crochet history / ribbed hat

I was over at answers.com putting my 2 cents in and noticed a question asking who invented crochet. Since crochet is a great part of my life, you know I am interested in its history.

To my knowledge, no one person invented crochet, but the answer given was Eleonore Riego De La Branchardiere. So I am thinking who is that? Well, a google told me she wrote one of the first, if not THE first, book on crochet, namely Irish crochet or Irish lace.
Crochet itself existed long before Ms. De La Branchardiere according to various sources such as the Crochet Guild article.

There are lots of articles on the history of crochet. The one here says:

The earliest written reference to crochet seems to be a mention of something called "shepherd's knitting" in The Memoirs of a Highland Lady by Elizabeth Grant in 1812. The first published patterns appeared in 1824 in the Dutch magazine, Penelope, and in 1842 Mlle. Riego de la Branchardiere began publishing complex patterns and instructions for crochet that resembled bobbin lace and needle lace.

Speaking of crochet, here is the last thing off my hook. It is the Ribbed Round Hat by Sandra Huffines. Very nice looking hat. For those who are new to crochet, "alternate fpdp and bpdc around" might not be sufficient information. To rewrite this with a little more information, you might write:

Rnd 5-18: ch 3, (fpdc in next st, bpdc in next st) around. (You will be working fpdc in fpdc and bpdc in bpdc)

You might be concerned about that ch-3 at the beginning of each round. From the front end, it looks perfectly fine and blends right in with the other stitches. An experienced crocheter can tell where it is, but the casual viewer will not be able to.

On the back inside, you can clearly see the beginning/ending of your round. So this hat has a right and wrong side, if I am doing it correctly.

I actually didn't count my rounds so I don't think I did 18 rounds. I was thinking of the Doctor (Who) as I worked. It sort of looks like a fez, doesn't it? :-)

Two days of 2011 already almost done. I'd better get moving!

Happy crocheting!