Crochet Trivia
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45 free Crochet trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
50 free Crochet trivia questions with answers. Crochet is older, stranger and more mathematical than its doily reputation suggests, and this quiz digs into all of it. Fifty questions cover where the word comes from, the 1823 Dutch magazine that first printed patterns, Irish crochet lace and the Famine, hook sizes and materials, yarn weights and dye lots, and the eternal UK-versus-US stitch-name confusion. From there it wanders through granny squares and the 1970s, amigurumi, Tunisian and filet and tapestry crochet, broomstick and hairpin lace, yarn bombing, the Crochet Coral Reef, Daina Taimina's hyperbolic planes, Guinness records for the fastest crocheter and the longest chain, and Tom Daley knitting in the Olympic stands. Easy questions suit anyone who has picked up a hook; the hard ones are for people who know their treble from their double. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia, the Craft Yarn Council's standards pages and Guinness World Records, and each question carries the sentence that backs it up.
30 of 45 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Crocheted 'Izzy Dolls' honour Mark Isfeld, who handed them to children while serving abroad as what?
UN peacekeeper
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.
Q 02During the Boer War, which royal personally crocheted eight scarves as awards for brave soldiers?
Queen Victoria
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.
Q 03In 19th-century Ireland, crochet lace-making was taught in convents as relief during which crisis?
The Great Famine
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.
Q 04In December 2010, street artist Olek covered which famous New York statue in a crocheted suit?
Charging Bull
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.
Q 05Crocheted antimacassars were draped over 19th-century chair backs to stop the fabric being soiled by what?
Hair oil
Hair oil called Macassar oil was so fashionable that housewives covered chair backs with washable cloths, hence the name antimacassar.
Q 06In a Tempestry Project wall hanging, each crocheted row records one day's what?
High temperature
High temperature readings set each row's colour for a whole year, a way to make climate change feel local rather than distant.
Q 07What do crocheters check by working a small test swatch, so a finished garment comes out the right size?
Gauge
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.
Q 08Which headwear's name originally meant a lightweight crocheted or lace scarf worn over the head?
Fascinator
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.
Q 09Which crochet starting technique can be cinched tight after the first stitches, leaving no visible hole?
Magic ring
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.
Q 10Many textiles once identified as early crochet were actually made by which older looped-yarn technique?
Nålebinding
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.
Q 11How are steel crochet hooks sized, unlike regular hooks?
The higher the number, the smaller the hook
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.
Q 12Which kind of London trader supposedly gave his surname to the doily?
Draper
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.
Q 13In the standard yarn-weight system printed on US ball bands, category 4 'Medium' is commonly called what?
Worsted
Q 21The two basic ways of holding a crochet hook are named after a pencil and what other everyday object?
A knife
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.
Q 22The elongated tool with a stopper on the handle end used in Tunisian crochet is also known by what name?
Afghan hook
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.
Q 23What do crocheters call ripping out rows of stitches to undo a mistake?
Frogging
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'.
Worsted is named after Worstead, the Norfolk village where the cloth was originally made, and yarn-weight category 4 still carries the name.
Q 14Which fibre is generally favoured for crochet, chiefly for its elasticity and warmth?
Wool
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.
Q 15Which spinning, umbrella-like stand holds an opened skein of yarn while it is wound into a ball?
Swift
A swift holds the opened hank and turns as the yarn is pulled off, so it can be wound into a ball without tangling.
Q 16Skeins of yarn that match exactly in colour because they came from the same vat share the same what?
Dye lot
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.
Q 17The stitch abbreviated 'dc' in UK and international patterns goes by what name in US patterns?
Single crochet
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.
Q 18What do crocheters call wetting or steaming a finished piece and pinning it flat to dry?
Blocking
Blocking relaxes and sets the stitches, so the finished piece lies flat at its intended measurements.
Q 19Which stitch is used to begin most crochet projects?
Chain stitch
Chain stitch is the most basic stitch, and the first row of chains, called the foundation chain, sets the width of the piece.
Q 20Which website lets crocheters log their projects and search a huge member-built pattern database?
Ravelry
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.
Q 24Filet crochet imitates filet lace using which two stitches, in US terms?
Chain and double
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.
Q 25Tapestry crochet fabric is said to look more like it was made how?
Woven on a loom
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.
Q 26How does mosaic crochet make patterns with one colour per row?
Dropped stitches
Dropped stitches are tall stitches worked down into earlier rows, so plain stripes turn into tile-like patterns without any colour change mid-row.
Q 27Amigurumi is the Japanese art of making what?
Small stuffed yarn creatures
Small stuffed yarn creatures like these are crocheted with a tight, dense fabric, so the stuffing inside cannot show through.
Q 28Mercerised cotton yarn is treated with what to make it stronger and shinier?
Caustic soda
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.
Q 29A traditional granny square is crocheted starting from where?
The centre outward
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.
Q 30Artist Shauna Richardson crocheted three 25-foot lions for an arts programme tied to which event?
London Olympics
London Olympics arts funding paid for the lions, which toured Britain in a giant glass case like stuffed trophies, fitting her term crochetdermy.