by M. J. Joachim

Created on: March 09, 2010

Tunisian crochet, commonly referred to as the afghan stitch, is best described as a combination of knitting and crocheting that uses one hook. You make a foundation chain and cast on loops to form a foundation row. Then you proceed to cast off pairs of loops to make your pattern, until you have only one loop left on your hook. Cast on and cast off loops repeatedly to make your project.

Tunisian crochet hooks are about twice as long as regular crochet hooks and they have a stopper at the bottom to prevent loops from falling off. Crohooks, which can be used in place of Tunisian crochet hooks, are a little bit longer than Tunisian crochet hooks. Instead of having a stopper at one end, both ends of crohooks are made with a hook. Specialty yarn shops and online retailers sell different sizes of Tunisian crochet hooks and crohooks.

Crohooking is often thought of as a variation of Tunisian crochet. The difference is that after you cast your loops on the hook, you slide them to the other end before casting them off again. You can make several rows of regular Tunisian crochet before doing so. This will create unique and interesting patterns in your finished piece. Crohooking gives your overall design a look similar to lacing, as the loops intertwine with each other.

Tunisian crochet patterns can be found under different names. Chezcrochet.com provides the following list of alternate names for Tunisian crochet, “Other Names for Tunisian Crochet: Afghan Stitch, Shepherd’s Knitting, Scot’s Knitting, Scotch Knitting, Tricot Ecossais, Tricotee, Crochet a Tricoter, Crochet a la Tricoter, Tricot Crochet, Fool’s Knitting, Idiot’s Knitting, Railway Knitting, Royal Princess Stitch, Russian Crochet.” Crohooking is also known as, crochenit, cro-knit and crochet on the double.

Many regular crochet patterns can be interchanged with Tunisian crochet. If you know the dimensions of your project, you can make Tunisian crochet panels that equal them. By doing so, you can convert a regular crochet pattern into one made of Tunisian crochet.

If you want to make a kitchen washcloth and towel for example, make your Tunisian foundation row the size of the regular crochet project (with or without trim), and then make the washcloth and towel out of Tunisian crochet. If the project includes a traditional crochet trim, you can add it to the Tunisian crochet base per the instructions in the pattern.

Tunisian crochet and crohooking, just like traditional crochet,

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