Hook & Heritage – Hook-Based Textile Practices: Crochet
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This course is grounded in the research presented in Stolen Stitches: Recovering Africa’s Indigenous Hook-Based Textile Heritage. It moves beyond crochet as a generic craft and repositions it within Africa’s millennia-deep tradition of hook-based fiber manipulation. Participants will examine archaeological evidence from Karanis, Chebka lace from North Africa, knotless netting from Cameroon, and Coptic socks from Egypt. The course then applies this recovered knowledge to contemporary making: drafting geometric patterns by hand, digitising designs in Procreate, and producing two power bank cases using integrated colourwork and surface embroidery. This is not a how-to-crochet course. It is a methodological recovery project.
Target Audience: Intermediate makers comfortable with basic crochet stitches (chain, double crochet). No prior knowledge of African textile history required.
Format: Self-paced online course
Estimated Time: 5-7 hours
Assessment: Project-based portfolio
Course Structure
The course is divided into 4 academic units, each anchored in evidence from the blog post: https://timbuktu-group.africa/stolen-stitches-recovering-africas-indigenous-hook-based-textile-heritage/
Target audiences
- Intermediate makers comfortable with basic crochet stitches (chain, double crochet). No prior knowledge of African textile history required.
- This course is designed for specific cohorts within the African and Caribbean textile community.
- Textile practitioners and makers who already know how to crochet but sense that the story they were taught—that crochet is European—might be incomplete. You want to ground your hands-on practice in the full truth of African technological history.
- Designers and artists of African and Caribbean descent working across fashion, craft, and material culture. You are looking to align your creative practice with decolonial principles and to draw from a deeper, more accurate well of heritage.
- Educators and heritage researchers seeking evidence-based content on African hook-based textile traditions. You need primary sources, archaeological data, and case studies to incorporate into your own curricula or publications.
- Practitioners who have experienced the disconnect described in the Stolen Stitches blog post. You were introduced to crochet as a Western craft. You now want to recover what was severed.
- Advanced hobbyists ready to move beyond pattern-following into design, drafting, and methodological reflection. You want to understand why patterns work, not just how to execute them.
Features
- Evidence-based foundation: Every historical claim is anchored in the Stolen Stitches blog post and its primary sources: the Karanis bone hook, Chebka lace, Mafa knotless netting, Coptic socks, and the 1930 White Sisters photograph.
- Practice-led recovery: Historical knowledge is not presented separately from making. Participants apply the geometric logic of African textiles directly to their own crochet projects.
- Two methods, one object: Participants produce two power bank cases using different decorative techniques—integrated colourwork and surface embroidery—and compare them as methodological choices.
- From hand to digital: The course includes guided exercises in hand-drafting geometric patterns on graph paper and digitising them in Procreate, building skills applicable beyond crochet.
- Academic rigour, accessible delivery: The course operates at higher education level but is self-paced. Historical content is presented through primary evidence, not summary or simplification.
- Instructor feedback available: Participants may submit tasks for personalised feedback via email, creating a mentored pathway within a self-paced format.
- Certificate of completion: Provided by Timbuktu Research and Design upon successful submission of all tasks.
Requirements
- To successfully complete this course, participants need: · Intermediate competency in basic crochet stitches (chain, double crochet). This is not a beginner course. · Cotton yarn in 2-3 colours · Crochet hook appropriate for your yarn weight · Graph paper and pencil · iPad with Procreate (or alternative: coloured pencils on grid paper) · Yarn needle · Power bank for sizing · Willingness to engage with archaeological and historical evidence, not just practical making No prior knowledge of African textile history is required. All historical content is provided within the course.
FAQs
No. This is a professional development offering, not an accredited academic programme. Upon completion, participants receive a Certificate of Completion from Timbuktu Research and Design.
No. You need intermediate competency: you should be comfortable with chain stitch and double crochet. The course does not teach basic crochet technique.
Yes. The digitising component can be completed with coloured pencils on grid paper if you do not have Procreate. Both options are clearly explained.
Estimated 5-7 hours total, self-paced. Most participants complete over 2-3 weeks.
The blog post is recommended background reading but is not required. All key evidence is presented within the course materials.
No. This course assumes you already know how to crochet. It focuses on design, pattern drafting, historical recovery, and two specific decorative methods.
All historical evidence is presented through text, images, and primary sources. No external video is required. Video recommendations are supplementary.
Yes. Participants may email task submissions to education@timbuktu-group.africa. Feedback is provided within 5-7 business days.
The course is designed for and centres African and Caribbean practitioners, in alignment with Timbuktu Research and Design’s mission. All evidence and case studies focus on African hook-based textile traditions.
No. The course is entirely self-paced with no live components. All interaction is through optional email feedback.
Curriculum
- 4 Sections
- 4 Lessons
- 7 Hours
Expand all sectionsCollapse all sections
- Unit 11
- Unit 21
- Unit 31
- Unit 41
Instructor
Free
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