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Tunisian Knit Stitch

March 9th, 2012

mio

The Tunisian Knit stitch is so called because it looks a bit like the knit stitch in knitting. It doesn’t really behave like one, though!

This stitch makes a thick fabric which I have found excellent for mittens.

Start out the same way you would with any Tunisian crochet – make a base chain, lift up loops in each stitch, and then work them off, or use the Crochet Cast-On (in re-writing this tutorial is occurs to me that I haven’t made one for the basics of Tunisian crochet. I’ll make one once I’ve re-written the missing posts!)

Time to insert the hook! With Tunisian Simple stitch you work with the vertical bars, but those vertical bars are just the loops that were lifted onto the hook on the last row. For the Tunisian Knit stitch, you still insert the hook from right to left into that loop…

But you also push the hook through the fabric – it should come out the back to the left (as seen from above) of the vertical bar at the back:

Yarn over:

And pull a loop up onto the hook:

You’ll notice as you work that your project is curling severely:

This is normal for the Tunisian Knit stitch. It is bigger on the back than it is on the front, and so it curls. You can minimise the curl a little bit by going up to an even bigger hook size than you normally would go up to with Tunisian crochet. Blocking might help if you’re using a natural fibre; or you could try adding a border.

In this picture, I’m hoping you can see why this is called a “knit” stitch:

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Tags: crochet, natcromo2012, Tunisian, tunisian knit stitch, Tutorial

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Half Double Crochet

March 5th, 2012

mio

Here’s how to make a half double crochet (hdc), in the UK, it’s called a half treble crochet (htr).

The suggested turning chain for hdc, is ch2:

Opinions differ as to whether or not this counts as a stitch. I treat it as one, but I think the general consensus is that you don’t, just like with single crochet.

If you’re starting with a base chain, make the first hdc in the third chain from the hook.

We’re working in rows, so it’s time to turn:

yarn over (yo) :

Insert hook (if you are counting your turning chain as a stitch, insert the hook in the second stitch. If you are not counting your turning chain as a stitch, insert your hook into the first stitch)

Pull up a loop:

Yarn over and pull through all three loops:

That’s it!

In short: yarn over, insert hook, pull up a loop, yarn over, pull through 3 loops. Repeat!

This is a really neat stitch. I’m disappointed with myself that I haven’t used it more – I mostly use it to make gradual transitions between double crochet and single crochet. However, a fabric made up entirely of half double crochet looks really neat. I’m going to have to play with it more!

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Tags: crochet, half double crochet, hdc, how to crochet, Tutorial

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Crochet With Sashay

March 3rd, 2012

mio

It seems to be a little known fact that you can, in fact, crochet with that ruffle yarn that is so popular these days. Personally, I’m not a fan of this kind of yarn. I find it to be a pain in the butt to work with as it tends to curl up on itself at the slightest provocation.

I did find it slightly easier to work with when crocheting than with knitting, though, so there’s a plus!

Here’s how to do it with Red Heart Sashay yarn using a 6mm hook (it’s pretty much the same method for all the yarns of this type… you just need to figure out where to put the hook)

First you need to spread the yarn out – you’ll see that it’s a net. There’s an edge that has some sparkle to it, that’s the bottom edge. You will be crocheting with the top edge only.

Along the top edge there is what people call “train tracks” – a series of holes that alternate between big and small.

We will be concerning ourselves only with the large holes. Ignore the small ones.

You don’t need a slip knot to start with this yarn, you just insert your hook and off you go. Now, when I start, I fold the end over a bit and work into both layers for about an inch or so. It’s not shown in this picture because, frankly, I took that picture and you couldn’t see what was going on. :)

To get the ruffle effect, you simply skip a large hole and go into the next:

That’s it. Every time your pattern has you “yarn over”, you skip a large hole and insert the hook into the next large hole.

Start with a base chain that is approximately the length of the scarf you want to make (up to 6′ long is a safe length for one ball)

Here’s what it looks like when you pull that second “large hole” loop through the first:

(chain made)

Here I am, grabbing the next spot, two large holes away:

When you have the length you want, turn and sc in each chain. Now, the chain is hard to see, both in this picture and in real life:

But do your best – only work into one loop of the chain. It’s too much of a pain to work it any other way, in my experience.

When you’ve sc across, turn and slip stitch back down again. And you’re done! Finish off by cutting the yarn and pulling the *whole* thing through the loop on your hook. Pull it snug, and then trim the end if you find it’s sticking out too much. The end should basically hide itself in the ruffles.

And here is the finished scarf!