Tunisian Crochet Concept Cabled Cowl – Free Pattern

The Tunisian Crochet Concept Cowl is literally the softest thing I’ve ever crocheted!

Tunisian Crochet Concept Cabled Cowl - Free Pattern - Raffamusa Designs

I am so in love with how squishy it is, plus I am afraid I grew an addiction to caressing it. It is going to be difficult to separate from it, but at the same time, I am so happy I finished another Christmas present.

Mmmmm, yes, you read it right, I am still finishing my Christmas presents. And this is not even the last one left on my list. Am I the only one? Please, send support and sympathy if you’re also in the same situation.

Tunisian Crochet Concept Cabled Cowl - Free Pattern - Raffamusa Designs

So, I was saying, the Tunisian Crochet Concept Cowl is my (slightly late) Christmas present for my aunt. My aunt is an elementary school teacher. This means that she has to talk a lot throughout the day and her voice is always at risk of going down. This is why I wanted to gift her a cozy and warm cowl to protect her throat during the cold months.

Find more Tunisian crochet patterns here on the blog…

Tunisian Crochet Cables

After admiring Tunisian crochet cables from a distance for far too long, I finally decided to try my hand at them.

A few months ago, I tried to learn how to make cables in Tunisian crochet by watching a tutorial on YouTube by HappyBerry Crochet. However, even though I was able to follow the tutorial and make a cable, I definitely did not get the hang of it.

Later, I came across two things that really helped me. The first one is the pattern of a Tunisian crochet cabled headband on the Crochet is Art blog. The second is the book Tunisian Cables to Crochet by my favorite Tunisian crochet designer Kim Guzman.

This said I will try to show you as clearly as possible how I crocheted the cables for this cowl.

Tunisian Crochet Concept Cabled Cowl - Raffamusa Designs

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Tunisian Crochet Concept Cabled Cowl - Free Pattern - Raffamusa Designs

Materials

  • Aran (4, Medium) Weight Yarn
  • 10.0 mm (N/15 USA, 000 UK) Tunisian Crochet Hook with a 40″ (100 cm) wire extension
  • One Cable Switch Knitting Needle
  • Tapestry Needle
  • Optional: 8.0-mm (L/11 USA, 0 UK) Crochet Hook

Yarn & Yardage

I used 3 skeins of Katia Concept Ultralight Merino (120 yds / 110 m per 50 g), color 61, which is classified as a Bulky (5) yarn.

However, this yarn is very airy and light, and it feels more like a Medium (4) yarn.

So, if you are looking for a yarn substitute, I recommend you choose either some bulky yarn with the same characteristics (see some suggestions below…) or go directly for a regular Aran weight yarn.

Katia Goodies Bag - Raffamusa Designs

Crochet Abbreviations (US Terms)

Ch – Chain
Sk – Skip
Sl St – Slip Stitch
St – Stitch
Tks – Tunisian Knit Stitch
Tss – Tunisian Simple Stitch
twTss – twisted Tunisian Simple Stitch
Yo – Yarn Over

Special Stitches

Tunisian Knit Stitch (Tks)
Find a step-by-step tutorial on how to crochet the Tunisian knit stitch here.

Twisted Tunisian Simple Stitch (twTss)
The twTss is worked in a similar way as the Tss but with one main difference. In the twTss the hook is inserted into the next vertical bar going from left to right. This means that you have to twist the stitch a bit. The easiest way to do this is to grab the stitch with the tip of your hook, pull it to the right, and then twist your hook to insert it from left to right under the vertical bar.

Standard Tunisian Return
Yo, pull through the first loop on your hook, *yo, pull through two loops*. Repeat in between * for all the loops until you will only have one remaining loop on your hook.

Pattern Notes

  • Always skip the very first st.
  • The last stitch is worked under both loops of the final ch from the previous row.
  • Throughout the pattern, the stitch count is always 100 sts (including the first stitch).
  • The instructions below describe both the forward and return passes. Pay attention to what kind of return pass is indicated for each row.
  • Cables are worked in the return pass.

Construction

The Tunisian Crochet Concept Cowl is crocheted flat, bottom-up, and then seamed on the short side.

The design consists of alternating right-leaning and left-leaning cables, all made in the return pass. At the bottom and at the top of the cowl, I used a few rows of simple Tunisian rib stitches.

Since the Tunisian rib stitch is a more relaxed stitch than the cables, the top and bottom of the cowl are naturally slightly wider than the body, which is ideal for a good fitting.

Concept Cabled Cowl - Free Tunisian Crochet Pattern - Raffamusa Designs

Size

  • Before seaming, it measures approximately 34” (86 cm) by 11.8″ (30 cm)
  • After seaming, the cowl measures 14″ (36 cm) by 11.8″ (30 cm)

Gauge

12 Tks for 13 rows in 4″ (10 cm).

Tunisian Crochet Cabled Cowl – Free Pattern

Row 1. With your 10-mm Tunisian crochet hook, make a Tunisian foundation row with 100 sts.

Row 2. Starting from the second st, (tks 1, twTss 1) across. Work the last st by inserting your hook in both loops at the end.
Return. Standard Tunisian Return

Row 3. Repeat row 2.

Row 4. Tks across.
Return. Standard Tunisian Return

Row 5-6. Tks across.
Return. Yo, pull through the first loop, *(yo, pull through 2) four times, ch 1, (yo, pull through 2) six times. Repeat from * until the end.

Row 7. Tks across.
Return. Yo, pull through the first loop.

Left-Leaning Cable

Make a 4-sts, left-leaning cable as follows.

Remove 9 loops from the hook (panel 2 in the image below).
Put the last 4 removed loops on the switch cable needle (panel 3).
Bring the cable needle to the front of the work and reinsert your Tunisian crochet hook back into the following 4 loops (panel 4).

Tunisian crochet left-leaning cable, part 1

Pull the loops on the hook to the right and the loops on the cable needle to the left (panel 5).
Transfer the loops on the cable needle back on the crochet hook starting from the loop on the right side and moving to the ones on the left (panels 6 and 7).
Grab back the last loop that you had initially removed from the hook (panel 8).
Close 4 stitches by (yo, pull through 2 loops) four times, ch 1, finish the cable by (yo, pull through 2 loops) six times.

Tunisian crochet left-leaning cable, part 2

Right-Leaning Cable

Work a 4-sts, right-leaning cable as follows.

Remove 9 loops from the hook (panel 2 in the image below).
Put the last 4 removed loops on the switch cable needle (panel 3).
Bring the cable needle to the back of the work and reinsert your Tunisian crochet hook back into the following 4 loops (panel 4).

Tunisian crochet right-leaning cable, part 1

Pull the loops on the hook to the right and the ones on the cable needle to the left (panel 5).
Transfer the loops from the cable needle to the crochet hook starting from the loop on the right side and moving to the ones on the left (panels 6 and 7).
Grab back the last loop that you had initially removed from the hook (panel 8).
(Yo, pull through 2 loops) four times, ch 1, (yo, pull through 2 loops) six times.

Tunisian crochet right-leaning cable, part 2

Repeat the instructions for the left-leaning cable and then the right-leaning cable four more times.

Row 8-11. Tks across.
Return. Yo, pull through the first loop, *(yo, pull through 2) four times, ch 1, (yo, pull through 2) six times. Repeat from * until the end.

The Row After the Cables

In my opinion, one of the most discouraging things about Tunisian crochet cables is by far working the forward pass of the row immediately after the cabling row. At this point, your work might look like a total mess and it is difficult to understand even where to start. However, it is important not to miss any sts. So, let’s keep calm and let’s see proceed one step at a time.

Right-Leaning Cable

The first cable that we will have to work on is a right-leaning cable. This means that what used to be your 2 to 5 loops (the first loops worked on your hook) are now your loops 6 to 9. You recognize those loops because they will be towards the back of your work. At this point, you will not crochet those loops. Instead, you will first work the loops that used to be loops 6 to 9 in the previous row. You can immediately spot them because they are the ones toward the front of your work (panel 1 in the image below).

Once you have 5 loops on your hook, you can pull back the four sts 6 to 9 (panel 2) and start crocheting them starting from the most right one to the left. After you grab the 4 sts of the cable, crochet the 2 sts that separate the first from the second cable. You should now have 11 loops on your hook (panel 3).

Left-Leaning Cable

The next cable is a left-leaning one. Here, you will first have to work the 4 sts that are towards the back of your work. Once you pick up 4 loops (panel 4), you can move on to crocheting the 4 sts that are towards the front of the work.

Tunisian crochet cables, the forward pass after the cabling row.

After you pick up the loops of the first two cables, you should have something that looks like the image below.

To Summarize

  • For the right-leaning cables, work the 4 sts on the front of your work first and then go back to the 4 sts on the back.
  • For the left-leaning cables, work the 4 sts on the back of your work first and then the 4 sts on the front.

Row 12-26. Repeat rows 7-11 three more times.

Row 27. Repeat row 7 once more.

Row 28. Tks across.
Return. Yo, pull through the first loop, *(yo, pull through 2) four times, ch 1, (yo, pull through 2) six times. Repeat from * until the end.

Row 29. Tks across.
Return. Standard Tunisian Return

Row 30-32. Repeat row 2 three times.

Close your work by sl st in each st.
Fasten off leaving a long tail for seaming.

Tunisian Crochet Cabled Cowl - Raffamusa Designs

Finishing

Lay your cowl flat with the right side facing up. Fold the cowl so that the two short sides touch each other in the middle of the cowl.

Using the long tail of yarn, seam the two short sides of the cowl together.

In order to avoid gaps around the seam, when you insert your tapestry needle into the side ch of each row, also go through the extra little loop on the side, as shown in the picture below.

Seaming Tunisian Crochet Cowl - Raffamusa Designs

Optional

If the bottom of your cowl curls really a lot, you can add a row of single crochet using the 8-mm crochet hook.

Your Tunisian crochet cabled cowl is ready!

I hope that you liked working on this pattern and I’d love to see your version of it! Please, share your shawls on Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag #raffamusadesigns

Find more Tunisian crochet patterns here on the blog…

7 thoughts on “Tunisian Crochet Concept Cabled Cowl – Free Pattern”

  1. Ehi Raffa, quanto sei bella – il tuo sorriso anche. 🙂
    You may not believe me, but your design is the first cowl I’ve seen that makes me really want to JUST DO IT. [grin]
    You write of Kim Guzman .. I had an email exchange with her a few months back – it must’ve been before she sold her site – and she was most kind and helpful with whatever was my problem. Now I don’t know where she actually is, nor how to contact her; but I know she’d be really happy with your post.
    Ik houd van je werk. Katia should be paying you.
    Big hug from Downunder.

    Reply
    • Hi Margaret, thank you so much! 🥰 I actually didn’t know that Kim Guzman sold her site 😮 I really love her work. I hope she’ll continue designing and maybe writing books if she’s not blogging anymore…
      A big hug to you too 🤗

      Reply

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