Teeny tiny tutorial : Tunisian crochet (aka afghan stitch)

re-post

This is a more detailed tutorial than usual but still seems "teeny tiny" because you can try out the technique with an ordinary crochet hook on a 'teeny tiny' strip.  I wish I had discovered  (okay - tried Tunisian crochet: I knew about it but it seemed 'hard' and called for a special long hook and seemed only to be used in strips for afghans)  much sooner in a lifetime of playing with fibre because it is lovely and versatile and easy and simple and fun and you work back and forth, don't have to turn the item.
Shown here is the carryall bag crocheted from rope which I have had to stop doing (both working with dusty fibres and even using items made of dusty fibres - darn;  I expect this will change once my respiratory system recuperates) and its replacement being made from acrylic yarn.  It is the handle that is being made using Tunisian crochet; this is the front of the handle....

...and this is the back.  See how different they are; the front looks woven and the back looks densely knit. 

And here is how you do it using a plain ol' crochet hook - Tunisian crochet hooks are longer and straight and usually have a knob on the end or sometimes a hook on both ends - but this simple crochet hook is working fine for the handle so get yours out and give it a try.

You can chain five stitches and turn the work or, as I am doing here (working directly from the bag to form the handle) - pick up five stitches along the hook on something you are already working on.  Another option is to finger cast on five stitches to the crochet hook as if it were a knitting needle and continue from there.
Now, yarn over hook and draw through the first stitch on the hook.  (I am using the yarn doubled here and mention it in case it seems necessary - it isn't). * Yarn over hook and draw through next two stitches.  Continue from * across row.

This is what it will look like when you have one stitch again on the hook.  The afghan stitch is made up of two rows.  We are now back at the beginning.  The stitch on the hook is the first stitch of the next row.

Remember we started with five stitches...see those five vertical stitches in the photo above....put the hook through the second one from the right, yarn over hook, and draw the yarn through to form the second stitch on the row; continue to put hook in next vertical stitch, yarn over and draw through etc.  across row.

This is what it will look like at end of that row.  Now do as before, yarn over, draw yarn through one stitch, *yarn over,  draw yarn through two stitches and continue from * across row until one stitch remains.   Keep going and give it a good try.

PS  An actual completed item seemed a good idea so last night I got out a Tunisian hook and some flax yarn, chained 7 stitches, and started on this,  deciding the amount of yarn would dictate what it became.

Well, it became a case that will hold a pair of glasses or a cell phone and I discovered that a) I can do Tunisian crochet while yawning and b) the camera seems to photograph not too too badly indoors when it is dark outdoors.

It took less than an hour to make this; it is a speedy technique.

Posted on February 12, 2014 at 02:18 AM | Permalink

This is a more detailed tutorial than usual but still seems "teeny tiny" because you can try out the technique with an ordinary crochet hook on a 'teeny tiny' strip.  I wish I had discovered  (okay - tried Tunisian crochet: I knew about it but it seemed 'hard' and called for a special long hook and seemed only to be used in strips for afghans)  much sooner in a lifetime of playing with fibre because it is lovely and versatile and easy and simple and fun and you work back and forth, don't have to turn the item.
Shown here is the carryall bag crocheted from rope which I have had to stop doing (both working with dusty fibres and even using items made of dusty fibres - darn;  I expect this will change once my respiratory system recuperates) and its replacement being made from acrylic yarn.  It is the handle that is being made using Tunisian crochet; this is the front of the handle....

...and this is the back.  See how different they are; the front looks woven and the back looks densely knit. 

And here is how you do it using a plain ol' crochet hook - Tunisian crochet hooks are longer and straight and usually have a knob on the end or sometimes a hook on both ends - but this simple crochet hook is working fine for the handle so get yours out and give it a try.

You can chain five stitches and turn the work or, as I am doing here (working directly from the bag to form the handle) - pick up five stitches along the hook on something you are already working on.  Another option is to finger cast on five stitches to the crochet hook as if it were a knitting needle and continue from there.
Now, yarn over hook and draw through the first stitch on the hook.  (I am using the yarn doubled here and mention it in case it seems necessary - it isn't). * Yarn over hook and draw through next two stitches.  Continue from * across row.

This is what it will look like when you have one stitch again on the hook.  The afghan stitch is made up of two rows.  We are now back at the beginning.  The stitch on the hook is the first stitch of the next row.

Remember we started with five stitches...see those five vertical stitches in the photo above....put the hook through the second one from the right, yarn over hook, and draw the yarn through to form the second stitch on the row; continue to put hook in next vertical stitch, yarn over and draw through etc.  across row.

This is what it will look like at end of that row.  Now do as before, yarn over, draw yarn through one stitch, *yarn over,  draw yarn through two stitches and continue from * across row until one stitch remains.   Keep going and give it a good try.

PS  An actual completed item seemed a good idea so last night I got out a Tunisian hook and some flax yarn, chained 7 stitches, and started on this,  deciding the amount of yarn would dictate what it became.

Well, it became a case that will hold a pair of glasses or a cell phone and I discovered that a) I can do Tunisian crochet while yawning and b) the camera seems to photograph not too too badly indoors when it is dark outdoors.

It took less than an hour to make this; it is a speedy technique.

Posted on February 12, 2014 at 02:18 AM | Permalink