Tess D'uberville Shawl- over view

There have been several interesting conversations about how to create a shawl seen in the BBC production of Tess of D'uberville.

That shawl was knitted, and since my knitting skills are rudementary at best... I never tried to knit it. I did look carefully at the photos and decided this could be done in TC, but put the project on the back burner.

Well, several days later someone asked this very same question: could this shawl be done in Tunisian Crochet... so I experimented with it and in only a few minutes had the answer.

First of all, the piece is a Mitered Corner Shawl in which the stitches run in the opposite direction of Mitered corner shawls that are more common place. It is this Stitch Direction that has caused all the commotion.

I could find no other way to duplicate this method, without first working a Square; then working the two Ends separately. Each end forms a Triangle that continues working rows of stitches from the square, but each row decreases along the top edge of the shawl.

Now, if you work all Tks, the stitch direction will look very similar to the more common triangle shawls. The opposite stitch directions will be more obvious with the Pronounced Ridges on the back of the piece.

You can work alternating rows of Tks/Tps (like in my sample), although with the Pronounced Ridge on back, you don't have to.

My instructions (in the next post) are written in such a way that you can insert any stitch you prefer, to create a shawl of your very own.

Check back here, or at my site: ChezCrochet.com for upcoming pattern booklets where I will offer variations on this shawl, with detailed stitching instructions.

These instructions and Schematics are Copyrighted by Angela 'ARNie' Grabowski 2009

Tess D'uberville Shawl

A. Ch 3.
Row 1: Forward- Yo, pick up a stitch, Yo, pick up last st. Return.
Row 2: Forward- Tfs- in Yo Sp, Yo, Tks, Yo, Tfs-in Yo Sp, last st. Return.
Row 3: Forward- 1 St. Yo, Tks, Yo, 1 St, last st. Return.
Row 4: Forward- Work chosen stitches up side, Tfs-in Yo Sp, Tks, Tfs-in Yo Sp, then work chosen stitches down the other side. Return.

Repeat Row 4 to create length.

B. These instructions create a Mitered corner square, as seen by the white lines.

C1. Once the Diagonal measurement of the square equals the length of the shawl (from your neck down). Stitch Up this side up to the 1st Yo Sp. Return.
Subsequent Rows: Stitch up side to last 3 sts. Tss2tog, last st. Return.

C2. When you have only 1 loop remaining- DO NOT END OFF. Remove the hook and put a Work In Progress (WIP) Clip into the loop. This can be a paper clip, pinch style clothes pin, a file clip (bull dog clip.)

D. Attach a new ball of yarn into the empty Yo Sp.
Stitch down this side and Return.
Next Row: Stitch normally- following your chosen stitch pattern. Return as you normally would until you have 2 stitches left (3 loops.) Yo, pull through all 3 loops (Decrease made- Dec).
Subsequent Rows: Ignore the Stitches within the Dec. Stitch down side. Return following instructions in previous row.
When there is only 1 loop left, End off.

E. Go back to other End, and removed Wip Clip. Insert hook and work classic crochet Single Crochet stitches or Slip Stitches across the top edge of the shawl.

Peaches & Creme Yarn in Tunisian Crochet

A member of my Yahoo group and Ravelry was asking about TC with Peaches and Creme... a worsted/aran weight cotton yarn.

This is one project I used TC with a lacy open stitch Arrowhead Netting.

The pattern for this blanket is in the booklet: Arrowhead Netting, that includes instructions for one method for creating Round objects.

You can order the book here:

http://chezcrochet.com/page92.html

You can see Arrowhead Netting instructions here:

http://chezcrochet.com/page18.html

TCAL Inspiration

I will be doing a Tunisian Crochet A-Long (TCAL) through my Yahoo group starting January 18, 2009.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tunisiancrochet/

This is the inspiration for the upcoming piece.

It is a Knitted Sweater pattern produced by the Reynolds Yarn Co, Townsend, Massachuesetts, 2004. The title of the pattern is Rapture #82287.

Now, my piece will be done in Tunisian Crochet, and will look much different, since I will be using different stitch combinations and adding some cables to the design....

However, this is my inspiration for the TCAL.

The TCAL will be designed so that you can create a piece to fit your needs, using yarn from your stash.

I will be creating a piece that will eventually become the back for a sweater coat similar to this sweater.

Tunisian Crochet Dishrag or Washcloth

A conversation on crocheted dishcloths came up again the other day, and I thought I should share mine. Since it is so super easy, I'm posting it here.

You can find stitch instructions here at my site:
http://chezcrochet.com/page17.html

Tss & Tps (K&A Purl) Washcloth

I used an old worsted weight yarn that was really scratchy for the sample. I've also used Aunt Lydia's Rug yarn with great results.

Your yarn and hook choice will affect the overall size, but I use an L or 8mm hook for these.

Ch 20.

Row 1: Forward- Pick up loops in ea ch st across row. Return, Drop Loops off as you normally would.
Row 2: Forward- Tss in ea st, work last st as you normally would. Return.
Row 3: Forward- Tps in ea st, work last st as you normally would. Return.
Repeat Rows 2 & 3 to desired length... sample has 15 rows.
Last Row: work Sc or sl st in ea st across row. End off and weave threads.

For copyright permissions, click here:
http://chezcrochet.com/page9.html

Crossed Tss, or Diagonal Plait stitches from history

Some of my friends at the 'tunisiancrochet' group at Yahoo, were trying to understand some stitches found in various places. The stitches in question were originally published in1886 by Therese de Dillmont in her massive book: The Encyclopedia of Needlework.

Rebecca Jones included these stitches in her book: Tricot Crochet-The Complete Book (Lacis Publications 2000).

Both of these books contained instructions that were vague and difficult to understand, but I have generated more modern instructions.

Front Crossed Tunisian Simple stitch- FXTss this offers instructions on the easier stitch to understand- what Ms. deDillmont called Straight Plaited Tunisian Crochet. Scroll to bottom of the page.

Giving the Diagonal Plait stitch a more modern name... would be Diagonal FXTss. My modern isntructions for this stitch are:

Row 1: Forward and Return- Pick Up loops in each chain and Drop Off as you normally would.

Row 2: Forward- ignore outer loop. Tss in 1st st. *Sk 1 st. Tss in next st. Cross in front of st just formed and Tss in skipped st. Repeat from * across row, work last st as you normally would. Return as you would for any TC st.

Row 3: Forward- ignore outer loop. *Sk 1 St. Tss in next st. Cross in front of st just formed and Tss in skipped st. Repeat from * across row. If needed, work Tss in next to last st and work last st as you normally would. Return as you would for any TC st.

Repeat Rows 2 and 3 to create pattern.

General Notes:

If working with Odd numbered stitches, you will have 1 Tss to begin Even Number Rows, and 1 Tss to end all the Odd numbered Rows.

If working with Even numberd stitches, you will have 1 Tss to Begin and End all the Even Numbered Rows; but no extra Tss on the Odd numbered rows.

Photo was taken from The Complete DMC Encyclopedia of Needlework, page 297 - Running Press, Philadelphia, Penn. 1978. This is a reproduction of the original book.

What uses more yarn?

I recently was directed to a blog that had an experiment to 'scientifically' determine which needlework style uses more yarn: Knitting, Classic Crochet, or Tunisian Crochet.

The blogger's group of friends stitched several swatches with worsted weight yarn, and 6mm sized tools. Their conculsions were that Knitting and Crochet used about the same, but TC used significantly more yarn.

I believe the experiment was flawed for the following reasons:

To accurately compare the yarn usage, an experiement should create comparable fabrics; consequentially, the swatches must stitched using different tool sizes for the various needleworks. Eva O. did this when she was at Bella Online, but that experiment was pulled offline when she left. Eva's results reflected my own, and what many TC stitchers in the industry have experienced: Classic Crochet uses the most yarn, Tunisian Crochet uses slightly less than Knitting.

Actual yarn amounts are extremely varied depending on individual tension and gauge, so saying that Knitting uses 3 times or 1/3 less yarn is grossly over stating the facts... unless the yarn useage was determined by crocheting the piece with a hook size that is appropriate for knitting needles and way too small for crochet.

Mechanics dictate that Knitting will use less yarn, because all of the stitches are interconnected to one another. The extra steps in forming stitches of Classic Crochet and Tunisian Crochet dictate that they will use more yarn. How much more is determined by individual tension, gauge, size of hook/needle, etc.

Using larger hooks for Tunisian Crochet will actually lessen the amount of yarn you use, because it loosens up the stitches to create a fabric closer to Knitting and Classic Crochet accomplish with smaller tools.

Trying to use one size of tool for all the various needlework styles will create different fabrics: a J sized hook with worsted weight yarn would be much too loose for most crocheters, same with the 6mm needles. A J sized hook with Tunisian Crochet will create a fabric so dense you could use it for a rug... if you could control the curl.

In other words, the 6mm hook is a one size too big for what most stitchers use for classic crochet, and it may be up to 2 sizes too big for what most yarn lables recommend for knitting. For Tunisian Crochet, that 6mm hook is two to three sizes too small.

All of these will skew the final results, because the appropriate sized stitching tool wasn't used for each style of needlework.

I would be interested in seeing what results her group gets when they use the size of tool that is more appropriate for the worsted weight yarn...

Such as.... a 5.5mm (size I) hook with classic crochet; 5mm needles with knitting and an 8mm hook with Tunisian Crochet.

http://thing4string.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html Scroll down for Unraveling the Truth, to see the whole blogpost.