A Cavalcade of Crochet!

It occurs to me that we haven't talked about ALL the different types of crochet that exist in the world. I keep reading that crochet was invented by nineteenth century Irish women. Personally I don't believe it! When you start to investigate, it's not long before you realise that crochet is everywhere. It varies from culture to culture, and is used in different ways. When you think about how you can crochet with any long, thin, flexible 'fibre' and with just your finger it's not surprising.
I am often reminded of Edie Eckman's definition of crochet "Put your hook somewhere; Wrap the yarn over the hook; Pull the hook through something."
When I sat down to draw up a list of crochet sub genres I was truly amazed. This is far from being an exhaustive list. But if you thought you were bored with crochet perhaps you should look again!

•  3D- like many of these sub genres, they have sub genres within them. I'm thinking of wired flowers, starched shapes like bowls, and various types of thread work.
  
• Afghan- see Tunisian.
• Amigurumi- 3D objects, (characters, food, sea creatures and almost any weird and wonderful object you could possibly imagine) tightly crocheted and stuffed, usually worked in continuous double crochet (Sc-USA) spirals.
  
• Aran- faux Aran knitting, cables made using post stitches, popcorns and sometimes surface crochet. The islands of Aran are stuck out on the west coast of Ireland facing the full force of the Atlantic weather, so think warm and wind proof!
• Arm- supersized, hook free crochet!
• Bavarian- here's a picture because I'm not sure how to describe it!!
  

  

  Find in Edie Eckman's 'Connect the Shapes, Crochet Motifs'.
• Bead- think jewellery, purses and evening bags.
• Bosnian- see slip stitch.
• Bouclé- fur stitch, see loop.
  
  
• Brioche- faux brioche knitting using two or more colours and post stitches.

  

  From a Lilla Bjorn design.

• Broomstick- you don't really need to use a broomstick just a long stick which is used to create a row of equal size Loops. The loops are joined together in groups with the next row of crochet stitches.
  
• Bruges- a type of lace which is worked in short rows, allowing it to curve in any direction. Sometimes it's used to trap or join motifs as here.

  

  A Robyn Chachula design.
• Cable- see also aran. Aran work includes cables, but cable work doesn't have to be aran! Think Celtic cable knotwork.
  
• Charted- see corner to corner, enterlac, filet, mosaic, tapestry, and Tunisian. If you struggle with written patterns this may be the way to go. Drawn as a square chart, each square can represent a single stitch or a group of stitches depending on the technique.
• Chevron- there are so many variants on wave, zigzag and chevron designs I thought it should have it's own heading.
  
• Clothes line, crocheting over cord- used to make bowls, floor mats, and trivet style table mats.
• Colourwork- usually referring to intarsia and tapestry.
• Corner to Corner- where small blocks of crochet are worked in a continuous pattern from corner to corner. Similar to, but different from enterlac.
  
• Crocheting over- (curtain) rings, washers-these are joined together to make a fabric, belt/strap or used alone in decorations.
• Cro Hook- see Double ended.
• Doily- see also Mandala- Some doilies are made with thread crochet in the round but sometimes they are super sized into floor rugs!

  

  From a Doris Chan design.

• Double Ended- cro hook, cro knit and similar variants which use a double ended hook to make reversible fabric.
• Embossed-  I only spotted this one recently and can tell you nothing about the technique! This design can be found in Margaret Hubert's 'The Granny Square Book' and Colin and Baker's 'Ultimate Crochet Stitch Bible'.
  
• Enterlac- from a french word meaning to interlace. The fabric produced resembles interlaced fabric strips. In actual fact short rows are made to create blocks, crocheted one into another. It can be made using any crochet stitch.
  
• Enterlac, Tunisian- as enterlac was originally a knitting technique it is most obviously replicated by Tunisian crochet. As the blocks are so small it can be made with a standard length crochet hook.
  
• Filet- a lace worked in a grid pattern of squares using Treble stitches, (Dc-USA) some of the squares are filled while others are left open, creating a design or motif.
• Freeform- small areas of textured crochet are made and gradually joined to each other as the maker's whim takes them!
• Granny square- a quick and easy to make pattern of stitches often used by beginners.
• Hairpin- strips of 'lace' formed between two long forks or frames which are joined to each other. Although one stitch is usually shown there are many fascinating variants.
  
• Hyperbolic- crochet meets physics! Try this link for more information.
• Intarsia- the term is borrowed from a woodworking term where a motif is inlaid in the wood. For crochet it means a coloured motif is worked into fabric by carrying the two colours together and interchanging colours as required.
• Interlinked, interlocking or layered mesh- two or more colours of crochet which are interlinked with each other as the fabric is created. In other words the layers are made 'around' each other. Look out for a future blog post!

  

  From a design in Edie Eckman's 'Connect the Shapes'.
• Irish- an imitation lace which became fashionable in Victorian England.
• Lace- crocheting a lacy fabric or lacy trim for linens and clothes.

  

  From a design in Edie Eckman's 'Around the Corner, Crochet Borders'.
• Lace Weight- a weight of yarn generally used with an oversized hook.
  
• Lace, oversized- an open fabric created with a heavier weight of yarn.
• Linked- this is a way of producing tall stitches which are joined in the middle. It creates a very stable fabric with a tramline effect.
  
  
• Loom- (OK so strictly speaking it's a knitting technique, but as there are no needles involved I'm adding it to our list!) think french knitting, luceting, and loom flowers which which can be joined with crochet in the same way as hairpin lace.
• Loop- there are various methods, like Bouclé stitch, to create loopy fur like fabric. I'm not sure whether it deserves it's own category or not!
  
• Mandala- a circular design worked in many colours.

  

  From a Lilla Bjorn design.
• Mesh- an open, grid like lace.
  
• Mosaic- usually two colours of yarn worked alternately. The rows cross in front and behind each other to form a geometric pattern. Martin-Up-North has the best description and examples here.
  
• Overlay- developed by Melody MacDuffee to produce complex multi-colour patterns. The base layer is worked in 'back-loop-only' stitches, leaving the front loops free to anchor the long stitches.
  

  

  From a Melody MacDuffee design.
• Painted- a technique of using several coloured threads together at the same time. By changing the individual threads the colour is slowly changed as the design is worked.
  
• Patchwork- a number of motifs are made and joined together either 'as you go' or at the end.
• Pineapple- a mesh-like lace stitch which is usually worked with thread.
  
• Reversible Fabrics- any design which looks as good from the back as it does from the front.
  

  

  From a design in Edie Eckman's 'Connect the Shapes'.
• Shepherds- see slip stitch.
• Slip stitch- probably the oldest form of crochet. The stitches can be made in a number of ways to produce a close warm and sometimes stretchy fabric.
  
  
• Solomon's knot or Lover's knot- a lace made using oversized chain stitches.
  
  
• Spike stitch- the hook is initially inserted either lower or to one side of the normal position and the yarn is then pulled up loosely, back to the normal position, where the stitch is finished.
  
  
• Surface crochet- the crochet stitch is formed on the flat surface of the fabric, the hook in front and the yarn behind.
• Tambour- officially I suppose it's a kind of embroidery, but it's most certainly crochet! see Surface crochet.
• Tapestry- think of Fair Isle designs. This is when two or more colours of yarn are carried together, changing from one colour to another as required in the same row.
• Thread- delicate designs are worked using a fine yarn. The yarn weights are described with numbers where the larger the number, the finer the thread. The fine crochet hooks required are made from steel for strength.
  
  
• Tunisian- a cross between knitting and crochet, the fabric is worked a row, rather than a stitch, at a time. The hook required is a long knitting needle but with a hook on the end, sometimes called a Tricot needle. Each row is made in two passes, forwards and backwards. On the forwards pass the new stitches are begun and placed on the hook/needle. On the backwards pass they are completed and removed from it.
  
  
• Wire- I blogged about this here.
  
  
• Woven- examples might be; where strips of crochet are woven with each other; where something is woven into a crochet fabric; where elements within a crochet design are interwoven.

  

  From a BebaBlanket design.

While I've left out things that I wasn't sure deserved a category and a few probably snuck in that shouldn't have, I make that about fifty. Please feel free to add to, or argue with me in the comments below!
Knowing what things are called means you can make the most of search engines and find more of what you like.

For me the exciting thing is when you start to draw these different disciplines together. This is my version of Lilla Bjorn's Spirit Wrap. Which contains corner to corner, mozaic, overlay and patchwork crochet worked in two different yarns!

And the next person to call crochet, 'KNITTING'...!

fastening off...