One of my promises for 2015 to myself was to try Tunisian crochet. The blending of crochet and knitting has been intriguing me for a while. And the opportunity of buying more kit was just too tempting.
Look what I’ve got! New kit…
And of course the crochet hooks had to be tried as soon as they arrived. I decided that I would make a lengthways constructed colour stripe scarf. I’ve been eyeing those up for a while as I loved the idea of the colours running up the scarf length rather than across it. Also by having so many of the same stitches to make in one go, it was the perfect way to practice a new stitch. On the other hand the idea of knitting something like this by hand is really quite daunting.
Next, the colour scheme had to match with my new coat/duvet which I bought for my Norwegian holiday in four weeks time. Since the coat is purple, the scarf had to be somewhat complimentary. Here is the colour scheme:
Purple, Green – Colour A
Purple Turquoise – Colour B
To which I added a splash of yellow to clash and then the edge colour in lavender. The yarn is aran weight alpaca mix so it’s really lovely and warm. Time to start the pattern
Lengthways striped Tunisian Crochet Simple Stitch Scarf Pattern
I used two 50g skeins of Colour A (total of 200m), and one 50g skein of Colour A and the yellow skein (100m each). I also used some of the lavender skein but you can substitute with one of the other colours too but add this in to the calculation, you will need more yarn.
Using the edging colour (lavender) I chained a lot. I didn’t count how many as for this scarf it’s more important that you have the length that you want – mine is around 180cms long. That is a LOT of chains.
I then used Colour A to crochet the foundation row and the simple stitch row.
The foundation row
I was amazed that the foundation row is sort of like knitting a stitch and the simple stitch row is just like crocheting. So different parts of my brain were working at different rows. Neat!
I changed to the yellow colour next to provide a strong contrast and bring out the beautiful colour changes in Colour A – not that it is obvious in this photo!
On to the second foundation row!
The order for crocheting after that was Colour A, Colour B, Colour A, yellow and repeat from the beginning. In effect you are using twice as many of the Colour A yarn that of the yellow and the Colour B one.
It’s getting there
When I had the width I wanted – 26 foundation rows and simple stitch rows in total – I used the lilac colour again to edge in DC into the vertical bars. It seems that Tunisian crochet curls. A lot. In fact, two rows in, I sized up on the crochet hook from 5mm to 5.5mm to help a bit. Whilst I was crocheting, the scarf was just a furled up piece of material. So now I’m blocking it and hoping for the best.
It WILL be flat
The scarf has a really nice woven texture to it and is quite dense. Much thicker than knitting and without the holes of crochet. I’m seriously impressed by this technique.
The colour combination is lovely! I’m a fan of Tunisian crochet, it’s fast and rewarding. A perfect combination of knit and crochet 🙂
Thank you!
I can’t say that Tunisian crochet is fast for me just yet. But I will persevere. I want to try different stitches next time but I’m really drawn to the texture of the simple stitch. It’s almost like weaving.
I purchased Kim Guzman’s “Tunisian Crochet Stitch Guide”, to help stretch my wings a little with stitches. If you were thinking of exploring further, it’s a wonderful book.
It’s on my Amazon Wishlist 🙂
Yep, Tunisian crochet is a curler. Blocking helps but eventually you’ll have to block again. It’s recommended that you go up a couple of hook sizes for the yarn thickness-unfortunately if you’re wanting a dense fabric then this isn’t want you want to do. The other (and more fun) way to learn how to control the curling is to keep exploring the technique and learn some of the other stitches and patterns that aren’t as prone to curling as the Tunisian simple stitch. I recommend ‘The New Tunisian Crochet’ by Dora Ohrenstein. I will admit that I’m not a fan of the majority of the projects in there but if you’re interested in Tunisian crochet the stitch patterns are worth it.
I’ve steamed my scarf and for the time being it is behaving. I really like the dense woven impression of the simple stitch so I only went up half a hook size so there is a lot of curl!
Thanks for the tip – I will look out for that book.