Eleanor Gilchrist
Eleanor Gilchrist is a History PhD student. Eleanor's project explores the history of the craft of crochet.
Project Title
Academic Supervisor
Project Description
It is assumed that crochet as we know it today evolved out of the older crafts of slipstitch crochet (shepherd’s knitting or cleekit), tambour embroidery and Irish crochet lace. The first crochet pattern books were published in English in the 1840s but it is unclear how and why the evolution to the modern craft took place. Many museum collections contain objects which are crocheted and can be dated to around the turn of the 19th century but it is unclear who made them, how they learned the craft and how it became more sophisticated. I propose to piece together the history of this method of textile production, which was developed through oral tradition, informal education and creativity.
Paper and Publications
Bursaries, Grants and Research employment
Philip Robinson Bursary, Newcastle University 2021-2024
MATCH Small Grant, MATCH Research Group, Newcastle University 2024
PhD Grant, Pasold Research Fund 2025
Research Assistant Working with Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust and Dr Clare Hickman on a garden attached to the Darby Houses in Coalbrookdale. Jan-June 2023
Writing and Speaking
Crochet: A Craft Craze for the Cool Kids EPOCH Issue 12, June 2023
How to Crochet like it’s 1837: Educated guesses and trial and error as a research method Making Historical Dress Network, Workshop 1. Replicas, Reconstructions, and Recreations: Defining Terms of Historical Making, September 2023 (Beginning at 1:21:30 in the event recording.)
The History of Crochet Sew What? podcast May 2024
The proof of the pattern is in the making: The technology of the crochet pattern in the 1840s and how I got on when I tried to use them Knitting History Forum Conference, Feb 2025
Round Table panellist Research for making and making for research Royal School of Needlework Stitched Together Conference 2025, August 2025
The ordinary, extraordinary Jane Gaugain The Journal of Scottish Yarns Issue 8 Autumn/Winter 2025, November 2025
Crochet: A craft craze for the cool kids Discovery Nights: Discovery Museum, Newcastle, March 2026
The Thing About Mrs. Bates' Knitting The Thing About Austen podcast, March 2026
A history of crochet in 100 objects Woolly Good Gathering, April 2026
Crochet as popular culture Uppsala Seminar Series May 2026