Tunisian Crochet Cross Stitch

I feel like a tutorial on how to crochet the Tunisian Crochet Cross Stitch was long needed on my blog!

I have worked up several patterns that use the Tunisian crochet cross stitch and every time I found myself adding the same line to one of my many, maybe too many, to-do lists, write Tunisian crochet cross stitch tutorial. Usually followed by two or three exclamation marks depending on how sane I was that day.

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So, here we go. I finally sat down and wrote down my tutorial.

Before You Start This Tutorial

This tutorial assumes that you already know how to crochet a foundation row.

In case you do not know how to make a Tunisian foundation row, I suggest you go back to this tutorial and crochet a foundation row of 15 sts. Then, come back and join me right here!

If you already know how to crochet a Tunisian foundation row, that’s super! Get your foundation row ready with 15 sts and go ahead with learning the Tunisian crochet cross stitch.

Materials

– Yarn of choice. In this tutorial, I used some sport-weight yarn.
– Regular crochet hook without big handles. For this tutorial, I here used a 4.5 mm (7 US) crochet hook.
In general, with Tunisian crochet, I go at least one hook size up compared to regular crochet. However, with the Tunisian cross stitch, one hook size more might not be enough. I will show you why right at the end of this tutorial.

Tunisian Crochet Cross Stitch

1. Let’s start with a foundation row of 15 stitches.
As with ideally every Tunisian crochet project, sk the very first vertical bar. Take a second to identify the next two stitches (indicated by two arrows in the first panel of the figure below).

2. Insert your hook under both the second and third vertical bars.
3. Yarn over.
4. Pull up a loop.

5. Go back to the second vertical bar and insert your hook under it.
6. Yarn over and pull up a loop.

Congratulations, you just made a Tunisian crochet cross stitch!

Repeat the instructions above to make another cross into the fourth and fifth vertical bars, and then into the next two stitches and so on. Make a total of 6 crosses and complete the row with one Tunisian simple stitch and one last stitch worked under both loops.

Abbreviation and Chart Symbol

Finally, you might find useful to know that the official abbreviation of the Tunisian Cross Stitch is Tcs.

When crocheting a pattern from a chart, you will see that the symbol of the Tcs is a cross or more exactly a sort of multiplication sign connecting the two stitches to cross together.

Compare the Tunisian Simple and Cross Stitch Swatches

As promised in the Materials, here, I would like to discuss a little bit about the tension of your work when using the Tunisian cross stitch.

I already mentioned that with Tunisian crochet, I usually go up one hook size compared to regular crochet. This is to make sure that the tension is not too tight and the resulting fabric is soft and cozy.

However, not all Tunisian crochet stitches work up with the same tension. This is particularly true for the Tunisian cross stitch.
Below, you can observe how a 15-sts swatch of the same yarn and worked with the same hook is much more relaxed (i.e. bigger) when worked up in Tunisian simple stitch than when it is worked up in Tunisian cross stitches. And I can reassure you that this has nothing to do with blocking.

So, the take-home message here is that if you want to mix a Tunisian cross stitch section with sections in some other Tunisian stitch, make sure you crochet a couple of swatches first. This way you’ll be sure that your tension is the same throughout the project!

I hope you enjoyed learning how to crochet the Tunisian Crochet Cross Stitch. Please, do not hesitate to contact me if you need any help or support. I am looking forward to seeing all your beautiful makes on Facebook and Instagram!