Tunisian Crochet (Afghan Stitch)

TUNISIAN CROCHET - AFGHAN STITCH
also called Tricot Crochet, Shepherd's Knitting, Hook Knitting, Railroad Knitting
Note: This page may take a while to load as it has lots of pics

Tunisian Crochet
update Š2005 Sandra Petit, http://www.crochetcabana.com

This stitch goes by many names. It can be called Tunisian Crochet, Afghan Stitch, Tricot Crochet, Shepherd's Knitting, Hook Knitting, Railroad Knitting {Working Class girls in England waiting for the train to take them to the mills did Tunisian. I'm sure there are more that I haven't found. :-)

Thank you to everyone who has visited this tutorial and sent me such sweet letters about it. I'm glad it's useful to you. Apologies in advance for how slow this page loads. It has lots of pictures.

Here are a few points to remember when working this stitch. These "hints" were taken from a very old crochet book that I had called Crochet Techniques and Projects, c1975, with my added comments

1) Never turn your piece. You work down the row on the right side, then back on the same side. (If you want to turn your piece then you might be interested in working with the cro-hook which is basically tunisian, but you turn your work, and uses two colors - and it doesn't curl.)
2) Always begin the second half of a row by pulling yarn through one stitch only. After you've completed the first stitch, pull through two stitches at a time.
3) The last stitch remaining on the hook is always the first stitch of the next row.
4) Always skip the first bar when starting on a new row.
5) You will always be working with the same number of stitches as established on the chain (unless you are doing a decrease or increase)
6) Increases and decreases are worked only in the first half of the stitch row.
7) To decrease curling, purl your first row.

Materials needed: afghan hook, crochet hook (for border though you can use the afghan hook if you like), long eye needle, yarn

Note: For the sample, I used 4-ply worsted weight yarn
Extra note: If you are making a small item, you can use a regular crochet hook, just follow the afghan stitch method. If you want a small afghan stitch hook but can't find one, try buying a regular wooden hook and cutting it down. My friend Dave says that a small afghan hook is also good for going around corners on baby bonnets.

This stitch is worked in two parts, which are considered one row. It is similar to Broomstick Lace in that the stitches are placed on the hook in step one and are removed in step 2.

Patterns begin with a foundation row of chains. Right side is always facing up since you never turn work.

I received an e-mail from Brenda in Washington. When she works Tunisian with her MoEZ hook she begins with a cast on as in knitting. She uses the Knitting - Long-Tail Cast-on and suggested this video tutorial on the method done by Knitting Help. I have no problem with starting that way if you don't care for working with a foundation chain.

Your first step in any crochet work is to make a foundation chain (or use the knitting cast-on as mentioned above). For this small sample piece, we will chain 10.

Note: see below for different methods of going into the foundation chain or refer to my tutorial Into the Foundation Chain which will work for Tunisian as well as regular crochet

1) Part 1 (first half of row 1): Insert afghan hook into hump in the back of 2^nd chain from hk,

2) yo, pull yarn through and onto hk, (all stitches remain on hk).

3) * insert hk in next ch, yo, pull yarn through and onto hk *, repeat to last chain.

Do not turn.

Note that you started with 10 chains and you have 10 loops on hook

4) Part 2 (second half of row 1): yo

5) draw through one loop,

6) * yo, draw through 2 loops

7) continue with (yo, draw through 2 loops) across to last loop - one loop remaining on hook. That last loop remaining on hook will be the first loop of your next row.

Here's another picture using chunky yarn so you can see this row better.

For Row 2, Part 1 you now have two choices. You can do the regular afghan stitch, or you can do the purl stitch. Some folks say that working the purl stitch for the first couple rows will help with the curling that is so prevalent with afghan stitch.

Purl Stitch

The main thing to remember here is that the yarn goes in FRONT for the purl stitch.

8) Loop on hk counts as first st of Row 2 (part 1)

Bring the yarn coming from your skein to the front. Let it hang down between that first vertical strand on the end of your row, and the next one to the left. You will never go into that first strand.

9) Insert your hook into the second vertical bar on the left.

10) Then bring your yarn to the left, back and around hook as normal , draw through that vertical loop, leaving yarn over loop on hook.

11) Drop the strand to the front again

If you don't want to drop the yarn in this way, you can hold it up, as long as you keep it to the front (as show in the two pictures below)

12) insert hook in next vertical loop to the left, bring your strand up and yarn over again.

13) You will notice that your strand crosses in front of your loop on your hook. Continue as in steps 3-5 across row.

You will drop yarn betw vertical strands, insert hook, and then pick up yarn again, until you get to the end of that row.

14) Row 2, Part 2 - working off the loops

This is the same as above steps 4-7

yo, pull through one lp, *yo, drawl through 2 lps, rep from * across until there is one lp on hk

15) Row 3, Part 1

repeat steps 8-13

16) Row 3, Part 2

Repeat steps 4-7

note there is no curling thus far

At this point, I switch to Tunisian basic stitch - note the difference. No loop crossing in front of the stitches. Now you will have your little squares, ready for a beautiful cross-stitch pic. :-)

8) loop on hk counts as first st of Row 2, part 1
(you will not go into that loop)

9) insert hk under second vertical loop on the left, yo

10) pull through, keeping loops on hk

11) continue in like fashion, insert hk in next loop to the left, yo, pull through, keeping all loops on hk, to end of row

12) part 2 - yo (note how the work is beginning to curl already), pull through one loop

13) yo, pull through 2 loops

14) *yo, pull through 2 loops, rep from * to end of row, one loop remaining on hk

15) row 3, part 1

repeat steps 9-11

picture of finished row 3, part 1, showing curling

Binding off the last row - This is essentially a slip stitch, made along the last row.

Below is the finished square. Note the small squares created by your basic afghan stitch. You can cross-stitch a design on top of your work using any cross-stitch pattern. When you do your cross-stitch, you should be careful to let as little of the stitch as possible show on the wrong side. This is a mistake I made with my first project. What a mess it looked! The front was beautiful, but the back of the piece was a horror. (I should note that some say when you work in the middle of the stitches to keep the back looking nice, the x's are not as uniform. This might be true. I don't know, but I was pleased with the outcome of my later afghans.)

A lot of people have written me asking how to get the cross-stitch to be "invisible" on the back. Okay, here's how to do it. You will notice on your regular afghan stitch there is a vertical bar, then a "square" with two horizontal loops, and then another vertical bar. Instead of pushing your needle all the way through your piece, you should slip your needle under those two horizontal loops and in between the front and back of your piece.

To be specific you should bring your needle up at the left hand bottom of your little "square". (This would be the one where you want to have a completed "X" in when you are done. You will want to secure a piece to begin with. You might do this by slipping your needle in a few stitches ahead and come out at this point. Then when you continue to work, you will catch that thread and secure it. Now bring the needle down just past the bar to the right at the top left hand corner of the next square. You will not go through the piece, but slip your needle under the horizontal bar and bring it out at the left hand bottom of that same square. Then you move on past the next bar. Does that make sense? I know! You need a picture.

Here is another site with excellent instructions for cross-stitching on afghan stitch: Knitted Threads

If you are careful in doing this, very little of your cross-stitch will show. Do not be discouraged or frustrated if this takes a little practice to get.

Border: I like to border my work. You can use a fancy border if you like, but for the sample piece, you might just do a row of sc all around. It will help the edges stay flat and just give a finished look to the piece. You can then add additional rows of stitches in different colors if you need a larger piece.

Here are finished squares which show the different methods of going into the foundation chain. These did not help with curling that I could tell but they each give a different sort of finished look to your first row.

Another method is to go into the MIDDLE loop from the back. That is, when you look at your foundation chain from the front, there are 3 loops - the top loop, the middle loop, and the bottom loop. (Kind of like the 3 bears story, huh?) :-) If you lower the chain and look behind it, you can just see that middle loop sticking out. Here's a picture of it from the back but remember that it will be facing front when you are working it. Insert your hook there and work as usual. You can use this for regular crochet as well. Your first row and your last row look identical. This is my favorite method.

Increase afghan stitch: (Always done on first half of stitch row-the one where loops are kept on the hook) Insert hook into ch st between the next 2 vertical bars, yo, pull yarn through a loop. Insert hook under next vertical bar, yo, pull through loop. In other words you are working in between the two bars where you would normally draw up the next loop

Decrease afghan stitch: Insert hook under the next 2 vertical bars, yo, pull up one loop. In other words, two bars equals one loop, where before each bar was one loop. If you are decreasing at the left end of your work, you can make the decrease on the returning row. Draw a loop through 2 loops instead of the usual one as at the start of a regular row.

Kim Guzman is to my way of thinking, one of the best in the field of Tunisian. She has a web site at http://www.crochetkim.com/ and does classes, sells patterns, and has a blog http://kimguzman.wordpress.com/ . Well worth a look.

Cindy is also way more knowledgeable and talented in this area than I am. Check out her site at Cindy Murray's tunisian crochet She includes how to change colors, starting a new color, picking up color changes from a previous row, weaving ends, assembling pieces, counting stitches and two tone blending.

Also, be sure to check out Serendipity. Dave gives us insight into some special techniques using Afghan Stitch. He has two Afghan Stitch tutorials. One is the Basic Tunisian Stitch Tutorial and one is the Afghan Stitch Mini-Tutorial (Special Techniques) for preemie sweaters.

And if you need a leaflet with more Tunisian in it, I know of the one below. I'm sure there are many others out there too.

LA2501 52 TUNISIAN CROCHET STITCHES COMBINE TO MAKE AN AFGHAN STITCH SAMPLER ($7.00) by Dolores Franks; a sampler of afghan stitches used to make 7" squares. There are two color, puffs, raised stitches, plain ones and fancy ones. There is a color picture of each square as well as a picture of the completed afghan (on the back cover). Multiples are given so you can increase (or decrease) the size of the square. Copyright is 1993. Available through Country Yarns http://user.camtel.net/countryyarns/wesell.htm