The Wonderful World of Crochet Quiz

Answer: Foundation chain

Most crochet projects begin with a small knot and then a number of chain stitches depending on the pattern of stitches in subsequent rows. A chain stitch ("ch") is the most basic in crochet: you have a loop on your hook, pick up a loop of the working yarn (called yarning over, or "yo"), and pull the new loop through. This forms a stitch with a V-shape into which the next row is worked. Patterns often give the number of chain stitches in a foundation chain as a desired multiple plus the number of chains needed to start the first main stitch of the next row.

Actually a foundation chain does not have to be formed with chain stitches: more advanced crocheters often work a row of stitches straight away until the desired length is achieved. I prefer this method although it is much more finicky because I find it easier to get the right tension on the work and many crocheters find with practice that our foundation chains end up too tight to put the next row's stitches into!

Answer: True

Unfortunately this is true and the source of a lot of confusion for crocheters and not only beginners - I've been crocheting for years and find it's best to "translate" a pattern into the terminology I'm used to! Although I'm Scottish, I mainly learned crochet from a Canadian YouTube channel and so have become accustomed to what's usually called US terminology. The other common system is UK terminology.

Much of the confusion arises because both systems share some of the same terms but they don't refer to the same stitch! For example, a US "single crochet" ("sc") is a UK "double crochet" ("dc") and a US "double crochet" is a UK "treble/triple crochet" ("tr"/"trc")! Got a headache yet? It might seem daunting but you will get used to making sure which terminology a pattern uses before you begin (and perhaps do as I do and write it out again in the terms you're used to!). There are also different systems for hook sizes but thankfully that's much less confusing!

Answer: Granny

Yes, it's the humble granny square! Granny squares are usually a good place to start for beginner crocheters, as they make use of clusters of the same stitch (usually double crochets [US] / treble crochets [UK]) separated by chains. On the next round, each new cluster goes into the chain space of the previous round.

They first appeared in publishing in the US at the end of the 19th century and were shown as a way to use up yarn scraps. This pattern was so popular in the US that Europeans often called granny squares "American crochet"! The granny square can be used for just about any piece you can think of, and variations on colour, shape, and design mean that the limit really is your imagination. You can use them "as is", for example as a coaster, or incorporate them into bigger pieces, such as blankets, clothing, bags, etc.

Answer: Tunisia

Funnily enough, the evidence suggests that Tunisian crochet did not originate in Tunisia at all and no one is really sure why it has this name. It has also been called Afghan crochet, Scottish knitting, and shepherd's knitting. This type of crochet is done by yarning over (picking up a loop of the working yarn) for each stitch in the row before passing back along the row and finishing the stitch, in contrast to general crochet where each stitch is finished one by one. As suits an intermediate between crochet and knitting, Tunisian crochet has some terms in common with knitting that are not used in traditional crochet, such as "casting on", "knit stitch" and "purl stitch".

The basic method of Tunisian crochet produces a distinctive pattern with vertical ribbing and just like regular crochet, it can be used to stitch patterns in rounds, although for Tunisian crochet this requires a double-ended hook and two balls of yarn. It can be used to make most things that crochet can, although it is less suited to finer items.

Answer: IMDb

IMDb (The Internet Movie Database) might not have much on it for crocheters but the others are just a few examples of the online resources that can help people learn to crochet or to find beautiful patterns. Red Heart is a yarn brand that features many patterns on its website, many for free, and there are other brands that do the same. Ravelry is a type of social networking site for crafters, who can access patterns, information about yarns, discuss their projects in forums, as well as a marketplace where people can support designers and buy patterns.

Like many before me, I tried to learn crochet first from books, and while I'm not usually a visual learner, things just weren't clicking from still photos in a book. Luckily, YouTube has multitudes of video tutorials for just about anything related to crochet you can think of, including stitch-along tutorials for full patterns. There are so many different crocheters with different teaching styles that you can find someone whose lessons suit you, and many channels tie in to a corresponding blog or website so you can easily find written patterns once you get the hang of them.

Answer: Yarn bombing

Yarn bombing is also known as urban knitting, yarn storming, and various other names. No one's quite sure who started it or when but it seems to have become popular in the 1990s and 2000s in Texas, USA, particularly around the Houston area, and is now found in many parts of the world. Different artists have different motivations for yarnbombing, including bringing joy to public spaces they feel have become cold and sterile, or as part of a feminist approach of reclaiming crafts that are traditionally done by women and that have been devalued. People have also used yarnbombing as part of protests and to raise awareness of various causes.

The sizes involved in this public art vary from individual artists creating small pieces to large collectives doing mass projects. Although it brings joy and can brighten up a public space, some installations may be illegal in different areas and some people have environmental concerns, such as the effect on tree growth when the trunk is covered in yarn and projects using synthetic fibres, which don't biodegrade like natural fibres. It's always a good idea for artists to make sure they are not breaking any littering or graffiti laws before undertaking a yarnbombing project, and to periodically check on it and remove the material when it begins to become worn and decayed.

Answer: Ireland

Irish crochet lace is a technique using a very small crochet hook and thin thread to make patterns that imitate the appearance of expensive Venetian Gros Point lace (also known as Point de Venise). As Ireland was recovering from the Great Famine, many people learned the technique as a way to make money, and it was first taught mainly through convents across the country. Around the beginning of the 20th century, it spread to nearby countries in Europe and is now practised all over the world.

The technique is somewhat more complicated than general crochet and is sometimes considered only related to lacework rather than a genuine form of it.

Answer: Japanese

The name "amigurumi" comes from the Japanese and literally means "crocheted (or knitted) stuffed toy (or doll)". Stuffed toys of this sort have been made in East Asia for hundreds of years but the name and style of amigurumi became prominent in Japan around the 1980s and in the Western world a bit later, around the 2000s.

They are often in the form of cute animals but just about any creature can be made into an amigurumi project. Crocheted amigurumi are formed using crochet stitches in a spiral; this method avoids a telltale seam that occurs when single rounds are closed before moving onto the next one.

This is a bugbear many of us crocheters are familiar with when making projects in the round, such as hats; the spiral is much neater but it's much harder to end it evenly, as spirals don't really have an end! The extra "brim" of stitching this leaves is not really an issue in amigurumi projects as it's easily hidden where the head, arms, legs, etc. join the main body of the project.

Answer: Filet crochet

Filet crochet is easy to learn because it uses stitches you already know to create stunning designs by contrasting blocks of stitches with open "holes" or mesh. The stitches used can vary but the key is to use a number and type of stitch that works well as a square so that the meshwork is even across the piece. Anything you can make into a image of square blocks can be worked using filet crochet; it is up to you whether you choose to have the main pattern represented by the "filled" squares or by the "holes".

As with any technique in crochet, there is usually no real limit to the possibilities you can use this technique for. I have yet to personally make a filet crochet piece but it is very striking, easy to work up, and versatile, so I definitely plan to try it one day!

Answer: Hyperbolic objects

Surprisingly, it is hyperbolic objects! Hyperbolic geometry is a quite confusing mathematical concept of space in higher dimensions that is quite different from our usual concept of space, called Euclidean space. In hyperbolic space, lines that begin parallel to each other drift further and further apart and the angles of a triangle add up to less than 180 degrees. Well, I'm a scientist by training and even I can't quite get my head around it!

Daina Taimina was given paper models to approximate objects in hyperbolic space by a teaching professor but found them flimsy and so decided to crochet them instead! Although they are by necessity an approximation, they seem to help things click for students learning about hyperbolic space. There are even patterns out there for anyone to stitch the pretty objects, that come out looking something like flowers, coral reefs, or even a shower loofah! Other mathematical concepts like the incorrect answers have inspired many crafts such as quilting, cross-stitch, and weaving.