Tunisian Crochet

Hello all,

As a crafter who is able to knit and crochet, I will often do one craft for a while and then revert to the other. However, I have found a new trend that is emerging to be a mixture of the two. The only way to describe the instrument is if a knitting needle and crochet hook had a baby it would look like that. this technique is called Tunisian crochet. 

This is a technique where the yarn is woven to make a thicker piece. This is great for items such as rugs and placements. It is also different to normal crochet as you are picking up a number of stitches onto a hook as opposed to working one stitch at a time. This process involves working a front pass, this is where you pick up the stitches and then a back pass where you drop the stitches again. 

As this was a new skill, I decided to work on a simple project. I had left over lovely Rowan Tweed yarn. I wanted to make something small and practical and at the same time, I wanted to practice my tension and the technique. I took a drink of my tea and noticed that the mug had left yet another mark on the table. this is something that has been annoying my husband for a while and this is where I thought a coaster would be useful.............. hahaha my project was born :) 

I made up two plain coasters and two striped ones to practice the colour changing technique. This has now given me the confidence to try making other designs :)

I was also fortunate to attend the Knitting and Stitching show in London. This was excellent as I could find much Knitspiration under one roof. I stumbled across Rachel John's stall. You may be aware of extreme sports but there is such a thing as extreme knitting. Rachel has created knitting needles, Crochet hooks and Tunisian crochet hooks that are massive. The theory is that you can knit a rug or blanket in one piece and quite quickly. Of course I had to buy these tools and I am looking forward to playing with these items soon :) If it doesn't go to plan, I could at least frighten the husband with them :) 

The current project that I am working on is my socks. I will post up the finished project soon. This should be within the next two weeks...........as long as I do not suffer from second sock syndrome. This is an ailment commonly suffered by knitters whereby they finish one sock but don't really want to work on the second one as it involves repeating the whole pattern again. 

Until next time 

Happy crafting

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