Tunisian cables look so much like Knit cables! They are really easy to make and if you are up for trying something new, this is a great technique to learn 🙂
Here is the front and back of a swatch with one cable.
The hook
There are a bunch of different Tunisian crochet hooks available for purchase. You can read about the hooks I use here. Because of the nature of Tunisian crochet stitches, I recommend using a hook that is at least 2 sizes larger than the recommended hook on the yarn.
Curling
The fabric built with this stitch curls slightly. You can try using a larger hook or block the fabric to fix it.
Video Tutorials
I have right and left handed video tutorials for this stitch on my Youtube channel. You can find all my Tunisian crochet video tutorials here.
Right handed
Left handed
Photo Tutorial
Cables in Tunisian crochet are made by skipping some stitches and picking them up later. You will need another hook of the same (or very similar) size to be able to make them. I recommend having a Tunisian crochet hook of the same size so that you can easily slip the stitches off from the other end of the hook – more on this in the photo tutorial below.
The swatch in the picture below is made up of 14 stitches – 4 Tunisian Purl Stitches, 4 Tunisian Knit Stitches, 4 Tunisian Purl Stitches. This tutorial will explain how you can make a cable with the 4 knit stitches by crossing over 2 stitches from one side to the other.
Forward pass
Step 1: Start by skipping 2 knit stitches and identifying the next two – indicated by blue pins in the picture below. Make a knit stitch in each of those two stitches.
Note: The yarn in the back will be loose – do not pull to make it tight.
Step 2: Now, identify the two skipped knit stitches – indicated by the silver pins in the picture below. Pick your other hook and make knit stitches in each of them.
Note: Even in this step, make sure your yarn in the back is loose – do not pull to make it tight.
Step 3: Slide the two loops on the 2nd hook to the other end of the hook and move them to the first hook in the same order as they are removed – This is the reason why I recommend using a Tunisian crochet hook as your second hook because you can just slide the stitches onto the first hook without having to worry about their order.
Step 4: Complete your row as you normally would. In this swatch, I made 4 Tunisan Purl Stitches.
Reverse Pass
This is the same as the reverse pass in the Foundation Row: Chain 1, yarn over and pull through two loops on the hook. Repeat this for all the loops on the hook until you have one loop on the hook.
Subsequent rows
Continue making the subsequent rows with the same pattern as the previous rows: 4 Tunisian Purl Stitches, 4 Tunisian Knit Stitches, 4 Tunisian Purl Stitches. Make sure that you pick up the knit stitches in the correct order – the stitches indicated by the silver pins are picked up first and then the stitches indicated by the blue pins. After making a few rows, you will be able to see the cable pattern clearly.
Patterns you can make with this stitch
Coming soon!
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More Tunisian Crochet tutorials:
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