Firstly, thank you so much for all the visits to my blog since last Tuesday! I really appreciate the fact that so many of you liked the overlay crochet heart. Please remember to take photos of your hearts and send them to me via e-mail (link in right hand menu) or post them on Istagram and tag them #loveabagofcrochet and @stephaniedavies. I’d love to post a collage of all your hearts in the near future.
Well, needless to say, following on from such a successful first tutorial is a bit daunting and I spent the last week thinking about what I could post. I’ve also been very busy and only really started working on this post yesterday. Which I will try to avoid in future, since the weekend ended rather badly. The hubby crashed quite horribly off of his DH bike and monday was spent looking after him because he couldn’t really move too well. Luckily he didn’t break anything, he’s just really sore and has gone back to work again. He landed very hard on his right hip and has the biggest bruise I’ve ever seen! So, it’s now 11 am on Tuesday and I’m furiously typing away while Eliana is entertaining herself on the floor space around my desk. As you may have noticed I didn’t manage to finish the tutorial yesterday, after all I also had to make dinner and take care of my daughter, and then I need a bit of a rest.
Some of you may have read the heading for this post and saw the word Tunisian and have already decided to give this tutorial a skip because, well, Tunisian crochet is just hard! Right? Wrong!
It’s actually really easy and I’ve included many photos to help along the way too. What also makes this tutorial less daunting is the fact that you won’t have to go out to buy any Tunisian specific hooks. You can use a ‘normal’ crochet hook, since you will only be working with five stitches. Like with the overlay heart you can use the tutorial as a base to create something unique to yourself. The colour variation is endless and you could turn the bracelet into a headband by making it wider and longer and adding more flowers. You could even turn it into a scarf (for those of you in the northern hemisphere).
Tunisian Flower Bracelet Tutorial
You can use any yarn you like. You should have three different colours that work nicely together. This is another project perfect for leftover bits of yarn. I again used Vinnis Colours Nikkim yarn. I love this yarn. It’s locally (South African) made, hand dyed and empowers the community by creating jobs. The Nikkim, which is a DK cotton yarn, is also 100% organic, which just adds to the appeal for me.
Remember that if you use a thicker yarn you will end up with a wider bracelet and bigger flowers. I used a 3 mm hook for this project because I wanted the gauge to be quite tight, I would recommend a slightly smaller hook as you want the bracelet to be reasonably firm. If it’s too loose the flowers might make it flop a bit.
I always start with the bracelet because it takes the longest and that way you can sew the flowers on as soon as they are done. So that’s the order I’m showing you how to do this in the tutorial. Oh, you’ll need a little press-stud, some thread and a needle for sewing the press-stud onto the bracelet. I would recommend reading the entire tutorial first, especially if you are new to Tunisian crochet).
Ok, here goes.
For the bracelet:
Be aware of your tension. Since you end up with five loops on the hook during each row you may find that the stitches towards the end of the row become too tight. Make sure your CH are even and keep the last stitch on the hook loose so that the work doesn’t pull too much. I always battle with my tension when I do Tunisian, especially when I am making big pieces. You might want to do a little practice piece first, to see how your tension is. As this is a very narrow piece you shouldn’t battle too much though.
Row 1: Ch 5, do not add a turning chain. With Tunisian crochet the work is never turned.
Insert hook into top loop of CH closest to CH on hook. (Two loops on hook)
YO and pull yarn through one loop. Leaving two loops on hook.
Continue in this manner until you have five loops on the hook. (this forms the first part of the first row. Now YO Pull yarn through the 5th loop on your hook. (Do not forget this step, or you will decrease the number of stitches you have in the row!)
YO again and pull the yarn through two loops on the hook. (You will now be left with four loops on the hook)
Row 2
CH 2 (this counts as your first stitch)
* YO and insert the hook from left to right (RIGHT HANDED from right to left) through the first vertical strand of yarn, as shown in the photo below.
YO and pull the yarn through two loops on the hook. (It’s like the first part of a ‘normal’ DC). You will now have two loops on the hook.
Repeat * twice.
For the last stitch of the row you need to insert the hook differently after you YO. If you look at the piece from the front you should see two vertical strands of yarn. Now turn your work so that the side with the last stitch faces you. You should again see two strands of yarn. The stitch is made up of three strands of yarn in total. Turn the piece back to its working position and insert the hook between the two strands of yarn making sure that you are left with two strands of yarn on the outside of the work, as shown in the photo below. (I’ve addend another one for the next row a little further down, if you’re still confused.)
YO and pull the hook through two loops.
Repeat this step until you are left with one loop on the hook.
Here’s another photo to show you where to insert the hook when you do the last stitch of the row after you’ve started with the ‘DC’ stitch. The small hook shows the two vertical strands of yarn as seen from the front. You need to insert the working hook between these two strands. Make sure that you end up with two strands of yarn on the outside of the work though.
This is what your bracelet should look like. You should have a row of vertical bars with ‘v’-shaped stitches between them followed by a row of what looks like HDC.
Repeat until you have reached the end of the row. Remember to insert the hook differently into the last stitch. You can finish with SS if you like. I didn’t. I just cut the yarn and pulled it through the stitch and then sewed the end in.
I do recommend blocking the bracelet, as it will look neater. I didn’t, because I ran out of time.
Sew the press-stud into place. It’s good to leave a bit more overlap on the inside to keep the bracelet closed properly. You may even want to sew a second press-stud in place.
YO, insert hook into first stitch (as if you are making a DC or HDC)
Sew the flower onto the bracelet so that it hides the outer end of the bracelet. Sew around the press-stud and insert the needle through the SC of each petal as you go along to secure the flower properly. Weave the ends in as well as you can on the wrong side of the bracelet.
For the smaller flowers: Make two
Begin with a magic ring
CH 5
This is where I placed mine. With the press-stud closed look at the puffy flower. Count three sets (vertical bar & HDC) of stitches to the side of the puffy flower and sew the first little flower onto the centre stitch of that row. Repeat on the other side for the second flower.
Admire your handy work.
Here’s the PDF file for those of you who would like to download the tutorial Tunisian Flower Bracelet
Take a photo and mail it to me, or if you’re on Instagram tag it #loveabagofcrochet and @stephaniedavies