Absolutely Everything You Need To Know About Tunisian Crochet

If you are into crochet and have never tried Tunisian Crochet then I’ve put together a little guide to this unique crochet technique. Here is Absolutely Everything You Need to Know About Tunisian Crochet:

I first came across Tunisian Crochet many years ago, fell in love and have been teaching it ever since. It’s a wonderful crochet technique which will allow you to create thick, dense fabric and you can even embellish it with cross stitch designs.

A Little History of Tunisian Crochet

The origin of Tunisian crochet, also known as Afghan crochet, hook knitting, tricot crochet, hakking, railroad knitting, and shepherd’s knitting, is obscure.  The name Tunisian and Afghan would indicate it began in the Near East or northern Africa.  Not a lot of evidence can be found to substantiate this. 

Most believe the term “Tunisian crochet” was started by the French.  In the early 1800’s, crochet publications started showing Tunisian stitches.  Then by the middle of the century, it could be found being practiced in the British Isles and Western Europe. 

Queen Victoria used it herself, and it became known as “Royal Princess Knitting”. Its popularity waned up until the 1930’s, when it was hardly known.  There have been resurgences and it is now undergoing a large rise in popularity. 

How to do Tunisian Crochet Stitches

Tunisian crochet is a cross between crochet and knitting. Like crochet because you work mostly with chain, single and double crochet stitches. Like knitting because you put all stitches onto one hook. 

The hook you use has a crochet hook on one end, a long shaft, and a stop on the other end to keep the stitches securely on the hook.  You can purchase a variety of types of hooks, interchangeable, etc. I have put some links below to get you started.

You must make sure your hook is long enough to hold all the stitches required to cover the width of your piece.  All the stitches are worked onto the hook and then taken off the hook on the next row.  This is repeated for the length of your piece and the right side of your work is always facing you. 

Tunisian crochet produces a very dense fabric and is ideal for blankets, throws and cushions.  The fabric produced will not unravel when cut.  Unheard of with regular crochet and knitting! 

It takes two rows of stitching – one picking up row and one casting off row – to form one row of stitches.  You start your piece with a foundation chain the width of your piece.  Then, pick up stitches from the chain and leave them on the hook. 

The next row is called casting off, pulling off 2 stitches at a time until there is only one loop on the hook.  This is repeated, picking up stitches and casting off for the length of your piece.  You can also increase, decrease, and make slopes and wedges with Tunisian crochet.  What I have described is the simple stitch.

There are many other stitches and variations, including stocking, purl, crossed and lace stitches to name a few.  I have found reference to at least 30 Tunisian crochet stitches!

Tips to Help You with Tunisian Crochet

Tunisian Crochet is fairly easy to do once you know the techniques, but here are some of my tips:

●       Use a hook long enough to hold all the stitches making up the width of your piece

●       When working a large piece, start with more chains then necessary.  It is simple to undo any extra chains if you have miscounted.

●       Pull the yarn firmly when working the first pick up stitch of each row. This will make a neat edge.

●       Work double crochet across the last row to neaten and strengthen the top edge. 

●       Tunisian crochet can curl so you can remedy this by adding a border.

Books about Tunisian Crochet to get you started

(NB When you purchase through my links, I receive a small commission)

A-Z of Crochet by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The A-Z of Crochet is a great guide to crochet, one of my favourites, and the section on Tunisian crochet includes clear illustrations on how to crochet several Tunisian stitches.

Batsford Book of Knitting and Crochet edited by Thelma M. Nye

The Batsford Book of Knitting and Crochet is an older book, but has very good instructions on many Tunisian stitches.

The Harmony Guide to Crocheting edited by Debra Mountford

The Harmony Guide to Crocheting includes very colourful illustrations of the Tunisian crochet stitches.

I hope this has piqued your interest in Tunisian crochet and you will give it a try! When you do, please get in touch and let me know how you are enjoying this unusual type of crochet. I’m planning to run an online Tunisian Crochet course soon, if this is of interest you can email me here: irishfibrecrafters@gmail.com