A Brief, Woolly and Occasionally Ridiculous History of Crochet

You probably think crochet started when your nan got bored in the 1970s. You are not entirely wrong, but the full story is considerably more interesting than that.

Nobody Knows Where It Actually Came From

Here is the honest truth about the origins of crochet: nobody fully agrees. Historians have been arguing about it for decades and they are not close to settling it.

Some say it started in Arabia. Others are firmly convinced it was China. A third group points to South America. A fourth group (probably French) says it was France, because of course they do. Everyone is slightly offended by the other camps, academic papers have been written, and still there is no definitive answer.

What we do know is that the earliest clear evidence of crochet as we recognise it today appears in Europe in the early 19th century. Before that, things get murky. There are references to fabric-making techniques that might have been crochet, or might have been something else entirely that has been enthusiastically misidentified by historians who really wanted crochet to be older than it is.

The word "crochet" comes from the French "croche," meaning hook. The French contribution to the history of crochet is essentially just the name. We will give them that.

The Irish Invented the Side Hustle

If you want to know when crochet genuinely had its moment, look to Ireland in the 1840s. During the Great Famine, Irish lace-makers developed what became known as Irish crochet lace, an intricate and beautiful craft specifically designed to imitate the expensive needle lace favoured by wealthy Europeans.

The genius of it was remarkably simple: Irish crochet lace looked expensive. It was delicate, detailed and impressive. But it could be produced much faster than needle lace and sold to the gentry at a price that actually helped famine-stricken families survive. Crochet was, in short, a side hustle. A beautiful, clever and historically significant side hustle.

Irish crochet lace became so fashionable that it spread rapidly across Europe. By the mid-1800s, no one at a dinner party could make it through a course without admiring someone's crochet collar. Truly different times.

Queen Victoria Was Absolutely Obsessed

Queen Victoria learned to crochet. And once Queen Victoria did something, every woman in Britain felt a very strong social obligation to do it too.

She crocheted squares for South African soldiers during the Boer War. She was enthusiastic about it. She was vocal about it. She was, in a word, hooked. (We are not sorry for that.)

This was a genuinely massive deal. Victorian crochet exploded in popularity and an entire industry of pattern books sprung up almost overnight. The Victorians, being the Victorians, went ambitious immediately. Elaborate doilies. Decorative borders. Impossibly detailed tablecloths that took months to complete and then got a tea stain on them within a week.

This was the era that truly cemented crochet as a craft for the masses, and we have Victoria and her apparently enormous amounts of free time to thank for it.

The 1970s: When Nothing Was Safe

If the Victorian era was crochet's elegant debut, the 1970s were its gap year abroad.

The decade that brought us platform shoes, questionable wallpaper choices and the fondue set also unleashed the granny square on an unsuspecting world, and absolutely nothing was safe. Jumpers. Bags. Hats. Waistcoats. Curtains. Car seat covers. Plant pot holders (the 1970s were genuinely wild). Bedspreads. Wall hangings. At least one infamous crocheted toilet roll cover shaped like a lady in a ballgown.

The granny square, that satisfying little motif made by joining rounds of colour, became the symbol of the age. Nobody knows exactly who invented it. Everyone's nan made approximately four hundred of them.

It was chaotic. It was colourful. It was, in hindsight, absolutely wonderful.

One notable figure from this era was a certain Neil Major of West Yorkshire, who became something of a local legend after reportedly crocheting an entire king-size granny square blanket in a single fortnight during the summer of 1973. His technique was said to be extraordinary, his colour choices were bold, and his nan was reportedly very proud. Whether the blanket survived the decade is, sadly, unrecorded.

The Embarrassing Years (aka The 1980s and 90s)

Then came the 1980s, and crochet quietly became embarrassing. Power suits were in. Shoulder pads were in. Handmade crafts were firmly associated with dusty craft rooms and church fetes rather than anything aspirational. Crochet retreated to the background, practiced loyally by dedicated enthusiasts who absolutely did not care what anyone thought, thank you very much.

The 1990s were not much kinder. The craft soldiered on in quiet obscurity. That is just the truth, and we say it with love.

The Internet Changed Everything

The early 2000s brought the internet and with it, pattern-sharing communities, craft forums and eventually YouTube tutorials. For the first time, someone in a small town could learn to crochet from a video made by someone on the other side of the world. The community grew rapidly.

Then came Etsy, where handmade crochet items could reach buyers who genuinely wanted them. Then Instagram, where beautiful crochet photography started building serious followings. Then TikTok, where #crochet has now accumulated billions of views.

Billions. With a B.

Right Now, Crochet Is Cool Again (Actually, More Than Ever)

Today, crochet is genuinely, undeniably cool. It is practiced by people of all ages, genders and backgrounds, and it has thoroughly shed every dusty stereotype from the 1980s.

Amigurumi, the Japanese art of crocheting adorable miniature characters, introduced the craft to an entirely new generation and gave it a playful, modern identity that resonates across the world. Pop culture crochet, from Harry Potter to Pokemon to Dungeons and Dragons, has made it relevant to fans of every kind. Crochet festivals sell out. Crochet influencers have follower counts that would make most pop stars quietly jealous.

And we are here for all of it.

So next time someone raises an eyebrow and tells you crochet is just something people do when they get old, you can calmly inform them that Queen Victoria was absolutely into it, the Irish used it to survive a famine, and it currently has billions of views on TikTok.

That usually shuts them up nicely.

Happy crocheting, from all of us at The Crochet Cupboard.