Help! Need help translating Tunisian stich

[vcossey]

Hi All! I finally jumped into a Tunisian afghan for the first time. Of course, reading and interpreting the pattern makes me feel like I'm reading a foreign language. I'm making the Zigzag Squares by Premier Yarns/Deborah Norville Collection. (I already made this blanket with standard crochet stitches with huge success!)

 

I have been searching video tutorials for their Houndstooth Squares with no luck. I'm stuck on the slip stitch then the above and behind part. Is the slip stitch like a normal crochet stitch? And what about the above and behind? I'm lost and any help would be so appreciated.

 

Sk first st, sl next vertical bar onto hook, [pull up lp in next horizontal bar above and behind next vertical bar, sl next vertical bar onto hook] across to last st, Tks in last st.

 

Thank you!!

[redrosesdz]

I've done some Tunisian projects, but I'm not an expert.  Hopefully someone with more knowledge will chime in.

 

The instructions that you provided are for a forward pass.  You always skip the first stitch, because it's already on your hook.  Slip next vertical bar onto hook is a very long way of saying TSS (tunisian simple stitch.)  It's most similar to an incomplete front post stitch. 

 

If you look at tunisian crochet, there are vertical bars in the front and horizontal bars in the back.  So, the second TSS is done in the back, horizontal bar.  It's similar to an incomplete back post stitch.  To do this, insert your hook in the horizontal bar that's on the back side, yarn over and draw up a loop.

 

Alternate doing a normal TSS in the front vertical bar and doing a TSS in the back horizontal bar across the project.

 

A slip stitch in Tunisian crochet is what you do in the very last row to bind off your project.  There are several videos out there about the slip stitch bind off.

 

I hope this helps and I've described it correctly!  Good luck!! 

[Granny Square]

^ what she said.  Tunisian just adds new terms (TSS and other stitch name abbreviations, vertical bar and so on), but other terms like slip stitch are (normally) the same.  I'm not a Tunisian expert either.

 

The pattern is careful to differentiate between 'slip stitch' and 'pull up a loop' when working into the vertical bar. So I'd read that as pull a loop thru the bar and pull a loop thru THAT loop to complete the slip stitch.

 

What's throwing me is the word 'above' in your instruction.  Unless it means pull up a loop in the front vertical bar, pass the hook above that stitch, and pull up a loop behind that stitch--totally guessing--but that would give you an extra loop, unless you pulled thru.  Is the pattern supposed to be double sided (reversible)?

 

I found 1 Tunisian houndstooth pattern video, but it involves working a DC every so often 2 rows below, and doesn't work behind.  It's not reversible.

[vcossey]

Thank you so mich for the help! I'll play around with the stitching....

 

I think what confuses me is how the reverse side looks....I'm used to standard crochet!

[vcossey]

Still frustrated. I am thinking it's not supposed to look pretty on the reverse side. I am losing my straight edges. ????

 

I hope to figure something out soon before I lose hope.

[redrosesdz]

Are you losing your straight edges on one side or both sides?  When you start the first pass, you have 1 loop on your hook.  Start with the vertical bar that's under the 2nd stitch.  That first loop is the 1 stitch on the side.  When you start the second pass, make sure you chain 1 before you bind off the stitches.

 

My favorite tunisian tutorial is Mikey from the Crochet Crowd.  I watched his entrelac videos, but I'm sure that his intro video is just as good.  He has several tunisian tutorials, if you're past the beginner one.  Maybe one of them will spark what needs to be done, even if they aren't exactly what you're doing.

 

http://thecrochetcrowd.com/tunisian-all-in-one-beginner-tutorial/

[Granny Square]

Tunisian is done with one side always facing you, and alas, it does not look as the same on the back side, and probably especially not with a complex color changing pattern like yours.  I did try a swatch of the pattern in the video I linked, which is how I know it wasn't reversible.

 

Have you looked at Tunisian Entrelac patterns?  It's pretty easy, and has sort a zigzag-ish look.  It looks slightly different on the back, but not in an "ew, that's obviously the back, ick" sort of way.  If you don't like the pointed edges, there are tutorials on youtube to show how to fill them in.  Another advantage, the entrelac squares are small (like 6 or so stitches) so you can work them on a regular hook.  And, the squares are all connected as you go so no sewing, yay.

 

Free blanket patterns, unfortunately the one with straight edges isn't in English

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#view=captioned_thumbs&query=entrelac&availability=free&craft=crochet&sort=best

 

Straight Edge videos

http://thecrochetcrowd.com/tunisian-entrelac-borders/

[Annette W]

Hi,

I too am trying to figure out the pattern.

Found this link and thought it may help.

https://books.google.com/books?id=Z3O7BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=pull+up+lp+in+next+horizontal+bar+above+and+behind+next+vertical+bar&source=bl&ots=Qj7HgzaJtR&sig=zTt8wtj3vlhQnDiB9f6ZOaPAvco&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQ5NeLyaTUAhUITCYKHZ8gANMQ6AEIHzAB#v=onepage&q=pull up lp in next horizontal bar above and behind next vertical bar&f=true

[Annette G]

On 8/29/2016 at 7:01 PM, vcossey said:

Still frustrated. I am thinking it's not supposed to look pretty on the reverse side. I am losing my straight edges. ????

 

I hope to figure something out soon before I lose hope.

Hello has anyone figured out how to make the Zigzag Squares by Premier Yarns/Deborah Norville Collection

 

Sk first st, sl next vertical bar onto hook, [pull up lp in next horizontal bar above and behind next vertical bar, sl next vertical bar onto hook] across to last st, Tks in last st.