Ahh, Tunisian. It’s like the bastard child of knitting and crochet. Like knochet… critting … I guess we’ll stick with Tunisian.
Tunisian Simple Stitch combines all the solidity of crochet with the flat smooth feel of knitted fabric while creating a dual texture: woven-looking on one side and nubby (somewhat garter-stitch-esque) on the other. If you have never tried Tunisian crochet I highly recommend experimenting with it. If you need a good guide to learning it, check out this free tutorial for beginners on my blog for Tunisian Simple Stitch or my free tutorials for Tunisian Knit Stitch.
The best crochet washcloth I ever made was with Tunisian Simple Stitch and a vintage terrycloth boucle yarn. I will never again crochet a washcloth that is not Tunisian stitch. That’s how good this thing is.
So, lets get started!
I had some trouble locating a quick photo guide to increasing and decreasing in Tunisian simple stitch the other day, so I jumped to provide. The extended instructions are below. Hope it inspires you!
Both increases and decreases are made on the forward pass of Tunisian simple stitch.
Increases are placed between two vertical bars (shown highlighted in green) on the forward pass. Insert the hook into the gap (shown circled) wherever you wish to place the increase.
After inserting the hook through the gap as shown, draw up a loop to keep on the hook as you would if you were working one of the vertical bars.
Continue to work the row as normal (make sure you don’t miss the vertical bar right after the increase!)
Shown above is the forward pass, with the increase stitch highlighted in blue. Once you finish the forward pass, work the return pass as normal.
Shown above is the swatch with the increase stitch highlighted in blue.
Decreases are placed by combining two vertical bars on the forward pass.
Insert the hook under two vertical bars at once.
Yarn over and draw the loop through both bars. Continue the forward pass as usual.
Shown above is the swatch with the decreased stitch highlighted in green.
You can also make a decrease in Tunisian simple stitch by merely skipping one vertical bar, but I don’t prefer this method. Enjoy knitchet croshit … uh, stitching.
-MF