The Tunisian Crochet Knit Stitch is the one crochet stitch that resembles knitting the most.
At first sight, it might be really tricky to tell the difference between the Tunisian knit stitch and regular knitting. However, if you have a little bit of experience with knitting and Tunisian crochet, you’ll immediately recognize some key differences between the two techniques.
Tunisian Knit Stitch vs Knitting
- The look of the stitches is impressively similar on the right side. However, the wrong side definitely looks different!
- Tunisian crochet usually produces a much thicker fabric than knitting.
- The Tunisian Knit stitch is less stretchy than knitting. In whatever direction you try, your Tunisian project will just not stretch as much as knitting. There are simple ways to make your Tunisian more stretchy and the easiest is to use a larger hook size in order to keep a looser tension.
- As with most Tunisian stitches, the Tunisian knit stitch has got fewer holes compared to knitting. Actually, let’s rephrase it. The Tunisian knit stitch doesn’t have any holes, even when you try to stretch the fabric. Of course, this is less true if you used a very, very, very large hook to crochet your Tunisian crochet project.
Did I forget anything? Feel free to leave a comment and share your thoughts on the differences between the Tunisian knit stitch and knitting.
So, for all the reasons I listed above, I think that Tunisian is really great for all kinds of winter accessories. Think about headbands and hats, especially if you want to save the effort of lining them.
So, the Tunisian crochet knit stitch is definitely a must-learn!
Abbreviation and Chart Symbol
The official abbreviation of the Tunisian Knit Stitch is Tks and here below you can see its official chart symbol.
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 knit stitch.
You can Pin this free Tunisian crochet tutorial for later using this Pin!
Materials
– Yarn of choice. In this tutorial, I used some sport-weight yarn.
– Regular crochet hook without big handles. For this tutorial, I used a 4.5 mm (7 US) crochet hook.
Tunisian Knit Stitch
1. Let’s start with our foundation row with 15 sts.
2. Insert your hook from right to left and from front to back in the space between the front and the back vertical bars of the designated st. Your hook will really have to go from the right side of your work to the wrong side. It’s a bit like stubbing your row.
3. Yarn over.
4. Pull up a loop.
Congratulations, you just made your first Tunisian Crochet Knit Stitch!
Now, continue working the Tks into all the remaining stitches.
When you reach the last stitch, insert your hook under both loops, yarn over, and pull up a loop.
Working under both loops of the last stitch will give your project a neater edge.
Now, double-check that you have 15 loops on your hook and then proceed with the return pass.
How to Make a Standard Return Pass
For more details about the standard return pass, you can take a look at this blog post.
In short, yarn over and pull through one loop on your hook, *yarn over and pull through two. Repeat from * until you have only one loop remaining on your hook.
Keep repeating the same steps described above to make your project longer and longer. Once you reach your final row, it is time to bind off!
How to Bind Off with the Knit Stitch
As with knitting, also in Tunisian crochet, the bind off looks way better when you do it “in pattern”. What does that mean?
It means that you have to work your bind-off row using the same stitch pattern as your previous rows.
For the Tunisian knit stitch, this means that you have to work every stitch like a regular knit stitch but end it with a slip stitch instead of leaving it on your hook.
I hope you enjoyed learning how to crochet the Tunisian Crochet Knit 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!