Tunisian Crochet Love Knots, New Swatches
It’s been on my mind to incorporate love knots into Tunisian crochet since teaching the first Love Knots Adventures class in 2012. I don’t mean a few rows of love knot mesh alternated with a few rows of Tunisian simple stitch (Tss), which could also be interesting and pretty. I mean love knots thoroughly integrated—where the experience of crocheting the love knots feels seamlessly like other Tunisian crochet.
In the Forward Pass or the Return Pass?
For some reason, at first I thought only of making love knots during the Tunisian forward pass (while adding loops onto the hook). A few weeks ago I added love knots to the return pass (while working the loops off of the hook) and the possibilities are inspiring. Also, the experience of doing it feels like true Tunisian crochet love knots.
These are preliminary, so I haven’t tried turning them into actual stitch patterns yet. I think these are promising rough swatches though. I don’t recall ever seeing eyelets or buttonholes created within and by the return pass.
For these two swatches I used Tunisian extended stitches because they’re featured in a new class for July, Steeked Tunisian Lace. It’s just my go-to stitch right now. It has fascinating, sometimes unpredictable properties, so I make a point of using it whenever.
At first I got excited and thought, “Wow, a different kind of steek! OK no, a faux steek!” But actually I think its real promise is as a type of eyelet with the power to change the look of the return pass.
I just sent out a newsletter on steeking Tunisian crochet vs regular crochet stitches. If you haven’t seen it, have a look and compare it with the look of these “faux steeks”.
