Understanding the hooks and yarns before learning crocheting

Crocheting is nothing but creating a fabric [woven material] from the yarn or cord with the help of a hook. At times the fabric is also created from cotton threads. The word crochet was derived from a "croc or crochet". This is a French word. The meaning of the word is "hook". Many confuse crochet with crotchet. Crotchet means, "quarter note." so in order to understand crochet better, we need to understand the yarns and hook. Here let us discuss about the crochet, yarns and hook.

Crocheting

It is a process of making a fabric with the help of hook and yarns. Here the chain of loops is created. First a loop [slip-knot] is created on the hook. Then another loop is formed through the first loop. Likewise a chain of loops is created.

The chain can be turned or worked in rows. The chain can also be joined from end to end or worked in rounds. The rounds can be created with ease by making many stitches in a single loop. By pulling one loop through the other the stitches are made.

By this procedure crocheting differs from knitting [one of the methods of fabric making].The crochet is made up of several loops made by a single hook. The crochet is secured only when the free end of the yarn or thread is puller through the last loop.

Some people feel that crocheting was in practice in china, South America and Arabia well before 18 the century, but there was no empirical data to prove this. However crocheting became famous during the 18 Th centuries in parts of Europe. In those days there was no hook. People were using bent fingers in place of hook.

Some historians content that crocheting was not in practice in any part of the world prior to 18 Th centuries. Sample of knotted, woven and knitted textiles belonging to the 17 Th centuries were recovered. But no sample of crocheted textiles belonging to 17 Th centuries [or earlier to it] was recovered.

In Europe during 1800 AD people slowly started using the crochet as a cheap substitute for other materials. Crochet started getting popularity as it required minimal equipment and it materials were easily accessible to people of all social classes. During this period the threads that are used for crocheting were without dyeing. The hooks that were in use were made up of hard wood, brass, and ivory.

Crochet hook

The crochet hook is a type of needle. There will be hook at one end of the needle. This hook is to pull the thread or yarn through the loop. To make crochet stitches only one hook is enough. The crochet hook must have been used in the early 18 Th century or late 17th centuries.

The crochet hook comes in various sizes as far as thickness of the hook is concerned. Some hooks measure few millimeters while some other hooks measure few fractions of inch. There are several numbers or letters in use for the identification of the hook size. The size of the hook must be matched with the size [thickness] of the thread.

The hooks can be made metal, plastic, wood or even milk protein [casein]. The handle of the hook can be simple or decorated. In some cases the hook handles are made up of wood or plastic while the hook was made up of metal.

Tunisian crochet hook- this hook has much longer needle than the ordinary hook. There will be hook at both ends of the needle. This special design is to take care of the multiple loops that are used in the Tunisian crochet.

Yarns

Yarns are the material that is used to create the fabric with the help of crochet hook. As mentioned earlier even cotton threads are used in place of yarns. There are different types of yarns. Let us discuss some them here.

Patons [cotton 100 %]

This gives more feminine look. The material is 100 percent cotton. The length of 4 ply is 330 meters. The length of DK is 210meters. The thickness is 4 ply and DK. the DK type comes in 25 different colors, the 4 ply type comes in 21 different colors. The DK type yarn requires 4 mm needle and the 4 ply type yarn requires 3 1/4 mm needles.

Anchor arista

This is a traditional crochet yarn. This yarn can also be used for knitting. This yarn has a metallic look hence lustrous look is assured. This yarn is a mixture of 80 % viskose and 20 % polyester. The thickness is identified as aran. The length of the yarn is 100 meters. This yarn comes in 4 different shades. The needle thickness must be 2mm.

Those who want to venture in to crocheting must understand the yarns, hooks before understanding the crochet.