Tunisian Crochet

“Choose any subject you would like to write about…” that is the object of the A to Z Challenge, and thinking of things that interest me is not a problem for me, but choosing a subject not only to write about, but to write in a way that other people will catch my interest – that is the real challenge! This year I turn to a subject, close to our skin if not our hearts, and yet, again, I wonder if this subject will get some people past the title on the list – dismissed as niche? For this year, my theme is What We Wear – Fabrics and Fibres

I have a book from the 1950’s which is simply entitled “Stitchcraft” and it contains instructions for how to knit and crochet. Go into a large newsagents with a full selection of magazines today, and you will find magazines not just on Crochet, but Beaded Crochet, such is the sub-division of crafts in order to generate as much revenue from the world of crafters. In my book, you can find a pattern for making a knitted sweater but which has a panel of crochet worked into it – Sacré Bleu! Such mixing of crafts! Quelle horreur! Joking aside, There should be no hard and fast walls between all the various forms of stitchcraft! There! That is my rant, now back to Knitting and Crochet!

Knitting

Actually, before there was knitting, on two needles (Egypt, 11,000BC), there was nålbinding – literally  ‘binding with a needle’ and involves using short lengths of yarn which are joined together as they come to an end and in which the whole length of the yarn is passed though each loop – the end result looks very much like knitting, andthis technique occurs in many parts of the world – in the desert of Judea, in a Mesolithic fishing village in Denmark, Egypt and in the Paracas and Nazca cultures in Peru. The technique was often used in the round, to produce socks and slipper-like wear and it survived in parts of Europe into the 50’s. With the advent of the internet, a renewed interest in nålbinding has ocurred! The thumb is often used as a way of setting up the stitches and the diagrams below show some of the different stitches used and the video shows you how to have a go yourself…

The earliest known true knitting is found in Egyptian socks from the 11th century CE. Interesting that the new form was used to develop the same product as the older nålbinding – socks! The earliest European pieces date to the 13th century and the early materials included cotton and silk, rather than wool and was not merely functional but often displayed high craftsmanship and served the elite and the Church. Silk would have been an expensive commodity having traversed the length of the Silk Road – all the way from China.

Knitting is the process of using two or more needles to pull and loop yarn into a series of interconnected loops in order to create a finished garment or fabric. The word is derived from knot, thought to originate from the Dutch verb knutten, similar to the Old English cnyttan, “to knot”
Wikipedia – History of Knitting

Some of the earliest European examples of knotting were by Muslim knitters employed by Christian families in Spain showing how the technique had spread from Egypt and through the Middle East and, although archaeological finds sometimes turn up fragments of knitting, being made of natural fibres, they are prone to being eaten by insects and so are hard to find preserved. And it’s not just the fabric but even the stitches could become lost – the two most common stitches today are knit and purl, and the purl stitch, though seen in the earliest Egyptian knitting, seems to have lost in its travels through Europe – appearing again only in the 16th century.

What makes knitted fabric so useful, is that it has a natural elasticity allowing a range of fit to size for the wearer. As a technique, it requires no more equipment than two needles and so is ultra-portable and indeed you will see people knitting on trains and buses indeed, anywhere, especially today, when knitting is no longer a functional source of clothing but rather a hobby craft.

I am not going to try to cover the breadth of the world that is knitting, but here are some of the places it is going in the 21st Century…

And of course, that staple of knitting – baby clothes – these booties don’t look to onerous tmewise – maybe even a person like me, who struggles to finish projects could manage these lol…

Of course, the other way to complete a project quickly is to go “extreme knitting ” – very chunky yarns on enormous needles!

Crochet

Hands up if your idea of Crochet is the “Granny Square”! I put mine up as my granny was certainly a crochet square afficianado! These little squares could eat up all those odd leftovers yarns from other projects, but tackled as serious projects – they could produce stunning blankets…

Or go wild and free with a more contemporary look…

If you want to jump in to Extreme (Giant) Crochet – here is an introduction!

I have a confession to make – I don’t know how to do standard crochet – BUT – I do do Tunisian Crochet, and this is how it happened… My sister Carol and I were sorting out my late mothers many knitting needles (she used to run knitting mornings at her retirement complex) and Carol spotted a pair of tortoiseshell needles she really fancied. At the same time, i picked up a large, knitting needle length piece with, seemingly, a crochet hook at one end. Noe crochet needles are usually short, because they hold only a few loops of wool at a time, so neither of us knew what this long needle was! Oh well, said Carol, you have that one and I will have these – and she added the tortoiseshells to her pile – sisters! You have to love them! Anyway, I eventually looked into what this strange beast might be and discovered Tunisian Crochet.
Tunisian Crochet is sometimes described as a cross between knitting and crochet in as much as it generates a width of fabric as wide as the needle used is long, and as deep as the number of rows you care you care to knit. Like knitting, there are a variety of stitches possible.

Fabric is worked in two passes instead of one

Multiple loops stay on the hook at the same time

The surface has strong vertical and horizontal structure

Finished pieces maintain shape exceptionally well

“K” Fabrics

Double Knit – Thick jersey fabric made with twin needles where the stitches are interlocked together.

Knit Stitch – Stockinette – the most basic knitted fabric; every stitch (as seen from the right side) is a knit stitch.[1] This fabric has also been referred to as Knit or Knitted, Front, Smooth, Jersey, Plain, Vertical and Plain Sweater Fabric. In the round, stocking stitch is produced by knitting every stitch; by contrast, in the flat, stocking stitch is produced by knitting and purling alternate rows. Variations on this fabric can be made by twisting stitches (knitting or purling through the back of each loop on the needle instead of the front) on one or both sides; Barbara Walker calls these “crossed” (only knitted stitches twisted) and “twisted” (knits and purl twisted) Stockinette. Stocking-stitch fabric is very smooth and each column (“wale”) resembles a stacked set of “V”‘s. It has a strong tendency to curl horizontally and vertically because of the asymmetry of its faces.

Trichot – Machine Knitting – A macine form of knitting in which the yarn zigzags vertically, following a single column (“wale”) of knitting, rather than a single row (“course”), as is customary. Tricot and its relatives are very resistant to runs, and are commonly used in lingerie.

Khadi – A hand-spun and hand-woven natural fiber cloth, primarily from India. Khadi is typically made of cotton, but can also include silk or wool, which are all spun into yarn on a spinning wheel known as a charkha. It is a versatile fabric that is cool in Summer and warm in Winter.

I compiled a list of as fabrics, fibres and related items as possible (278 items), from several sources, the most comprehensive of which was Wikipedia. Since there are only 26 letters in the alphabet, I could not write in detail about every instance so I have taken snippets of text for the brief descriptions and linked to the source in the name of the item. I am indebted to all the contributors to those Wikipedia pages and the depth of knowledge to be found there…