The History of Crochet

From the Crochet Guild, newsletter 10/1997:

You and I call it crochet, as do the French, Belgians, Italians and Spanish-speaking people. It is known as haken in Holland, haekling in Denmark, hekling in Norway, virkning in Sweden.

Other forms of handwork ­ knitting, embroidery and weaving ­ can be dated far back in time, thanks to archeological finds, written sources and pictorial representations of various kinds. But no one is quite sure when and where crochet got its start. The word comes from croc, or croche, the Middle French word for hook, and the Old Norse word for hook is krokr.

According to American crochet expert and world traveler Annie Potter, "The modern art of true crochet as we know it today was developed during the 16th century. It became known as 'crochet lace' in France and 'chain lace' in England." And, she tells us, in 1916 Walter Edmund Roth visited descendants of the Guiana Indians and found examples of true crochet.

Another writer/researcher, Lis Paludan of Denmark, who limited her search for the origins of crochet to Europe, puts forth three interesting theories. One: Crochet originated in Arabia, spread eastward to Tibe t and westward to Spain, from where it followed the Arab trade routes to other Mediterranean countries. Two: Earliest evidence of crochet came from South America, where a primitive tribe was said to have used crochet adornments in rites of puberty. Three: In China, early examples were known of three-dimensional dolls worked in crochet.

But, says Paludan, the bottom line is that there is "no convincing evidence as to how old the art of crochet might be or where it came from. It was impossible to find evidence of crochet in Europe before 1800. A great many sources state that crochet has been known as far back as the 1500s in Italy under the name of 'nun's work' or 'nun's lace,' where it was worked by nuns for church textiles," she says. Her research turned up examples of lace-making and a kind of lace tape, many of which have been preserved, but "all indications are that crochet was not known in Italy as far back as the 16th century" ­ under any name.

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I need to make more money. We had to refinance over the summer and went with an fha loan. This is suppose to be a good thing. Well we had to roll our taxes and insurance into our payment. It went up $400. I thought we could do it. We can't. I've got back a lot, and yes there are still plenty of things to get rid of but seriously, wtf? Everyone is being very aware of shutting things off and not wasting. I quit smoking 9 months ago, this should be $100 back into the house a month. No more wine, no new clothes, yarn only when I have a coupons and I buy one at a time (one coupon per visit per "day").
Here is the list of things left to cut:

• internet $60/m
  
• house phone $30/m
• motorcycle $300/m
• karate $90/m

Internet and house phone I am so ready to let go of. Most of the time the laptop is picking up the connection next door because it is actually stronger than ours (I do not know why). The house phone, who calls? Bill collectors and telemarketers, anyone else can call on the cell phones. The motorcycle, thats hard, because we probably could not sell it for what we owe. It's Mike's thing and I really do not want to see him loose it. If we give it back it will kill our credit, or whats left of it. Of course we aren't buying anything and don't really need credit anyway. And karate, it's not really an option. Its only on the list because it is extra. But Kenzie loves it and really I think she needs it. It is beyond worth the $90 a month.

I don't want to live in the lap of luxary. I just want to pay the bills and have enough to take care of food, clothes and some basic extras. It's not going to get any better. Mike is looking at another hand surgery. I am going to really look into the First Pinnicle stuff from our camp friends. Not that the program is going to get me out of this mess, but I look at them and they see the light at the end of the tunnel and have a grip on thier finanices.

Since writting this the phone has rang twice, both credit cards looking for money. I had to put my tires on my credit card. Now I need to have them mounted, I can't afford it. We're going to call the Vocational school and see if they will mount and balance them for less if not free.

If anything the mortgage will get paid today, the 21st.....it's due again in a week.
Okay I am going to post this then come back and make another post about crochet. I want to get this out, but I don't want to look at it, lol. Sounds like the mail!

Manic Monday

My head hurts. My to do list at work and home is ridiculous. I tried to crochet for a bit, and honestly I am just not interested. My life is far from sucking, but I feel a bit whiny today. They say money does not buy happiness....I call bullshit. So today that is my "expensive desire". And here is why it would buy me "happiness".

• Bills would be paid, no mortgage, no car payment, no electric bill, no heat bill, no grocery bill, no tuition, no tv bills, no phone bills....and so on.
• I would not have to go to work.
• I could stay home and take care of my family......thanks for the woman's lib crap btw!
• Stress? What stress? Bills are paid, belly is full and all is well.

K....back to reality....and whatever about the woman's lib comment. Despite sometimes I really feel like I would be a bigger asset to my family by staying home and taking care of it all, I know that's hypocritical cuz there is no way I could stay home and do what the man says. So on that note.....get out there and VOTE tomorrow. No vote, no bitching! Gotta vote to gripe. Here is my take on what I will be voting on tomorrow:
Question #1, lets get rid of the income tax......sounds great! I don't want to pay taxes, shit I don't even want to get up and go to work. Can we vote to get rid of work too? Sounds just as logical. I'd love to take thier excess money away from them, but it does not add up. They will take it from somewhere, like my kids school or up my property taxes....and the eldery's property taxes....where are they gonna get it from? So I will have to vote no. I wish there was a way to make these bastards more accountable for the way they waste our money. That's what we need.
Question #2, give a fine for an ounce of weed or less....yup. I will admit to several years of my youth in a fog of smoke, but that's not why I am voting yes.....I wasn't stupid enough to get caught, so no skin off my teeth. I am voting yes because harmless pot heads are using up some of that wasted money in question number one. They do not need to be using up time, space and money in our jails or systems. We have way bigger issues that need to be jailed, like rapist, murders and such. Plus why should someone who took a hit or two not get a job because they were stupid enough to get caught while they were enjoying thier youth. They want to repeat stupidity or move on to the big time, then put them in jail.
Question #3, no more dog races? I hate this one. I love animals, a lot. And I am not to sure about the truth behind how bad they are treated. What about our failing economy and the jobs that will be lost. I am having a real hard time voting on something that will take someone's job right out from under them. Plus it won't ban it in NH or RI, CT? More MA money going over the border like to NH tax free purchaces or to CT Casinos or the complete nude (no panties!) strippers in RI? God I hope they are not abusing the dogs like the oposers say. Ugh.
And yes, I am voting for Obama. McCain almost had me until he picked Sarah....there's the real womans lib joke, ha, ha. What a joke. Obama is younger, more in touch and more likely to envoke the change we truely do need. McCain is more of the same stereo typical old white man. So borish at this point in the game really. Either way Bush is finally gone. I am still in utter awe that man got a second term anyhow. So I will not be suprised however the vote turns out.

That is all.....battery is just about dead and it is time to wake up hubby and put the kiddies to bed.