Introduction
What is Tunisian Crochet? Is it knitting? Is it crochet? Is it related to Tunisia? Well a little bit of the first two and there is no evidence of the connection with Tunisia. It used to be referred to as Shepherd’s knitting, Fool’s crochet or Idiot’s stitch. However, there is no evidence on why these three references came up.
So, what is Tunisian crochet? It’s a form of crochet where one starts like any other regular crochet work, with a starting chain. The next step resembles knitting where one picks up loops and places them on the hook. The similarity to knitting ends here😊. The final step to complete the stitch is to yarn over and pull through two loops at a time till you reach the start. There you have it, in a nutshell, Tunisian crochet.
It is always worked on the right side and yes there are techniques to work it in the round. More on that later.
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Does Tunisian Crochet need special hooks?
One can use the regular crochet hook for Tunisian crochet provided the stitches required for the project are more than 20 and if they are not ergonomic hooks. As the stitches need to be placed on the hook an even hook with minimal or no thumb rest will work the best. There are plain crochet hooks available in different lengths without the thumb rest and a stopper at the end. This stopper is to prevent the stitches from falling off the hook. Then there are Tunisian hooks with cables attached at the end to help one have 100+ stitches on it. The type of hook needed will be dictated by the number of stitches that one needs to hold on the hook.
What you will not be able to use are these:
Does Tunisian crochet use up more yarn?
In the 1970’s when Tunisian crochet made an entrance in the US crochet scene, it was primarily used to create dense blankets made with a tight gauge that gave a square mesh on which one worked cross-stitch embroidery. Hence there was this claim that Tunisian crochet used more yarn. But Modern Tunisian crochet, later than 2000, has incorporated many stitches and designers have successfully created Tunisian crochet projects that are not bulky.
Can a beginner learn Tunisian crochet?
Absolutely! Its simple enough to teach and easy to pick it up. As always one needs to be patient and just give it a try😊
Are there any books on Tunisian Crochet?
There are plenty of Tunisian crochet books available and a plenty of designers who have patterns for beginners.
Can one do color work with Tunisian crochet?
Yes! One square on the chart will refer to one stitch but one row will need two parts to complete it and they are known by Forward pass and Return Pass.
Tunisian crochet is quite easy to learn and it will definitely open many more possibilities once this skill is learnt.
Types of stitches
The basic Tunisian stitch is called the Tunisian Simple Stitch and is worked as follows
TSS
Row 1
Forward pass: Chain any number of stitches, Insert hook in the second chain from the hook into the back bump of the chain(This will give a neat edge when you are done), yarn over and pull up a loop, (insert hook into the back bump of the next chain, yarn over and pull up a loop) repeat ( ) till you reach the end of the chain. Do not turn. The number of loops on the hook must be equal to the number of chains made. The first loop on hook counts as one stitch always unless mentioned otherwise.
Return pass: Yarn over and pull through one loop on the hook, (yarn over and pull through 2 loops), repeat ( ) till you have just one loop on the hook! That’s it. The first row is done!
Row 2
Forward pass: Insert hook into the second vertical bar(right to left) , yarn over and pull up a loop, (insert hook into next vertical bar, yarn over and pull up loop) repeat ( ) till you reach the last stitch. For the last stitch insert the hook into the vertical bar and the loop behind it(this will give a firm edge) , yarn over and pull up a loop. Do not turn
Return Pass: worked same as row 1.
That’s it! Repeat row 2 to the height required.
Binding off or finishing off
Once the height is reached, finish off in the following manner
Insert hook into the second vertical bar, yarn over pull up a loop, yarn over pull through two loops, (insert hook into next vertical bar, yarn over , pull up a loop, yarn over pull through 2loops) repeat ( ) till the end of the row. Do not cut yarn.
The Tunisian simple stitch tends to curl, and the piece needs a simple single crochet border around it to help it to lay flat. So, after the last stitch is bound off, chain 1, sc in the same place, sc along the left border of the work till you reach the base chain, 3 sc in the corner, 1 sc in each chain (the opposite side of starting chain) till you reach the right corner, 3 sc in the corner, 1 sc in each edge stitch up the right side border till you reach the top right corner, 3 sc in the corner, on sc in each stitch on top of bound of row, end with 2 sc in the corner where the first sc is. Fasten off and weave in ends. Enjoy your first Tunisian crochet sample.
Don’t forget to check back for the second stitch which can help to reduce the curl significantly😊
You can watch our video tutorial for the tunisian crochet basics for better understanding:
Hope this quick guide helps you to learn and pick up tunisian Crochet! Also feel free to leave any queries and comments below!
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