think the needle my mother used was single with a hook at one end (like a crochet hook) and a broad flat head at the other (like a knitting needle) so the work wouldn't come off the back end. The width of the work was limited by the length of the needle, as with knitting, and so she used to make several/many strips and then join them using a crochet hook.
i know this as tunisian knitting. It is something like crochet, and something like knitting, and it (is) still commonly used for making afghans. (and it is sometimes called 'afghan crochet')
there are knit stitches that mimic the effect of tunisian work.
The width of the work was limited by the length of the needle, as with knitting,
knitting is rather flexible--you can easily fit 20 inches worth of stitches onto a 12 or 14 inches needles. there is some 'limit' but i recently made myself a cape/poncho that is about 90 inches at the hem (its not quite circular) and i knit the whole thing (in one peice) on a 29 inch needle (too cheap to spring for a 40 inch or larger needle.)
for those of you who are trying to envision needles like yard sticks, think again-- i use a 'cable needle' a 17 or so inch cable, with 'needle points' (6 or so inches long) at either end of the cable. cables needles come in different lengths (the smaller sizes have smaller needle ends) and they are used to knit 'tubes' (seamless knitting) and to substitute for 2 straight needles.
90 inches (of knitting) crammed onto a 29 inch needle is 'tight' but it possible.
