Tunisian crocheting and Danish hakning – DIY 20. October 2015

On a journey to the Tunisian village Dorsale, Anna was introduced to an ancient crochet technique. Tunisian crocheting, the local women called it when they created gorgeous, colourful patterns by means of the special crochet needle. Now that Anna is home again, she cannot seem to let go of neither the thought of this unique craft nor the desire to study the underlying techniques. Therefore, Anna has made a series of introductory, video tutorials and recipes in collaboration with the Danish, yarn enthusiastic blogger Pescno. The eight videos introduce several Tunisian crochet techniques that you will need in case you decide to try out this craft project.

Tunisian crocheting, also known as hakning and Afghan knitting, is a hybrid technique of regular crocheting and knitting. Many use the technique to create garments for outdoor use because of the product’s very firm and inelastic texture that resembles that of weaving. Anna and Pescno have decided to use the technique to make pillowcases. A unique crochet needle is needed for Tunisian crocheting; a crochet hook must be placed in one end and a knitting pin stopper in the other. For very slim Tunisian crochet projects, you may be able to use a regular crochet needle, but the disadvantage then is that you may lose unsecured stitches since a regular crochet needle cannot collect them. Choose the size of the needle based on what you wish to crochet. Just remember that the smaller the needle, the firmer the texture. In the following recipes, Anna and Pescno have used Anna and Clara’s Sock Yarn on which it says that the recommended needle size for crocheting is 4½-5. Since the unique Tunisian crochet needle is larger than a regular crochet needle, you ought to choose a needle that is larger than what is recommended on the packaging. In the following recipes, a 7mm Tunisian crochet needle is used and the results are pillows with a firm and knitted texture.

4 and 5 mm 6 and 7 mm

The videos and the images below are meant to give you a thorough introduction to the techniques behind Tunisian crocheting. After having watched the videos, Anna and Pescno hope that you feel ready to seize the crochet needle. Both Tunisian crochet needles and yarn can be purchased in Søstrene Grene.

Should you be set on learning how to Tunisian crochet, the videos above provide you with an easy introduction. If you are new to the techniques, you may wish to start small with the petite pincushion in the videos. Should you be ready for a bigger challenge, you can find the recipes for both a blue (rectangular) and a green pillow (quadratic) with crocheted fronts below.

If you wish to add other textures to your Tunisian crocheting, both Rib and Seed stitches exist.

First row: one plain stitch, one purl stitch, etc. Second row: one purl stitch over one purl stitch, one plain stitch over one plain stitch, etc.

First row: one plain stitch, one purl stitch, etc. Second row: one plain stitch over one purl stitch, one purl stitch over one plain stitch, etc.

The young, Aarhusian yarn enthusiast Pernille is behind the DIY blog Pescno.blogspot.dk, and she is an expert on Tunisian crocheting. Visit her blog and find inspiration for DIY projects and home interior.