Surface Crochet, Part One - An Introduction.

I've been dipping into my old crochet books again and have discovered yet another crochet technique that I'd never heard of before. It seemed perfectly simple, so I sat down to write a single post called "How to Crochet on Net and Canvas". As I investigated I discovered that there was much more to it than I'd thought. This was intended to be just one blog post but as usual it has grown into an unknown quantity of posts! How many? I'll let you know!!

 

 I thought surface crochet was all about chain stitches but I've discovered a type of crochet that is worked into Net.

Crocheting on net is called Tambour work and was popular during the 19th century. It creates a kind of mock Irish Lace which was produced to imitate Bobbin Lace. The net was placed on a frame to keep it taught and then worked with a No.60 or 80 crochet thread and a fine hook. You might also see it refered to as 'crochet work on a frame', or 'linen crochet embroidery'. You can infact buy a whole load of products, frames and specialised hooks, but I'm thinking about this in terms of crochet not embroidery.

I've worked all of these stitches with a crochet hook, including beading. It can be worked into any kind of fabric with holes! Imagine working into a fabric of Double Crochet stitches (SC-USA), Tunisian crochet or filet crochet. These stitches can then be combined with weaving and embroidery.

  

This knitted pattern by Miss Nerriss has just been published in Scheepjes Yarn 6. I don't knit but I might just be able to manage this one. The scarf is embellished with embroidery.

 This is my attempt at Kirsten Ballering's Hygge wrap with a few ideas of my own added in. It uses surface crochet, embroidery and cross stitch.

If you use plastic canvas or metal mesh as your base then we can really extend the possibilites of crochet!

The difference between canvas and netting is the way the holes are placed. On net the holes are diamond shape and run diagonally. The holes in canvas are square like graph paper. There are even some techniques that have traditionally been used to make rugs.

I'll work my way through the techniques and hopefully find something to surprise or inspire you. So come back for the next post about surface chain stitches and beading.