Tunisian Simple Stitch Photo Tutorial

This was done at the request of some of the followers where I have been guest blogging. I apologize, because really, my site isn’t all that beginner friendly.

Tunisian Simple Stitch (TSS or Tss) is the most basic stitch in Tunisian crochet. It is done by keeping the yarn to the back of the work, and passing the hook from left to right (for lefties) or from right to left (for righties) behind the vertical bar of yarn. That vertical bar is actually the front thread of the stitch. After the hook is passed through the stitch, the yarn is wrapped around the hook and drawn back through. The result is a loop on the hook and when the row of live stitches (loops on the hook) are closed off in the return pass, the stitch looks like an upright vertical bar.

In these photographs, an 8mm hook and worsted weight acrylic are used, specifically, Red Heart Aran Fleck. It is my favourite yarn for tutorials because I find that it photographs well.

Video links:

The following videos are very, very short. They were intended for Instagram but I didn’t realize that I couldn’t import an external video – I have to use the app and it is almost painful to shoot a video of your own hands with a smart phone. Therefore, these videos have no voice or cool foo foo – because I was counting on being able to make them all fancy in Instagram. Sorry!!!

Starting chain

Tunisian standard foundation row

Tunisian standard return pass

Tunisian simple stitch

Tunisian bind off in Tss

Tunisian purl stitch  For those who feel like checking this out. It’s not in this photo tutorial but I made a video for it anyway.

Make a foundation chain. The numbers of chains will be equal to the number of loops you pick up onto your hook. So, if you want 10 stitches, chain 10.

The tops of a crochet stitch looks like a heart. Put your hook through the “heart” and yarn over your hook as in the picture. Pull through the chain stitch and draw up a loop.

I chained 10, so 10 loops are on the hook. To work the return pass, first yarn over the hook and draw through one loop. I’ve done this already in the photo. By doing this, you create the side edge of your work.

The rest of the stitches are worked off the hook by wrapping the yarn over the hook and drawing through two loops. In the photograph I’ve done this and I’m just holding it flat to show you what that looks like after it’s been done. Continue like this all the way across until there is one loop left on the hook.

Voila!! Your foundation row of Tunisian crochet is complete!! If you look carefully, you will see vertical bars. There are 10 of them. The first and last bars are the side edges of your work (selvedges). The working loop on the hook corresponds to the very first vertical bar, so it is not worked. Many patterns assume that you know this, so when they give row instructions, the first stitch (or sometimes “next stitch”) that they refer to being worked is actually the second vertical bar.

To work a Tunisian simple stitch (Tss), insert your hook behind this vertical bar from left to right for the lefties or right to left for the righties. Yarn over hook like in the picture and pass through, drawing up a loop. One Tss worked!!!

One row of Tss worked!!! It is hard to see right away because like knitting, Tunisian crochet will curl.

In this picture I am holding down the curled edge so you can see that a few rows of Tss have been worked. Each row of new Tss is picked up in the row of Tss previously made.

When you are done, you need to bind off your work just like knitting. You do this by working slip stitches across the row. This is referred to as “binding off” or BO. Start by working a Tss as per normal. There are two loops on the hook.

Use the hook to pull the loop you just made through the loop beside it. One stitch is bound off and one loop is on the hook. Do this for all stitches across, including the very last one.

Six stitches have been bound off so far.

All stitches bound off!! At this point, you would cut the yarn, leaving a tail for weaving in or sewing and proceed as per regular crocher or knitting.