Crochet’s Trendsetter History
Crochet, though a relatively newer craft, has a full history. Not only in the world, but in my own life too. We aren’t going to travel all over or even have a long drawn out history lesson starting at the dawn of time today. But we are going to look at crochet’s highlight reel in Ireland and the United Sates today! And I’ll even share some of her highlights in my life too!
Today we are going to start in Ireland in the 19th century. Ireland was struggling through a potato blight. With many of the country depending on this crop, a famine ruined many in different ways. Income became harder to come by, and because of this, basic needs were harder to come by as well. During this time many starved or immigrated. Many would like my family immigrate to America. While Ireland was starving and struggling, crochet helped her get back on her feet. Many families would come to rely on this craft.
Wealthier, more educated women opened schools and shops to help teach the craft of crocheting lace to other women. And there were many women and girls who would later go one to teach the craft in other struggling areas of the world.
Crochet back then isn’t exactly as it is now. Instead of the trendy cardigans and cute plushies we see today, but women back then crocheted lace which was what was trending back then. Back then, lace was a beautiful luxury item, and before the Industrial Revolution, was handmade. Because of the lace being handmade, it was expensive not only for the labor involved, but also the unique motifs each crocheter made.
Crochet started to take off as the fashion trend alongside other forms of lace at the time. Queen Victoria greatly popularized crochet during her time and because of it brought a high demand upon crochet lace makers. This would see a rise in dealers rather than makers. And this would further during and after the Industrial Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution saw many advances in technology. During this time, machines began to produce lace for us. You no longer had to be wealthy to have this beauty. And the preference for unique motifs could be just that, a preference. Before it would have been hard to find a lace that looked like another, as crocheters were very protective of their designs, and constantly worried about plagiarism. Machines care less about that, so people slowly cared less too.
Crochet became a hobby moving forward. And for awhile, not a very popular one. But then the 1960’s and 70’s came around and crochet was a trend once again! During that time, it was a very common fashion trend here in America. But how did that happen?
Well back during the famine in Ireland during the 1800’s, many of the immigrated Irish people came here to America! And with them came their crochet skills. And many women taught their new neighbors or would like in my family, do to pass down the skill. So when crochet came back into fashion in the 60’s and 70’s, it wasn’t just Europe walking the trend!
This time really did embrace that handmade love again! But it was in a whole new way. Young women and girls, like in any decade, were the driving force for this trend, a trend we are very much seeing revived in today’s young people! Many were making and wearing colorful Afghans, fun dresses, and bright décor, most often combined of the famous granny square!
The granny square was one of the first things I learned to crochet after my basic stitches. My mother, sisters, and I were part of a fun community project that took place on Facebook, where each month you’d make and trade granny squares. It was a fantastic way to bond and spend time with my mom and sisters. Though there were many skilled crocheters, my mother among them, it wasn’t a project that you needed to have advanced skill to be a part of. My sisters and I certainly proved that, and with it proved that any age could crochet fun granny squares! I was about 7 or 8 when I started the project! But the goal of the project was to eventually get enough squares so you could make a whole blanket of traded squares! It was a great goal to work towards, though for me, the excitement of sending off my squares to receive others from around the country was my favorite part!
My mother was the one to teach me to crochet, a tradition in my family. Around the age of 5 or 6, we learn to crochet, something that at times was a skill depended on in my family’s history, and at others, like today, is a skill that can be a fun hobby.
My family has roots that stem from Ireland and they track to finding a home here in America. Crochet was a skill my family used, like many Irish and then Irish Americans at the time to help them through hardship. That wasn’t exclusive to the 19th century but, also was a way that helped my immediate family when I was a kid in the 21st century.
As a single mother, my mom used her skill in crochet to make money, even alongside her existing job to support her 4 kids, me being the eldest of them. I watched my mother create beautiful pieces such as clothes, blankets, accessories, and really anything you can think of, she either knows how to make it, or she will figure it out in a relatively quick time. I have great respect for her strength and she is a big reason I am as creative as I am! Here I am in one of many crocheted dresses I owned that my mother made me!
I hope to carry this tradition through my own life, and oneday on to my own children. I hope to be successful in turning crochet, along with other creative skills I have into my career. And thankfully, I have my talented mother to show me how! I also have the many women in my family’s history who came before me as encouragement as well.
I find great significance in looking into not only history as a whole, but family history. It can be a good guide for the future, whether it’s analyzing mistakes or analyzing successes.
I’m glad to see crochet become a trend once more! I love seeing not only how popular wearing crochet is but how many new people have learned the craft! I have no doubt that when this trend fades, crochet will find a new way to come back because she is quite the trendsetter, no matter what decade she pops up in!
