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...
I have a new passion: it's called “Brioche Crochet”. When I publish photos of my projects (just a few so far) made with this technique, people are convinced that it is Tunisian crochet (since it is my specialty), or knitting. They are often very surprised when they learn that it is a project made with regular crochet. Yet it is so! It's truly incredible how versatile a simple crochet hook can be, if you think about it, since it allows you to create classic, Tunisian, and now also "knitted" works, in a certain sense.
As I was
saying, Brioche crochet is worked with a regular crochet hook. It produces a
texture that looks very similar to brioche knitting, but its rows are worked
vertically instead of horizontally. Just like brioche knitting, brioche crochet
is fully reversible.
Each
full row is created through a forward row and a return row, which may or may
not have the same number of stitches. I usually consider each forward and
return row as rows of their own.
THE
“SLIP HALF DOUBLE CROCHET” (SHDC)
The main
stitch used in Brioche Crochet is the so-called “Slip Half Double Crochet”
stitch (shdc), always worked in the Back Loop Only (shdcBLO) of the stitches in
previous row.
Yarn Over and insert the hook in the Back Loop Only of next stitch
Yarn Over again and pull through all loops on the hook.
Every regular crochet stitch that can be worked in the “Back Loop Only” can be virtually used in brioche crochet. Apart from the “shdcBLO”, the slip stitch and the single crochet are mostly used. The main point is to create the ribbed pattern that is typical of brioche knitting.
SET-UP ROW
From the beginning chain, add 1 chain to turn, then work Slip Half Double Crochets in the “back bumps” of each chain across.
JOINING STITCH
To obtain the sinuous “leafy” design in Brioche Crochet patterns, you need to learn the “Joining Stitch”. This special stitch connects 3 rows together, creating a “slide” from a “ladder” of rows (Photo 1).
Photo 1
If you look closely at your work, you should recognise a sort of stylised “swallow tail” at the end side of the 2 previous rows (rows 2 and 3 in Photo 1), see Photo 2. This is formed by the turning chains of both rows.
Photo 2
On the back of your work, you should also identify the row that needs to be joined with your current row and the row in between (Photo 3).
Photo 3
Now (without yarning over) insert the hook from front to back in the first “wing” of the swallow tail, then from back to front in the second “wing” (Photos 4 and 5).
Photo 4Photo 5
Without removing the hook, place the working yarn on the hook as shown in Photo 6 (pink arrow) and hold it in place with your finger.
Photo 6
Yarn over, bringing the yarn to the back of the hook and still holding the yarn positioned on the hook as just described (Photo 7), insert the hook in the Back Loop Only of the first free stitch you encounter in row below (Photo 6, white arrow, and Photo 7), and pull through all loops together (Photo 8).
Photo 7Photo 8 (right side)
Photo 9 shows how the joining looks on the back of your work (it looks very similar to the front, because Brioche Crochet is reversible).
Photo 9
SHORT ROWS
As the name implies, short rows are rows that are shorter than the main row. In brioche crochet they are usually used to create “ladders” (Photo 10) to be joined with Joining Stitches in a continuous row (Photo 11).
My first project in brioche crochet is the “Wolfi Vest”. It is the ideal project to try this technique for the first time: in addition to this introduction with photographic support, you will find links to my video tutorials on the topic. Furthermore, the pattern describes row by row what needs to be done. Why not give it a try, then? You can find it on my Etsy, Ravelry or LoveCrafts shops.
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