BEYOND THE BASICS
TAPESTRY
CROCHET
Also known as Fair Isle or jacquard crochet,
tapestry crochet is formed with regular
crochet stitches, using multiple colours to
create decorative patterns and motifs. To get
going with tapestry crochet, all you need is
two or more yarn colours that you switch
back and forth as you crochet. There are a
number of techniques, all creating different
effects. It takes some practice to get the
tension consistent and the yarn changing
smooth and neat. It’s best to start with a
simple pattern using two colours, then build
up to creating multi-coloured designs with
special tapestry crochet graph papers.
TUNISIAN
CROCHET
Tunisian crochet creates a much thicker,
denser, less elastic fabric than standard
crochet, so it has many of the qualities of
woven fabric and is ideal for winter garments.
It requires a special long hook, sometimes
with a stopper on the handle end. The longer
length of the hook allows for the creation of
larger pieces of work. The technique involves
working each row in two distinct passes – the
forward pass where loops are worked onto
the hook, and the reverse pass where loops
are worked back off the hook. Advantages of
Tunisian crochet are that it’s very fast to
learn, quicker to work than ordinary crochet
and twice as fast as knitting.
BROOMSTICK CROCHET
Also called peacock eye crochet or jiffy lace (because it’s so quick to work),
this form of pretty, open crochet is worked with a standard crochet hook
and a very large knitting needle or broomstick. A combination of large
loops are worked over the ‘broomstick’ or large needle and gathered
together in groups of stitches to make lacy patterns that have a gentle
twist. The open construction makes the stitch fast to work and ideal for
summer garments.