THE MAKING OF A LOVELY CARDIGAN IN TUNISIAN CROCHET In the last little while, as you may have noticed, I have been working on an ambitious project: the creation of a Tunisian crochet garment, using a leaf motif (or "spades", as I preferred to call it) already seen in some wonderful knitting projects. First, I thought about replicating the spade pattern in Tunisian crochet, which was not difficult, as I have created similar patterns before - you can find them, for example, in these projects of mine: Leaf it On Shawl , Leaf it On Scarf , Leaf it On Cowl . Leaf it On Scarf Next, I thought it best to make a garment that had a simple workmanship, i.e. worked flat, and not in the round, to avoid, at least initially, over-complicating the design. A cardigan, therefore, was the best choice. Next, I chose a yarn that I liked and opted for a fine multicoloured yarn. This was the result: "QUEEN OF SPADES" - THE CAL! I liked the finished garment very much, and so did you, whic
TUNISIAN CROCHET BASICS: THE TUNISIAN SIMPLE STITCH
LET’S GET STARTED –
FOR REAL!
If you have followed me so far and learned how to make the Foundation
Row in Tunisian crochet (if you haven’t, go back to my previous blog post HERE),
be HAPPY: because that’s about all there is to know, almost! Yes, if you are able to start a
project in Tunisian crochet (i.e. to make a Foundation Row), you have already
grasped the simple concept of this beautiful technique, made of a “Forward Pass”
– a stage in which all stitches are cast on the hook – and a “Return Pass” – a stage
in which those stitches are cast off the hook.
So if you have learned how to pull up loops from a starting chain of
stitches, and how to bring those loops off again, you are ready to proceed
working in the most basic of all Tunisian stitches: the Tunisian Simple Stitch.
Before you do, there’s another important concept you need to learn.
TUNISIAN
STITCH “CHEAT SHEET”
While in traditional crochet we usually insert
the hook through loops and stitches, in Tunisian crochet we work through and
around “bars”. When learning the different stitches in this Tunisian crochet course,
I suggest you always refer to the photo below as “cheat sheet” for the different
definitions, in order to better understand and visualize where to insert the
hook in the different stitches and patterns (CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE IT).
Tunisian Simple Stitch: "cheat sheet"
FIRST ROWS IN TUNISIAN SIMPLE STITCH
To proceed working after the Foundation Row, insert the hook from right
to left under (or behind, depending on the perspective) the first available
Vertical Bar (NEVER the one right under the first loop on the hook), yarn over
and pull up a loop on the hook, keeping it there (photo 1 and photo 2).
1: Tunisian Simple Stitch
2: Tunisian Simple Stitch
Proceed
pulling up loops from all available Vertical Bars until the end of the row
(photo 3).
3: Tunisian Simple Stitch
Proceed with the Return Pass as for the Foundation Row, yarning over and
pulling through one loop only once (4), then yarning over and pulling through two
loops together (5) until the end of the row (6).
4: Tunisian Simple Stitch
5: Tunisian Simple Stitch
6: Tunisian Simple Stitch
You have just completed your first row
in Tunisian Simple Stitch!
Isn’t it incredibly fun and easy?! If you wish to keep on crocheting in
Tunisian Simple Stitch, just keep repeating what you’ve just learned as long as
you want. There are many beautiful projects that can be worked up with this
basic stitch: scarves, cushion covers, rugs, you name them. The simple yet
lovely texture produced by the Tunisian Simple Stitch is for sure the most
famous and most recognizable of all Tunisian stitches, so don’t be put off by
its simplicity.
èAfter you’ve finished practicing and playing around
with the Tunisian Simple Stitch, brace yourself for further interesting notions
and stitches of Tunisian crochet!
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