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Tunisian Crochet

March 9th, 2012

mio

This tutorial focuses on the Tunisian Simple stitch, but it also serves as an introduction to Tunisian crochet. If you’ve never done Tunisian crochet before, this is a good place to start.

For the best results when doing Tunisian crochet, you need a special hook called an “afghan hook”. You can also use a double ended hook (and ignore one of the ends), or a cabled hook. The important thing is that the hook be the same size and shape after the head – so, no thumb rest, and no fancy handles. It’s also important, if you’re making something large, to have some kind of stopper on the end to keep the loops from sliding off. Afghan hooks and most cabled hooks come with a stopper. When I use a double ended hook for this I usually wrap an elastic band around the unused head.

Also, you need to use a bigger hook than you normally would for the yarn you’re using. I suggest going up two sizes. For this yarn, I normally use a 5mm hook. When using it for Tunisian crochet, I use a 6mm hook. You’ll want to experiment – using an even larger hook can take care of curling problems, but can also result in a lacier fabric.

Let’s get started!

As with a lot of crochet techniques, start with a base chain:
(more…)

Posted in Tutorial

Tags: crochet, natcromo2012, Tunisian, Tutorial

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Measuring Up

March 9th, 2012

mio

Hooks come in various sizes, and while the size of the hook is usually noted on the hook somewhere, this isn’t always the case. It behooves us to have our own way of measuring.

Enter the gauge:

Now, this is a knitting needle gauge. It’s designed so that you insert the knitting needle into the holes to see while one is the best fit. This doesn’t work so well for some crochet hooks:

Here, the problem is that the head of the hook is bigger than the shaft (which is the part we’re tring to measure). There is such a thing as a crochet hook gauge, but I can’t seem to find one to buy. A hook gauge typically has a tear-drop shaped hole in it, where you put the hook into the hole and then slide it towards the small end until it fits snugly. You then look at the measurement marking next to that spot in the hole.

This seems to me like it could be somewhat inaccurate. Also, you’re limited to hook sizes that fit in the hole – it may not work for extra large or extra small hooks.

Now, my workaround for this has been to simply insert the butt end of the hook into the gauge, like so:

But that doesn’t always work. For example, steel hooks (for thread), all have the same size handle:

Double ended hooks don’t have a handle:

And there are hooks out there that are designed to be more ergonomic (I don’t have any), that definitely wouldn’t work with this needle gauge.

The solution?

A caliper!

Simply clamp it around the shaft of the hook like so:

Ta da!

Posted in helpful tips

Tags: caliper, calliper, crochet, gauge, hook, natcromo2012

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Tunisian Short Rows

March 9th, 2012

mio

Many of you are already familiar with one way of doing Tunisian short rows, thanks to my mio’s hat pattern. In this tutorial we’re going to cover both how to do short rows on the left side of the fabric (as seen in the hat pattern), but also how to do them on the right side of the fabric. It’s important to note that in this tutorials “right side” is always as opposed to “left side”, since in Tunisian crochet, you don’t turn the fabric.

You do left side short row shaping on the “picking up loops” part of a row. Simply pick up loops, but stop short of reaching the end, like so:

Work the loops off as usual.

When you’re ready to do a regular row again, you simply lift up a loop in every stitch of the previous row AND in every previously missed stitch:

Then work the loops off as usual.

Right side short row shaping happens on the “working loops off of the hook” part of the row.

Start by lifting a loop up in every stitch:

When working the loops off of the hook, stop before you reach the end. Here, I’ve got two more stitches to go (the loop closest to the head of the hook is the working loop and doesn’t count as a stitch)

You start the next row by lifting a loop up in the second vertical bar from the hook and in each subsequent stitch.

When you’re done doing your short row shaping, you work all of the loops off as normal:

Here is a swatch that I hope makes it easier to see what is going on.

I started with 15 stitches. Each short row misses 3 stitches, and this pattern continues until there are only 3 stitches left. Shaping on the left side: