Tunisian Crochet How-To… Basic Tunisian Crochet Stitch

Welcome friends! This is my first How-To blog post and I am excited to share with you.

I am going to show you how to Tunisian Crochet. Some of you may have heard of it and others maybe not. Either way, you will learn how to do it today!

Tunisian Crochet is a fabulous way of mixing crocheting and knitting. It’s a back and forth motion of taking stitches on and off the hook with out turning.  And don’t worry if the “knitting” part scares you. I promise you don’t need to know a thing about knitting to do this.

To start off, you need a Tunisian Crochet hook. This is also called an afghan hook.

As you can see, it’s a long crochet hook…

… with a stopper at the end like a knitting needle. This is so your stitches won’t fall off the hook

 

If you can't get your hands on one of these, you can use one of your regular crochet hooks. This is great to use for practicing. But keep in mind, you can’t make as many stitches and you have to make sure you can keep those stiches on your hook. I recommend putting something on the end of the hook like a hair binder or something like that.

As far as yarn, feel free to use whatever you have on hand that will work with your hook.

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Stitches

Ch- Chain

Yo- Yarn over

Sts- Stitches

Sk- Skip

Sl St- Slip Stitch

Did you notice there’s no single, double, treble (etc.) crochets? That’s why this is so easy!

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A big thing you need to know and keep in mind as you do this is that you will go back and forth on your work and never turn. The right side of your work is always facing you.

These will be called The Forward Pass and The Return Pass. The Forward Pass you will be working right to left and The Return Pass you will work left to right. Basically you are just zig-zagging back and forth. I promise it’s not complicated.

So lets getting started!

Big Tip: Try to work loosely if possible. This will help prevent your work from curling

First we need to do the foundation row, which is one forward pass and one return pass.

Make a slip knot and place it on your hook

Next you need to chain. You can do as many as you like, but I did 15. A good number to start with when practicing. I also don’t recommend doing too many.

Chain 15

Now we are going to start The Forward Pass for the foundation row. This will involve simply pulling up a loop in each chain. *You will keep all the loops on the hook as you go.

To start, insert your hook into the 2nd chain from the hook. (The loop on the hook counts as the first loop)

Yarn over

And pull up a loop. You now have two loops on your hook

Keeping all your loops on the hook, repeat this in all remaining chains across. You will then have 15 (or whatever amount of chains you started with) on your hook. Do not turn

Now we will do The Return Pass  of the foundation row, going left to right. Once again, do not turn.

To start, yarn over…

… and pull through first loop.

Next, yarn over and pull through two loops. The rest of the return pass, you will continue to yarn over and pull through two loops at a time. You will do this until there is one loop left on your hook

Now you should have this

You have just completed the foundation row!

Now we will start Row 1, the forward pass and the return pass. You will be repeating this row for the rest of the pattern.

In Row 1, you will be dealing with vertical bars that you have created from your foundation row. If you count them, you should have the same number as the amount of stitches you started with. Make sure you include the last bar at the end.

To start Row 1 (the forward pass), skip first vertical bar from previous row. Insert your hook into the second vertical bar.

Yarn over…

… and pull up a loop. Now you have two loops on your hook.

Continue doing this in every vertical bar to the end.

Do not turn

Can you start to see the pattern?

Next we will start the return pass, working left to right.

Yarn over and pull through first loop. You will only pull through one loop at the beginning of each return pass.

Next, yarn over and pull through two loops. Continue to yarn over and pull through two loops at a time until you have one loop left on your hook.

(This is the same as the return pass from the foundation row)

Once again, you should have 15 (or amount to started with) vertical bars.

Now you just repeat row 1 (the forward and return pass) as much as you’d like.

Here’s a little swatch I made

I just love the pattern and texture it makes. And it’s nice and sturdy.

So there you have it! The basic Tunisian Crochet Stitch. Why don’t you take some time to practice. I will post tomorrow how to finish off your work.

Also, if this seemed kind of wordy, here is a short version of the pattern for you

ch- chain

yo- yarn over

rep- repeat

sk- skip

Foundation Row (forward pass): Insert hook in 2nd ch from hook, yo and draw up a loop (2 loops on hook), *keeping all loops on hook, insert hook in next ch, yo and draw up a loop; rep from * across -  Do not turn.
Foundation Row (return pass): Yo and draw through first loop, *yo and draw through 2 loops; rep from * until 1 loop remains (this loop becomes the first st of the next row) - Do not turn.
Row 1 (forward pass): Sk first vertical bar of previous row (against edge of piece), *keeping all loops on hook, insert hook from right to left under next vertical bar, yo and draw up a loop; rep from * across. Do not turn.
Row 1 (return pass): Work same as Foundation Row (return pass).
Rep both passes of Row 1

 

I hope this How-To was ok for you guys! Like I said, this is my first time doing this. If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments or send me an email. Oh and if you ask in the comments, please make sure you have an email address so I can respond.

To learn how to finish off your work click here!