Getting Started With Tunisian Crochet | Podcast Episode #106

Episode Transcript

Brittany:
Well, hey there, and thank you so much for joining me in episode 106 of the BHooked podcast. It’s such a joy to have you here with me today. I’m so grateful. I know there are so many other things you could be doing, so many other podcasts you could be tuning into, and you chose this one, and that makes my heart so happy.

Well, I’m delighted that you’re here because we’re going to talk about something we haven’t talked about before on the show. That’s hard to do, right? 106 episodes in, but I found a topic that I am super passionate about, that my guest is super passionate about, and we hope to be able to shed some light on this topic and maybe have you try something new.

So I have to ask, are you looking for a way to shake up your routine a little bit, maybe try something new, learn a new skill, or maybe you just have some hand or wrist fatigue and you’re trying to fight through that, you know you need a different motion, but you still want to crochet? Well, if you said yes to any of those things, this episode is for you, my friend.

So in today’s show, we’ll talk all about Tunisian crochet. Now, this technique is definitely not new. It’s been around for ages. But like I said, we haven’t talked about it here on the show, and there’s not a whole lot of people who are talking about it and sharing patterns online. Now you will find your fair share of books and free patterns and tutorials on YouTube, but there’s not a whole lot of resources that are very in-depth, kind of like a learn-everything-you-need-to-learn-about-this-technique as of right now.

Now to help fill some of that void, I have Toni from TL Yarn Crafts on the show, and she is going to share all about Tunisian crochet. So if you have never tried Tunisian before, or maybe you’ve tried it and you want to expand on your skills a little bit, we’ll cover all of that. We’ll talk a lot about what Tunisian is and what you can do with it, and then we wrap it up with some strategies and techniques that you can use to improve your Tunisian skills.

Now, Toni and I do talk quite a bit about some hooks and some different projects. And to find the links to those, maybe get more information on them, head over to the show notes page. So for this episode, just type in behooked.com/106. That’ll take you to the show notes page where you can find the resources that we talk about, the projects that we mention, because I want you to give these things a try.

All right, now let’s get to it. Let’s learn about Tunisian crochet with Toni from TL Yarn Crafts. Toni, hi, welcome back to the show. It’s such a pleasure to chat with you this morning.

Toni: 3:23
Hey, Brittany, good morning, and thanks so much for having me back. Always a pleasure.

Brittany: 3:27
It was a priority, really. I just loved the tip that you shared with us back in, gosh, it was last summer. Oh, wow. I know. It seems like time has really just flown by, and I have wanted to have you back, and I’m just thrilled that you’re here with us today.

Toni: 3:44
Thank you. It’s a topic that I am very, very passionate about. So I’m really, really glad to especially chat with you because I know you’ve worked with this technique as well. So I’m curious to pick your brain about it too.

Brittany: 3:57
Oh, yeah. I think it’ll be really fun, if nothing else, to be able to chat with somebody who does it as much as you do as well. I feel like it’s one of those things that you have really become known for or you really got on my radar because of it. And I loved that you chose it and you just took it, made it your own. And there’s not a lot of people doing that. So I think it’s really cool.

Toni: 4:23
Definitely. Thank you.

Brittany: 4:24
Yeah. Well, let’s start things off with your story. Can you tell me a little bit about how you got into crocheting and then maybe when that turned into a business for you?

Toni: 4:34
Sure. So I… My history with crochet started when I was actually a teenager. And the short version of the story is I was very bored over summer break. My brothers had gone to stay with relatives for the holidays and I was still at home with my mom. She was home for the day and I was just kind of driving her insane. So she put a crochet hook and some really hideous purple camouflage yarn in my hand and taught me how to make a granny square.

And I remember that very distinct because she was doing something funky to start the square which I now know of course is the magic loop and I remember looking at that like whoa that’s crazy but she showed me how to make a granny square. It eventually turned into a giant blanket that I have no idea where it is right now but I hope it’s keeping someone warm as ugly as it probably is.

So that was kind of my first experience with crochet. I worked on it for the rest of that summer, kind of put it down until I actually got married and moved to where I live now with my husband. There was about six months or so when I was out of college. It was 2010. Couldn’t find a job. I was out of work for about six months.

And after a while, I was just bored to tears. And I ended up at the craft store, one of my larger craft stores here, wandered down the yarn aisle and something about it just felt very familiar, felt very right. So I picked up some hooks, picked up some yarn, and kind of the rest is history as far as getting back into crochet.

It turned into a business in 2013 when I got to the point where everyone in my household had enough hats and scarves to last through the apocalypse. So I was like, I have to figure out a way to continue to make these because I love it, but pass them on to other people. And that’s how it became a business. And I guess kind of the rest is history. TL Yarn Crafts went from a way to get rid of hats to kind of what it is now, which is completely different than where it started for sure.

Brittany: 6:41
Yeah, that’s such a cool story. I know we have a similar walking down the big craft store aisle and seeing all the yarn. That’s really how my start began too. So that’s cool to hear that. So what does TL Yarn Crafts look like right now for somebody who maybe isn’t familiar with it?

Toni: 7:00
Sure. So TL Yarn Crafts kind of has two main arms to it. The one side is crochet design. So I design everything from accessories to home goods to garments. And that’s kind of the main thing. The main focus of TL Yarn Crafts right now. I started designing in 2015 and kind of never stopped. So that’s the main focus of the business.

And then on the other side, something that kind of branched out of it is this education piece. So between online learning, resources, so YouTube and different workshops that I’ve done, and then also in-person training, I focus a lot on educating people—not only people who are brand new to crochet, but more so people who are looking to expand their skills, try new things, try different techniques, learn new stitches. So people who have some foundation in crochet and just are kind of looking for that next step.

So I’ve definitely spent a lot more time building up my YouTube channel, and that’s kind of where Tunisian crochet comes in. And just also on my own blog that I just started earlier this year, kind of finding a place where all of that content lives. And that’s now on my blog as well.

Brittany: 8:18
Oh, very cool. Yeah, I’m curious about the Tunisian part. So how did that start for you? Or when were you like, Oh, this is pretty cool. I want to try this.

Toni: 8:27
Yeah. So funny story. I actually stumbled upon Tunisian crochet in late 2017 through your blog, Brittany. And I was on a Pinterest spiral as we tend to do as makers. And I saw this really beautiful piece of fabric that ended up being Tunisian simple stitch. And I was like, oh my gosh, what is that? It’s beautiful. I need it right now.

So I practiced it and I was like, wow, this is way easier than it looks. Not hard at all. It’s gorgeous. Why aren’t more people doing this? So I did a little bit more practicing and I was like, well, I really want to share this with people. I feel like there are people in my maker community who would like to know about this. And that’s the main reason that I started my YouTube channel.

My very, very first video on my YouTube is my absolute beginner’s guide to Tunisian crochet. And it just kind of exploded from there. What I didn’t realize is there were a lot of people very interested in learning Tunisian crochet, were kind of fascinated with the fabric that it creates and the technique to it, and my channel grew from there. And I think also my love and admiration for this craft grew from really exploring Tunisian and sharing it with other people.

Brittany: 9:47
Yeah, I just agree 100%. There are so many people out there who are interested, but really until you started doing a lot of videos, there wasn’t a ton of information on it. And you could see pins on Pinterest, but not really somebody who was really teaching it. And I feel like you just filled a major void in the community.

Toni: 10:12
Yeah, I’m grateful. I think it was just kind of a perfect timing situation. And I think too, like you said, there are a lot of people interested in it, but maybe they didn’t have like an entry point. They didn’t know where to start, what tools you need, how hard is it? They had a lot of questions and not many people were giving those answers.

So what I was looking to accomplish was how can we package this content so it is very, very easy to digest. People would kind of take it in and really know from the get-go if it’s for them because it’s truly a very simple technique to start. And especially if you already have some crochet experience. And I found that a lot of people, once they give it a try, they’re like, wow, I can do this. And it actually is really pretty. Like it’s, I love Tunisian. I could literally talk about this all day long.

Brittany: 11:01
Well, I’m glad. I would love to tap into this a little bit. So let’s try to put a visual to it. Let’s say we have a listener who has never heard of Tunisian and they just don’t know what it is. How would you describe it to them?

Toni: 11:16
So Tunisian crochet, I feel like, is a lovely mix between crochet and knitting. So if we start with the tool, you’re working with a crochet hook that’s long like a knitting needle. And the reason it’s long is because when you’re doing Tunisian crochet, you actually pick up loops onto that long hook, which ultimately makes it end up looking like a piece of knitting.

Like, you get the loops that are on the hook so it looks like loops on a knitting needle. But the difference that makes it unique to Tunisian is you actually then work those loops off of the hook. So you have what’s called a forward pass, where you pick up the loops, and then a return pass, where you drop those loops off of the hook, and that’s what helps build the fabric.

So it’s unique to itself. It definitely has some of its own techniques. But there are different ways that the hook moves and ways that you hold the yarn and build the fabric that are very indicative to crochet. So if you’ve got that crochet muscle memory, it’s really easy to make that transition to Tunisian crochet.

Brittany: 12:23
Yeah. And the thing that I really loved about Tunisian is I would go to it when I just needed to shake up the routine a little bit, especially in terms of like hand fatigue and wrist fatigue. So if you’re used to doing those crochet motions for long hours, they’re different enough in Tunisian that… I could still sort of get my creative fix and my wrist didn’t hurt because I was doing something a little different. So I think that’s a really cool aspect of it too.

Toni: 12:53
Yeah, that’s a really, really smart way to think about it. Because sometimes we do need to give our bodies a rest, but we don’t want to stop crocheting or whatever it is that we’re doing. So maybe switching it up a little bit can be a good way of therapy for ourselves. That’s a really great perception.

Brittany: 13:12
For sure. So you mentioned the hook and that it’s a lot different. Let’s start there with the tools because I feel like that really is the foundation of things. Definitely. And there’s a lot of questions that circulate around the tools and the different types of hooks that are available. So… I guess let’s first start with why you need a different hook. And you sort of hinted at this before, but let’s really like set it in stone. You really do have to have a different hook. And so why is that and what does it look like?

Toni: 13:42
Yeah, so the main reason that you have to have a different hook is because you’ll end up picking up loops along your body of work. So if you’ve got a piece of Tunisian crochet fabric that’s not very wide—for example, I have a project that I use for beginners, it’s an ear warmer and it’s only maybe like 10 or 15 stitches wide on worsted weight yarn—so you can, I actually encourage people to work that on a regular six-inch crochet hook because it can fit on there since the piece isn’t very wide.

But if you want to make something larger like a blanket or shawl or a sweater, you’re going to need a longer hook because eventually on that forward pass you do need to pick up all of those loops. And there are several different types of crochet hooks—Tunisian crochet hooks—because since it’s similar to knitting, I feel like Tunisian crochet hook designers kind of took a page out of the knitting handbook when they were making those tools.

So you can have just a straight Tunisian crochet hook where it’s just like a long piece of wood or a long piece of metal, which I’m sure a lot of people maybe have seen in some of their bigger craft stores. But the ones that I prefer are the ones with a flexible cord. So a nice long flexible cord, because then you don’t have all the weight on your hands when you’re picking up those loops on the forward pass.

So you definitely have to have a different hook, but they’re not hard to use by any means. And they’re becoming honestly a lot easier to find, which just makes me so happy.

Brittany: 15:14
Me too. That is one of the biggest questions I have is where do I even find these hooks? And when I go looking myself, I will typically find the straight ones that are, you know, maybe the 12 or the 14 inch and they have one or two sizes and it’s disappointing because, you know, writing patterns, you want the tools to be accessible when you’re doing that, but it’s sort of difficult to let people know where to get them.

Toni: 15:45
Yeah, it can be a little hard. It can be hard. And even just this morning, I was on Amazon looking for double-ended hooks, which you’ll use for a different technique in Tunisian crochet. And it’s almost impossible to find a nice set of double-ended hooks that are the right sizes. So I think we still have a good ways to go.

But at least for the single-ended Tunisian crochet hooks, I feel like brands are AT LEAST getting an understanding that this is something that we want and this is something that they can afford to add to their product list. What I will say—and I don’t know if anyone of importance will hear this—but if they could just start making them in bigger sizes, because with Tunisian crochet, you have to size up your hook pretty considerably to get a decent gauge.

So a hook set that only goes up to a six and a half millimeter is not big enough. Having something that goes up to like a 10 or 12, even a 15 millimeter would be amazing. That would be awesome.

Brittany: 16:53
Yes, I agree 100% there, especially because people love to create with chunky yarn too. I mean, some of those like real jumbo sizes would be great and they’re good for beginners because it’s sort of like a quick win when they just work with that chunky yarn.

Now, I love working with corded Tunisian hooks as well. For me, I like that aspect of it because you’re not limited at all really by what project you can create based on your hook. So I found a set online, actually on Amazon. It’s from Addi. They have an interchangeable set. And that’s the one I currently use. I haven’t really found a set that I enjoy working with better.

And it does go—I think it goes up to an eight millimeter, which is really wonderful. It’s the biggest I’ve found. And they’re nice to work with.

Toni: 17:48
When I was first starting out with Tunisian crochet, and I went through this very interesting phase when I was kind of hitting my stride with my business, where I just felt like I needed all the yarn, all the supplies, all the tools, all the everything. And I just started just buying things.

So when I got into Tunisian crochet, I was like, oh, well, I just need to try all the sets and see which one that I like. So I have Addi’s set as well, which I adore. And it’s also very pretty.

Brittany:
It is.

Toni:
Especially with the little heart stoppers on the bottom. It’s adorable, which I really do like. And I agree. I think the set either goes up to an eight or a nine millimeter, but either way, it’s awesome because there aren’t many sets that go up that high. And I like the Addis because they also travel well. They’re in a smaller, small enough container. So they’re really easy to take traveling. So I do love those.

I also have become quite partial to the Denise interchangeable set. I don’t know if you’ve tried those before.

Brittany: 18:50
I haven’t tried that. No.

Toni: 18:52
So this set, it’s—I think the Denise brand in general is just very retro. It’s one of those craft brands that’s like, “Here’s what we do. We do it well. We’re not going to do anything else.” And their customers have been like, “That’s fine. We’re just going to stick with these things that you do well.”

So they have an interchangeable crochet hook set that I adore. It’s my absolute favorite one. And it goes from 3.75 millimeter all the way up to 15 millimeter. So it’s got a lot of hooks in it and it comes with the cords as well and then stoppers. And it also has cord extenders in it, so you can make even longer cords if you need, or you can just buy longer cords. I think they’re on Amazon.

But what just warms my heart is that the container that they come in is like those clamshell boxes that the old Disney VHS movies came in.

Brittany: 19:52
Oh no way.

Toni:
I was like, you never see this anymore, and it just cracks me up because the Denise brand is just like, “This is us. Take it or leave it.” And I think they’re awesome for that. But those are definitely my favorite hooks.

They don’t travel super well because it’s kind of a big container, but they’re what I use for pretty much everything these days and it’s such a really good set.

Brittany: 20:11
I will definitely have to check those out. I haven’t seen that, but I love the idea to give people an idea of what they’re going to have to invest.

So we—well, I have mentioned at least the Addi set is expensive. It was a splurge for me. And it was mainly because I love working with metal over wood. That’s just my personal style. I was able to make that work and justify that cost.

But somebody who’s just starting out—I think it was around $120 with everything because you had to piece it together. You buy the hooks, and then you have to buy the cords separate, and then you buy the stoppers separate, which is a little—yeah, tedious. But it was about $120. And so that’s a hard recommendation for me to make for anybody who is just wanting to try things out.

Was it the same for the Denise set you were talking about? Are they sort of expensive too?

Toni: 21:05
The set itself, it can feel a bit pricey, especially if you’re brand new and not sure if you’re in love with Tunisian yet. So the Denise set comes with everything included, but it’s about 50 bucks for the entire set. So not quite as much.

But the other thing with the Denise is that all of the components are plastic. The cords are plastic. The hooks are plastic. The stoppers are plastic. So the materials are not as precious as, for example, what’s in the Addi set.

So it gets the job done. It’s not the most glamorous set of crochet hooks for sure, but it is a bit of an investment, especially if you’re brand new. I am enamored with them, so I didn’t find it to be too much of an investment, but if somebody’s brand new, I would almost suggest even just getting the cheapo hooks off of Amazon, like the bamboo ones, to start and try it out.

And then if you love it, then get on the hunt for the set that you really love. But no need to drop that much when you’re first starting out.

Brittany: 22:14
Yeah, definitely. I did that when I first discovered Tunisian. I wanted a full set because I could only find two at my local store. So I found a set on Amazon and I will link to it in the show notes if it’s still available. I have no clue.

It’s not like a branded… It’s just some random seller, I think, on Amazon. But I got a full set of… Gosh, it goes down to a small—one of the three millimeter sizes. I don’t have it like on hand and it goes up to, I think, a six and a half or so. So there’s several different hooks in there.

I think it was like 10 bucks for the whole set. And it had this little like fabric pouch thing that you could put it in. So that’s great. And they’re 12 inches. So you can’t do large projects with them, but it’ll definitely be enough to let you know if this is what you want to pursue and keep doing.

Toni: 23:04
Definitely. I think that’s a great place to start.

Brittany: 23:06
Okay. So gosh, we could talk like forever about hooks because there are a lot of different options, but I want to dig into Tunisian, the technique a little bit more. If for somebody who is like, man, you know, I just don’t have time to learn another new thing—what would you tell them? Because I feel like Tunisian is so worth learning.

Toni: 23:31
It is. It is worth learning. I think the same passion that I had to get back into crochet is a passion that I had for Tunisian because it’s almost like learning another yarn craft. So kind of similarly to people who crochet and maybe want to learn knitting or knitters who want to learn crochet, I feel like Tunisian is that same way.

It’s different enough that you’re making a different fabric. The technique is different. The things that you have to learn, the different skills and things are different enough. And I feel like it’s a challenge—that makers kind of have this innate interest in challenging themselves and trying something different every now and then, having something new to conquer and kind of show off and be like, hey, look what I did. Look at this thing that I created.

I think it gives you kind of this personal, I don’t know, pat on the back, like that wasn’t so hard, but I did it and it was awesome. And it’s just kind of sky’s the limit from there. Once you kind of get the basics down, there’s over 400 stitches, there’s patterns coming out every day, more and more designers that are getting into it.

And I think, too, for anyone who’s interested in designing patterns, it’s a really great maybe way to flex your skills and build in that area because there aren’t a lot of people who are doing Tunisian crochet design.

Brittany: 24:57
Exactly.

Toni: 24:58
So there’s a lot of opportunity there, too.

Brittany: 25:01
There is. And I think it’s important to highlight too, that you can do the same things with Tunisian that you can with crochet. So like project-type-wise, you’re not really limited at all. You could make anything with Tunisian.

Toni: 25:17
Absolutely. Yeah. There’s just about anything. I feel like as a beginner, we focus a lot on rectangles and squares and kind of simple shapes. But if you think about it, you can pretty much make anything with a different size rectangle or a series of rectangles put together.

So it’s not like you have to be this super intermediate or advanced person within Tunisian crochet to make gorgeous things. You can do tons of stuff with very simple stitches. And then when you get into some shaping, you can then get into garments or more advanced accessories.

But it’s really, like with any other yarn craft, you’re only bound by your own creativity and your own interests within the craft. You can make literally anything with Tunisian crochet, and you can make it as complicated or as simple as you want.

Brittany: 26:12
Yes, definitely. Now I want to focus in on beginners. I know you like to do a lot of teaching and that sort of thing. So I’m sure you have some good experience with teaching somebody Tunisian crochet for the first time. If somebody is interested in giving it a try, what project would you recommend they start with?

Toni: 26:34
Yeah, so the very first project that I encouraged—and I actually made a YouTube video about it—is this Tunisian ear warmer that I created. And it’s honestly, like I talk about rectangles, it is just a rectangle that you cinch and you wrap it and make it cute.

So what’s nice about that is it’s almost like making a project out of a swatch. So if you think about a swatch, maybe it’s a small square or something, but if you keep going, you can turn that into something. So my Tunisian ear warmer is just basically a long swatch of simple stitch.

But after you get maybe your first one done, you realize, well, I can make this with a different stitch. I can make this with a different yarn. I can practice with larger or smaller hooks. You can make it in different sizes. You can then start incorporating color work.

So it’s one of those really basic kind of foundational type projects that you can then use to practice different techniques as you get more comfortable with Tunisian crocheting. So I think my Tunisian ear warmer is a great place to start.

I was looking at your website, Brittany, and your Tunisian crochet washcloth series I think is a really, really great place to practice some different skills too.

Brittany: 27:52
Thank you for that. Yeah, that’s great. That was a fun way to play with different stitches. So I enjoyed putting that together.

My first Tunisian project—and it probably wasn’t, I don’t know that I would recommend this necessarily because it takes kind of a long time—but I was just deeply in love with Unforgettable Yarn, which is smaller, as you probably know. And I learned the simple stitch and sort of just like you explained, I just made a few stitches and I was really just playing at that point.

And it was wide enough that I thought, oh, this would probably be a pretty good scarf. So I just kept going on it, and it took me quite a while to finish it. But because I loved the yarn so much—the way the color transitions were happening with the stitch and just the movements of it—I didn’t even realize that it took me so long to make.

But I just did so much with the simple stitch before I even branched out because it’s such a different and unique stitch. I don’t think you can replicate that with crochet or with knitting. Not that I have seen, yeah.

Toni: 29:03
Not that I’ve seen either. And that’s one of the things that I love about Tunisian is it kind of lives in its own way. Like Tunisian doesn’t spend a lot of time trying to mimic other crafts. And I don’t think there’s a lot in Tunisian that you can replicate with like regular crochet or knitting.

So especially the Tunisian simple stitch, I feel like is very indicative to that craft. And it’s beautiful. It’s so pretty.

Brittany: 29:30
We have a picture on the show notes page.

Toni: 29:33
Yeah, it’s just such a gorgeous stitch pattern. And it’s so versatile, too. Like I was looking at your website recently, and I saw that lovely cushion that you made where you cross-stitched over Tunisian crochet. And I was like, perfect. It’s a perfect application for it because it makes those cute little boxes. And it’s just, yeah, I’m in love with it.

Brittany: 29:53
It makes cross-stitching so much easier. Mm-hmm.

Well, I guess the next stitch that I learned or that I discovered you could do with Tunisian was the knit stitch. And at the time, I didn’t knit. And I didn’t know how. And I had this horrible experience with learning knitting from the get go. So me and knitting were not friends at that time, but I loved the way it looked.

So when I learned that I could basically knit with my crochet hook, I just went on this crazy binge of doing the knit stitch in Tunisian. And I love that. I love how you said it doesn’t spend time mimicking other crafts, but it’s cool enough that it can—because you can do stitches that look like knit and you can do stitches that look like crochet. You could do the double crochet with crochet.

So it’s so versatile. And I hope that is a selling point, if nothing else, to give it a try.

Toni: 31:12
You know, I hope so. I think, too, for people who might be on the fence, I would strongly encourage—try the Tunisian knit stitch. It will blow your mind. And it’s so fun and really, really beautiful, too. And definitely the best way that crocheters can achieve like a knit look for sure.

Brittany: 31:32
Yeah. Well, let’s wrap things up with some tips because there are little nuances that come with Tunisian crochet. And they’re not bad things, but they’re just characteristics of the technique, and there are ways to get around them.

What tips do you have for the curling that happens with Tunisian crochet? And first of all, is that normal? Because that is a question I always hear.

Toni: 31:57
Yeah, it is definitely the biggest gripe of people who are new is that your project will curl. And that is indicative of Tunisian crochet for a very specific reason.

One of the things that is unique to Tunisian crochet is, for the most part, you only work on the front side of your work. So since you are picking up loops and then dropping those loops off, you never—for most projects—you will not turn your work. So depending on what stitch you’re doing, you’re actually pulling the stitches forward, which will cause your project to curl in on itself.

That’s normal. It’s not something that you’re doing wrong. It’s just something that happens.

So my main tips for conquering the curl, as I say, is to go up on your hook size, which for the most part in Tunisian crochet, you’ll need to do anyway. So I typically will go up somewhere between one to two full millimeter sizes higher than what’s recommended on the ball band. And that’s what I found gives me a good enough gauge to get the drape or the shape that I need for my project.

So going up on hook size is definitely my first suggestion. And then I also encourage people to block their projects—either steam block them or wet block them—because that will allow those stitches to relax and move into the place where they’re meant to be.

Brittany: 33:20
Yeah, those are two really great recommendations. The other thing I like to think about too, especially from the designer side of things, is incorporate that into—or at least take that into account—in your pattern.

So let’s say you’re working on a sweater and you’re working just like two rectangles for the front and the back and you have some curling on that bottom edge. It pretty much always happens on that foundation edge. Well, it’s really okay. If you know after you’ve gone up a couple hook sizes, say you’ve blocked it and there’s still a little bit of curling—well, you’re going to be sewing that to another piece, and that will sort of fight the curl on its own.

Also with headbands, like you were mentioning before, a lot of times we’ll have some curling with that, but you’re sewing the two ends together. So it’s like it will never even exist. So yeah, there are some creative ways around it too. Definitely.

Any other tips or questions that you hear a lot in terms of Tunisian?

Toni: 34:27
So I get a lot of people who say, like, I can’t really get into it. Or honestly, what I get the most is people who say, “This has been on my list to try. I’m gonna try this in 2019,” or whatever. Like people who got the intention of trying it.

I think that’s the biggest step—to get into it—because until you get that yarn and that hook in your hand and have the intention of doing it, it’s really just like a “one day” kind of situation.

So for those people, I say: just like sit down and try it. I kid you not. You can learn Tunisian crochet in like 15 minutes, especially if you’ve got some crochet experience already. You can learn it so very fast.

It’s not rocket science. You don’t need a whole bunch of new tools. You don’t really need any new tools to try it at all. You can do a small swatch on a regular crochet hook with yarn.

So to those folks who say, “I’m going to get to it. I’m going to do it. I’m going to try it”—just try it. You’ll get addicted to it. I guarantee it’s fantastic.

Brittany: 35:34
Yeah. And there’s room to grow too. That’s the other part that I love about it. I crave learning. It’s just—it’s part of me. Sometimes it’s a flaw. Sometimes it’s a strength. But I just love learning new things.

So with Tunisian, I mean, it can spawn into so many other things too. I’m thinking Entrelac, which is another probably more advanced technique that uses the fundamentals of Tunisian, but it just takes it up a few notches.

So it’s not like you’re just limited to learning new stitches and working with basic shapes. You can do so much more. You mentioned a double-sided crochet hook, so you can do Tunisian crochet in the round, which is also something super cool.

Toni: 36:24
Or even like cables. Like any other yarn craft, Tunisian will be whatever you need it to be at the time.

Brittany: 36:58
Exactly. Now I have to ask, do you have a favorite Tunisian project?

Toni: 37:05
Well, I would have to say my current favorite Tunisian project is a pattern that I released. It’s called the Ada Shawl. And it’s worked with a little bit chunkier yarn and it’s an asymmetrical triangle shawl. So it does have a little bit of shaping in it, but it’s still super beginner-friendly.

And I fell in love with it because it’s one of those projects that’s simple enough, but again, it can serve as a foundation to really take it in whatever creative direction you want to. So that’s definitely my favorite project right now.

But my absolute favorite from day one has to be my Tunisian Ear Warmer because it’s just such a really good introduction to Tunisian crochet. And you can finish it fast enough where you have one of those moments as a maker where you’re like, wow, I really did that. And I finished my first project kind of thing.

So between the Ada Shawl and the Tunisian Ear Warmer, definitely my favorite two projects.

Brittany: 38:07
So cool. I have one project that comes to mind that is my absolute favorite, and it is a pattern that I published a couple years ago now. I called it the Knit-Alike Scarf, and that’s because that was when I was discovering that, oh my gosh, you can make knit stitches with Tunisian.

Brittany: 38:28
Again, I was using Unforgettable and it was such a happy accident. I was using a—gosh, I’m trying to remember the colorway off the top of my head and I’m drawing a blank. It was the Sunrise variant. It basically is like oranges and blues, basically colors that you would see in like a sunrise or sunset.

And the color transitions worked out so perfectly for the stitch pattern. And so many people have asked me, “How on earth did you do that?” And my answer is, it just happened. I would love to say that I planned it and it happened—and it happened that way on purpose—but it didn’t. It just worked out with the gauge and the number of stitches. And to this day, it’s one of my favorite projects.

Toni: 39:13
Awesome. Oh, you got to love that when a project just comes together almost on its own. That’s fantastic.

Brittany: 39:18
Yes. Makes our life as designers a lot easier. Right?

Toni: 39:22
Yeah. For sure.

Brittany: 39:23
Oh, man. I feel like we could just chat about this for hours, but I would love to give people the opportunity to now just take action. Just go try it and connect with you. I know you have a lot of really great resources for beginners. You have a lot of free patterns and that sort of thing. So where can somebody go to see some of that stuff that you have available?

Toni: 39:43
Sure. The very first place that I would send people would be to my YouTube channel, TL Yarn Crafts, just youtube.com slash TL Yarn Crafts. And I have a Tunisian crochet video series that takes you from the very beginning, learning Tunisian crochet, all the way through some other techniques, some additional stitches, and it ends with the Tunisian ear warmer project.

So I definitely encourage people to start there, but they can also follow my Tunisian crochet in general design journey on Instagram. Instagram at toyarncrafts and then also on my blog, toycblog.com.

Brittany: 40:18
Wonderful. I have links to all of that in the show notes. So you have easy access to that. And thank you so much. This has been so much fun.

Toni: 40:28
Thank you so much for having me back, Brittany. I love it always.

Brittany: 40:32
Okay. So are you ready to try Tunisian crochet? I hope you are. If you’ve never tried it before, just do me this favor. Just try it once. I promise you won’t regret it.

So first of all, I want to say a big thanks to Toni for such a wonderful chat today. She is such a creative and beautiful soul. I just enjoy any opportunity I have to talk with her. And then this time I could share her knowledge with you. So that makes me even more happy. So thank you, Toni, for sharing your wisdom with us today.

So give that a try. Give Toni’s series on YouTube a try, and you will be well on your way to making endless Tunisian crochet projects.

Alright, this episode was brought to you by Red Heart Yarns. Red Heart wants to invite you to be a part of the Red Heart family and join their email subscriber list. When you do, you’ll receive the latest in crochet and knit free patterns for inspiration, of course. You’ll get access to Red Heart contests that they have going on, some special promotions for their yarn, and if you’re like me, well you love to save money on yarn, so it’s worth it to be on their newsletter even for this.

So to sign up, it’s super quick. Just visit behooked.com slash Red Heart, which will redirect you to the right place to sign up. You’ll be asked to provide your name, email address, and then create a password. And if you look at the bottom of that form, be sure that the checkbox to subscribe to the newsletter is checked. That’s it. Then you’ll be a part of the Red Heart family.

Now, the last thing I want to mention here is if you have any questions or comments about anything Toni and I talked about today, just head over to the show notes page. That comment section is there just for you so I can continue the conversation with you, so that you can mingle with other listeners of the show. You can ask your questions, leave a comment, whatever you like. It’s right there on the show notes page.

Last time, bhooked.com/106.

Thank you so much, my friend. It’s been such a joy sharing this topic with you today. I just love Tunisian and I know you’ll love it too. And I can’t wait to see some of your projects.

Alright. So that’ll do it for this week. I will be back at you same time, same place next week with another episode.

I’ll see you there. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.