45 Fun Facts About Crochet

Crocheted 'Izzy Dolls' honour Mark Isfeld, who handed them to children while serving abroad as what?

UN peacekeeper Mark Isfeld saw a doll lying in rubble in Croatia, so his mother crocheted dolls for him to give out; after a landmine killed him in 1994, others carried on.

During the Boer War, which royal personally crocheted eight scarves as awards for brave soldiers?

Queen Victoria crocheted the scarves in the last year of her life; a legend grew that they ranked with the Victoria Cross, but they never had official status as a decoration.

In 19th-century Ireland, crochet lace-making was taught in convents as relief during which crisis?

The Great Famine pushed convents and charities to teach crochet lace as relief work, and the pay kept many families afloat; emigrants later took the skill abroad.

In December 2010, street artist Olek covered which famous New York statue in a crocheted suit?

Charging Bull got the suit as Olek's tribute to Arturo Di Modica, who had installed the bull without permission, but it was torn off about two hours later.

Crocheted antimacassars were draped over 19th-century chair backs to stop the fabric being soiled by what?

Hair oil called Macassar oil was so fashionable that housewives covered chair backs with washable cloths, hence the name antimacassar.

In a Tempestry Project wall hanging, each crocheted row records one day's what?

High temperature readings set each row's colour for a whole year, a way to make climate change feel local rather than distant.

What do crocheters check by working a small test swatch, so a finished garment comes out the right size?

Gauge, called tension outside the US, counts stitches and rows in a set square; if a test swatch comes out too big or too small, crocheters change hook size.

Which headwear's name originally meant a lightweight crocheted or lace scarf worn over the head?

Fascinator first named a lacy head scarf; the scarf and the word fell out of fashion in the 20th century, and milliners later revived the name for small perched hats.

Which crochet starting technique can be cinched tight after the first stitches, leaving no visible hole?

Magic ring starts pull fully shut, which is why patterns for stuffed toys favour them: a chained start leaves a centre hole that the stuffing can show through.

Many textiles once identified as early crochet were actually made by which older looped-yarn technique?

Nålebinding, worked with a single needle, is older than knitting and crochet, and museum pieces such as ancient Egyptian socks were long mistaken for knitting.

How are steel crochet hooks sized, unlike regular hooks?

The higher the number, the smaller the hook, and these thread hooks are steel for a reason: at such fine sizes a softer material would bend out of shape.

Which kind of London trader supposedly gave his surname to the doily?

A draper named Doiley supposedly sold cheap but genteel summer cloth in the late 1600s; his name passed to 'doily napkins' and then to the ornamental mats.

In the standard yarn-weight system printed on US ball bands, category 4 'Medium' is commonly called what?

Worsted is named after Worstead, the Norfolk village where the cloth was originally made, and yarn-weight category 4 still carries the name.

Which fibre is generally favoured for crochet, chiefly for its elasticity and warmth?

Wool is harder to clean than other fibres and can felt by accident in the washing machine, something cotton and synthetic yarns will not do.

Which spinning, umbrella-like stand holds an opened skein of yarn while it is wound into a ball?

A swift holds the opened hank and turns as the yarn is pulled off, so it can be wound into a ball without tangling.

Skeins of yarn that match exactly in colour because they came from the same vat share the same what?

Dye lot numbers matter because the same colour can come out in slightly different shades from one dyeing to the next, leaving a visible stripe.

The stitch abbreviated 'dc' in UK and international patterns goes by what name in US patterns?

Single crochet in US terms is a double crochet elsewhere, because the international name counts the two loops on the hook after the first loop is pulled up.

What do crocheters call wetting or steaming a finished piece and pinning it flat to dry?

Blocking relaxes and sets the stitches, so the finished piece lies flat at its intended measurements.

Which stitch is used to begin most crochet projects?

Chain stitch is the most basic stitch, and the first row of chains, called the foundation chain, sets the width of the piece.

Which website lets crocheters log their projects and search a huge member-built pattern database?

Ravelry, founded by spouses Jessica and Cassidy, built its pattern and yarn database by having members fill in the details as they logged their own projects.

The two basic ways of holding a crochet hook are named after a pencil and what other everyday object?

A knife grip steadies the hook in the palm and moves it with the whole hand, while the pencil grip works from the fingertips, which is why it suits fine, detailed work.

The elongated tool with a stopper on the handle end used in Tunisian crochet is also known by what name?

An Afghan hook is long because each row first gathers every stitch as a loop on the hook, then works them all off again on a return pass.

What do crocheters call ripping out rows of stitches to undo a mistake?

Frogging is said to take its name from the sound of the job: 'rip it, rip it' is close to a frog's 'ribbit, ribbit'.

Filet crochet imitates filet lace using which two stitches, in US terms?

Chain and double crochet stitches build the grid: chains leave open spaces and doubles fill solid blocks, so the picture comes from which squares are filled.

Tapestry crochet fabric is said to look more like it was made how?

It looks woven on a loom because two or more strands are worked at once, with the spare colour carried inside the stitches until it is needed.

How does mosaic crochet make patterns with one colour per row?

Dropped stitches are tall stitches worked down into earlier rows, so plain stripes turn into tile-like patterns without any colour change mid-row.

Amigurumi is the Japanese art of making what?

Small stuffed yarn creatures like these are crocheted with a tight, dense fabric, so the stuffing inside cannot show through.

Mercerised cotton yarn is treated with what to make it stronger and shinier?

Caustic soda treatment is named after John Mercer, and doing it with the yarn held under tension is what gives mercerised cotton its silky shine.

A traditional granny square is crocheted starting from where?

The centre outward is how it grows: each round is worked all the way around the last, with extra stitches added at the four corners.

Artist Shauna Richardson crocheted three 25-foot lions for an arts programme tied to which event?

London Olympics arts funding paid for the lions, which toured Britain in a giant glass case like stuffed trophies, fitting her term crochetdermy.

Unlike most crochet techniques, what does broomstick lace do?

Broomstick lace keeps many loops open at once, holding them on a thick rod or needle until a row of stitches gathers them off in small groups.

Mathematician Hinke Osinga's crocheted Lorenz manifold models a surface from which area of maths?

Chaos theory's Lorenz equations generated the stitch instructions, and Osinga and Bernd Krauskopf published the pattern so others could crochet its 25,000-plus stitches.

Yarn-bomber Magda Sayeg got the idea after covering what with a knitted cosy?

The door handle of her shop got the first cosy, and passers-by liked it so much that she and a friend moved on to stop signs, trees and car antennas.

The Crochet Coral Reef project was created by which pair of twin sisters?

Margaret and Christine Wertheim base the reef on a hyperbolic crochet pattern, so contributors who vary the stitch increases grow new, natural-looking species.

Joshua Tree's World Famous Crochet Museum fills a tiny former kiosk where people once dropped off what?

Rolls of film went to the old one-hour photo hut, and founder Shari Elf, who admits she cannot crochet, painted it acid green and shelved her finds.

Which famous plant scientist, crocheting since a sickly childhood, later had his needlework shown in a museum bearing his name?

George Washington Carver was too frail for heavy farm work as a boy, so he took on household chores, crocheting among them, and kept crocheting into later life.

For Portugal's 2013 Venice Biennale pavilion, Joana Vasconcelos filled what with a crochet-and-light interior?

A Lisbon commuter ferry, taken out of service, became a floating pavilion that cruised the Venetian lagoon on a timetable instead of staying in one spot.

Hyperbolic-crochet pioneer Daina Taimiņa is a mathematician from which country?

Taimiņa, a mathematician from Latvia, turned to crochet because paper models of hyperbolic planes were so fragile, and her crocheted ones were durable enough for students to handle.

A crocheted doll of which politician, modelled on a viral 2021 inauguration photo, fetched $20,300 on eBay?

Bernie Sanders in his famous mittens was crocheted by Texan Tobey King, who auctioned the doll and gave every dollar to Meals on Wheels.

What are Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam's giant hand-crocheted nylon nets at Japan's Hakone Open-Air Museum built for?

Children's play became her aim after kids climbed into one of her gallery textile sculptures, so she began crocheting nets meant for climbing on.

During TV coverage of the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, diver Tom Daley was often shown doing what in the stands?

Knitting was his calm, Daley said: it got him out of his own head and kept him from overthinking the dives he had spent years training for.

To install crochet braids, a stylist usually hooks the extensions under what?

The wearer's cornrows form the base: a latch hook slides under each one, grabs the loose hair and pulls it through, and a knot holds it in place.

Which country holds the record for largest crochet blanket, set in 2016 with help from 1,500 prison inmates?

South Africa's prisons brought in the 67 Blankets for Nelson Mandela Day charity to rehabilitate inmates, who make blankets for people in need.

Fiber artist Xenobia Bailey's crocheted mandalas were enlarged into what for a New York subway station?

Glass tile murals came from her crocheted pieces, which a studio turned into digital images, enlarged and rebuilt in glass for the 34th Street-Hudson Yards station.

Which US industry body publishes standards for crochet abbreviations, hook sizes and the numbered weight symbols on ball bands?

The Craft Yarn Council's symbols, numbered 0 for lace up to 7 for jumbo, are printed on labels across brands, so a crocheter can match a yarn to the weight a pattern calls for.