Tunisian Crochet Tutorial

Due to the popularity of my post on Tunisian crochet last month, I’d like to revisit the craft in more detail.

Tunisian crochet can be done with any type of crochet hook. Of course, ordinary crochet hooks limit the width of your project (though there are some neat spiral patterns that can make up for that).

To do Tunisian crochet, think of a single crochet stitch as a series of steps:

1. Insert hook through loop on previous row.

2. Yarn over.

3. Pull up loop.

4. Yarn over.

5. Pull through both loops on hook.

But instead of doing them in that order, you’ll do 1-3 for an entire row before going back along with steps 4 and 5.

Here’s what I mean. Start with a base chain of any length (I would recommend no more than ten or fifteen chains long if you have an ordinary hook.)

Pull up a loop in the first chain as if you were going to do a single crochet stitch.

Then pull up a loop in the next chain, keeping all other loops on your hook.

Repeat this step along to the end of the row.

Yarn over and pull through ONE loop*. (If you do not do this at the end of every row, your project will get narrower and narrower.)

Yarn over and pull through two loops.

Continue to yarn over and pull through two loops until you are back where you started and only one loop remains on the hook.

Start a new row, pulling up a loop through each vertical loop in the row below.

Make as many rows as you like.

For some variation, try pulling in a new color at the * step.

Using the second color, work back along the row and then start a new one. Change colors again when you reach the * step again. I’ve tried this with up to three colors to nice effect.

Once you’ve mastered this basic Tunisian crochet stitch, there are many variations to play with–like the one that turns out looking almost identical to knit stockinette stitch.

Tutorials for the variations can be found all over the internet. (For example, at this site: My Tunisian Crochet.)

Happy Yarning!

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