Is “Crocheted” A Word?

As I said in my Bringing It Back post, I started to learn how to knit and crochet when I was just a kid. I was taught by my “English as a fifth language” grandmother, and as such, I have no real idea about correct terminology or stitch names and the like. I’ve gotten along pretty well without all that (and improvised when needed), so it hasn’t really seemed like a big deal. Until, of course, I went for a “stitch and bitch” tea a while back. I was wanting to explain to my friend Kat which stitch I was using… and all I could do was actually show it to her. Similarly, when she was asking if I’d ever used the “seashell”, I was at a loss until I saw her do it. It was frustrating. So. Yeah. Hmm.

Anyhow, I’ve been doing a bit of a house “purge and update” lately, and one of my little projects has been revamping the stained and holey kitchen hand towels and pot holders that I’ve been using – and abusing – for years. It seems that if I want to outright replace them, my colour options are black, white, red, or olive – none of which are terribly complimentary to all of the blue and aqua in my dishes and pottery. And so, as per usual, I decided to make my own, starting with the pot holders.

The old pot holders I got in my stocking one year that have never matched a thing in the kitchen, but that have been totally useful.

Potholders, huh? Even though it sounds like the kind of monotonous make-work project you might find in a junior high “industrial arts” program or a psyc ward, it’s actually been a nice little pastime. At the stitch and bitch it was totally easy to do – without much concentrating or counting or whatever – so I could dedicate most of my attention to the conversation at hand. And at home it was something I could do whilst watching the kids or TV or whatever. Plus, at the end of it all, I have some nice new potholders that match my already existing colour scheme. Woohoo!

Now. While I have your attention, I was just wondering if any of you happened to crochet and might know the name of the stitch I’ve been using a lot lately (for these pot holders and the hat project from the other post)? It goes a little something like this…

You start with your basic loop…

You wrap the yarn around the hook once…

Then put the hook through the piece you’re working on and wrap the yarn around the hook again…

And you pull the yarn through so that there are now 3 “loops” on your hook. BUT. Instead of stopping there and wrapping the yarn around the hook again…

You KEEP PULLING that far left loop THROUGH the middle loop so that there are only two loops on the hook!

THEN you wrap the yarn around the hook again and pull it through both loops…

And you’re ready to go again!

So. Any idea what this stitch is called? I like it because it is a bit more compact than the traditional crochet stitch that I learned, and it results in a nice texture to the piece. If nobody has one, I may very well name it “Kate”. Just because. 😉 Well, that’s it for me today. Time to go use those pot holders and make some dinner. Thanks for any input you have!