a stitch at the commencement, or the decreasing in the middle, or the end of a row, and vice versâ, render this work subservient to almost any form.
For large pieces of work, when wool is employed, that kind denominated fleecy, either English or German, is generally to be preferred. This material, of a six-thread size, with an ivory needle, offers the easiest kind of work with which we are acquainted. It may be readily learned, and has, therefore, been much practised, both by invalids, and by persons whose sight either needs relief, or has become impaired. All striped patterns, if desired, may be worked in narrow breadths, and joined in the dividing lines; so that a table cover may be made in four or six lengths, and afterwards sewn together with wool, without the least detriment to its appearance. Crochet may be executed with coarse and fine chenille, for pillows, bags, caps, and waistcoats; with crochet silk, for caps, slippers, and bags; with coarse netting silk, it forms strong purses, bags, and slippers; and the most delicate work may be done with the finer silks. Gold and silver cord, and passing, may be intermixed with the chenilles and silks, or employed separately; and gold and steel beads, first strung on the silk, may be worked in various patterns, so as to produce the most rich and beautiful effect.
Crochet may be divided into plain single crochet, plain double crochet, plain stitch open crochet, and open crochet with one, two, three, or more stitches. These varieties will be described, as they occur, in the following directions for working.
The mode of working the crochet stitch, although in itself most simple, is difficult to describe in writing; but, with the aid of the annexed engraving, which shows the position of the hands, and the manner in which the needle and the work should be held, we will endeavour to explain the elementary process.
Having wound a skein of wool, make a loop at one end; through this loop draw another loop, through this second loop another, and so on, moderately tightening each, as it is drawn through, until a chain of sufficient length be made to serve as the foundation for the article intended to be worked. Pass the needle through the last loop of this foundation, and catching the wool, draw it through, repeating the same at every successive loop; then, return along this row, and, in a similar manner, form a second. A repetition of this process, alternately backwards and forwards, from right to left, and from left to right, will give the first and easiest lesson. The work will be the same on both sides, producing, by turns, one raised and one sunken row.
Before proceeding further, however, it will, be necessary, for the better understanding of the directions hereafter offered, to give an