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About Vashti Braha

Vashti Braha models Doris Chan’s crochet designs in Lotus yarn.
Vashti Braha models Doris Chan’s designs in Lotus yarn.

When this DesigningVashti website was new (back in 2010), I began the “About Me” page this way:

As of 2004, I’m a full-time professional crochet thinker and tinkerer. I love to promote crochet as many things: an art, hobby, learning tool, and practical medium. I do this with designs and classes.

For my newsletter I try to write about what I don’t see others writing about crochet.

I reflected recently on my years with this crochet website. Scroll down past the “About My Crochet Patterns” section for a 2018 Crochet Manifesto!

About My Crochet Patterns

  • Patterns include both US and UK terms for crochet stitches, project measurements, and yarn weights.
  • Do you like to crochet things to sell? It’s great that my designs inspire you to make and sell the finished items. I’m adding this statement to each new self-published patterns but it applies to all of them even if you don’t see it stated in an older pattern.
  • Visit Vashti’s Crochet Lounge in Ravelry for pattern support and for just hanging with the crochet mellow for a spell.
Peacock family in my driveway.

Magazine editors have described my design style as “breezy”. Maybe that comes from living and working in a subtropical paradise. Peacocks roam freely in our neighborhood. I grew up in Wisconsin, so the natural world I encounter here in Florida is fascinating.

My crochet designs have been published in magazines and books since 2004, including Interweave Crochet, Crochet!, Crochet Today, Knit.1…. and have been seen in other publications and websites. I started my first crochet blog in 2006.

2018 Crochet Manifesto!

My top crochet priority is to protect it from being limited by misconceptions and stereotypes. Crochet is vastly varied and versatile. I have to look hard for its actual limits, yet I find there’s no shortage of folks who confidently add limits to it! Crochet is perpetually underestimated.

One reason crochet’s origins are inconclusive is that few researchers recognize crochet, know what to look for, why it matters, or even know what it is. It’s a problem with today’s crochet too: some county fair judges mistakenly disqualify a crocheted entry when it doesn’t match a preconceived idea of what crochet is.

My #2 crochet priority is to explore the under-explored. Crochet is a thinking medium for me. It’s mathematical, philosophical, theoretical, practical, powerfully syncretic, and expressive.

These two priorities drive my designs, newsletters, and class topics and always have. It’s also why I’ve been working with the Crochet Guild of America (CGOA) to develop their Masters Programs, and with the recently formed Center for Knit and Crochet (CKC) to formulate cataloguing standards for crochet.

Meet Up With Me at Crochet Events!

CGOA Directors (2009) R to L: Penny Sitler (Exec. Dir.), Amy Shelton, Marty Miller, Vashti Braha, Carol Alexander, Rita Weiss, Drew Emborsky.

I love to meet crocheters at national conferences, local yarn shops, and online. Perhaps we’ve met at a Chain Link crochet conference (CGOA) as far back as 2002. I’ve also attended other national industry events such as Stitches, TNNA (The National Needlearts Association) and CHA (Craft and Hobby Association).

CGOA’s 2018 national Chain Link conference was wonderfully fun, as always. Plan now so that you don’t miss out: For 2019 (CGOA’s 25th Anniversary) it will be in Manchester NH, mid-July. Updates about my classes and yarn market booths will be posted here.

“How Did You Get Your Name?”

I know I have an unusual name, and my husband is partly responsible for that (smile). I’m often asked what my background is, and if “Vashti” is a Russian or Indian name.

My parents are both from southern Ohio. My father’s background is Irish and my mother’s is English, French, and German. “Vashti” is actually an old name from the Bible (it occurs briefly in the Book of Esther). Now you know!

Early Crochet Start

My mother taught me how to crochet when I was nine. This was in the 1970’s in rural Wisconsin. The nature crafts show called “Hodgepodge Lodge” was my favorite TV show, and our favorite store was LeeWards Creative Crafts. My mother, sister, and I learned most of the fiber-related crafts like spinning, knitting, weaving, tatting, crewel, needlepoint, cross stitch, and beading. I dyed my own handspun wool with marigolds from my flower garden. At the age of 12 I created my first business of custom-made macramé necklaces with fine linen cord.

Contact Vashti

To contact me about your crochet questions and concerns, or for shopping issues (purchasing, downloading, etc.) please email me or visit the Contact Us page; for other kinds of information and ways to connect, be sure to see our News page.

This online forum in Ravelry is a great way to get crochet help and new ideas about a DesigningVashti pattern from a friendly and very knowledgeable group. Questions about our exclusive crochet patterns by Doris Chan? Visit her Ravelry forum.

Alerts about everything—my patterns, freebies, stitch videos, ebooks, CALs, freebies/giveaways etc.—always go in my newsletter. This News page lists ways to stay looped in.

The New Tunisian Crochet

Seshen is a Tunisian filet design in progress. Silk hand dyed yarn that's beaded and color-pooled.

Tunisian Crochet Patterns from Lacy to Solid

Tunisian crochet, a type of crochet for which special Tunisian crochet hooks are available, has gone by different names over the years. Those of us who grew up in the USA in the 1970’s called it “afghan stitch”. Prior to that it has been called everything from “Hook Knitting” to “Tricot Crochet” to the romantic “Royal Princess Stitch.”

If you think you know what Tunisian crochet is, make sure you’re up to date! It’s enjoying an exciting renaissance.

Subscribe to my newsletter to stay informed about this hot crochet technique. Learn about new Tunisian stitches and find out when new Tunisian crochet patterns and hooks are added to this site.

The formerly dense, thermal Tunisian crochet has many new lacy looks with fashionable drape. It’s starring in new yarns for new projects and sometimes co-starring with other interesting crochet techniques in the same project, such as Slip Stitch, Broomstick, and Hairpin Lace. Some of my laciest, most ethereal designs, such as Mesmer and Weightless, are easily created with simple Tunisian stitches.

The most distinctive difference between regular and Tunisian crochet is that each complete Tunisian row has two parts: a “forward pass” (begin by putting loops on the crochet hook) and a “return pass” (complete the stitches by working each loop off of the hook).

Is it more like crocheting, or more like knitting?

During each forward pass, each stitch is held on the hook across a row, and this causes it resemble knitting to some folks. It’s often an enjoyable first experience of crochet for knitters. In fact, classes for it are growing in demand at yarn shops around the country.

Check this Events page to find out when I’m teaching Tunisian crochet classes online and in yarn shops.

The Liebling Shrug is crocheted with both Tunisian and linked stitches.
The Liebling Shrug is crocheted with both Tunisian and linked stitches.

I think Tunisian crochet has more in common with regular crochet than with knitting. One hook is used throughout instead of two needles. Although the stitches can initially look very different (and some even mimic knitted fabric), they have an innate crochet structure. For example, the return pass resembles chain stitches and is structurally equal to slip stitches. A fun fact that to my mind is the most important of all is this: the lesser-known but handy linked stitches of regular crochet are structurally the same as Tunisian stitches.

About Tunisian Crochet Hooks

A Tunisian row can have any number of stitches in it, and the Tunisian crochet hook only need be long enough to hold all the stitches. A Tunisian hook with a long flexible cable attached to it is best for a very long row of stitches, such as for an afghan worked in one piece, or for a shawl or scarf worked lengthwise.

At the other extreme, a row with few stitches, such as with Tunisian entrelac, can be worked with a common regular crochet hook as long as it doesn’t have a thick handle along most of the hook’s length.

The single greatest difference between the “Afghan Stitch” of the 1960’s-70’s and the breezy Tunisian crochet of today may be the new larger Tunisian crochet hooks on the market (above size K/6.5mm). I rely on them heavily when designing fashionable Tunisian with softly draping yarns.

Tunisian Crochet and Yarn

I find that many crocheters and knitters who encountered the “Afghan crochet” of the 1960’s-‘70s strongly associate it with yarns for making the dense blankets and car coats in vogue back then. Usually a worsted weight acrylic or wool yarn was crocheted with an “afghan hook” smaller than a size I tend to use. (I usually start with a size K/6.5mm hook for medium weight yarns and then go up or down hook sizes from there.) This kind of Tunisian is still great for afghans and structured jackets if not worked too tightly.

The pink silk vest pictured below features the same basic Tunisian Simple Stitch used for thick afghans for decades. I used a large hook size. There was no “Tunisian curl” (Tunisian crochet doesn’t lie flat when it’s crocheted tightly or with stiffer yarns).

Tunisian Simple Stitch and Beyond

Like many crocheters, I was perfectly content knowing one Tunisian stitch–for decades! Tunisian is best known for its versatile basic stitch, called Tunisian Simple Stitch (a.k.a. “Afghan Stitch” and is abbreviated Tss in patterns).

This stitch may be even easier to learn than the basic Single Crochet of regular crochet. With its unique and appealing woven appearance it looks good in any yarn. Simply changing the hook size, or the yarn’s fiber content or plying, or alternating yarn colors every row or so, can give an entirely fresh look.

To be among the first to know when we add new Tunisian crochet patterns, be sure to subscribe to my e-newsletter.

Crochet, a Quick Overview

Northern star stitches and southern lover's knots in one stitch pattern.
Two beloved Victorian stitches in a rare (first time?)
joint appearance: star stitches from northern yarn traditions,
and lover’s knots from fine thread lace types.

Crochet is my favorite form of creative expression. The process of crocheting is as enjoyable for me as the finished result. I love its more traditional expressions of lacy beauty, and I love many less common looks that crochet can also do (and perhaps hasn’t yet). I simply love it all.

This DesigningVashti website is a tribute to this lifelong passion, which has blessed me with many wonderful friends who share my love of crochet.  — Vashti

What is crochet?

Looking for the ultimate big picture of crochet? You’re not alone. See my answer to the question, What IS crochet, really? on its own page.

3 Slim Foundations
3 Simple Foundations

Crochet is a way to create many things (fancy intricate lace, thick strong cords, colorful blankets, clothing, toys, jewelry, etc) using:

  1. Something with a hooked end (usually a stick with a smooth hook carved into one end or both, but can even be one’s finger!), and…
  2. A strand of any material (usually yarn or string of any thickness and fiber, and can also be wire, fabric strips, even licorice or garden hose!).

Simply pulling looped strands through other loops with a hooked tool creates an endless variety of crochet stitches. It’s intriguingly complex looking, yet its structure is based on just a few simple principles.

Where did crochet originate? How long ago?

We lack enough evidence to say for sure. Crochet might have originated in more than one place. It has certainly been done, and beautifully, for a very long time.

Is crochet easy or difficult to do?

It’s easy enough for young children to learn, yet too difficult for any machine to do.

For many people it is easy to learn. Some folks just can’t get the hang of it, so it’s an individual matter. Also, sometimes it depends on the teacher.

Is crochet like knitting?

Yes and no.

NO, because the tools (crochet hooks versus knitting needles) feel different enough to use that people can have very strong preferences for one over the other.

YES, because in both cases you are getting a piece of string to cooperate evenly to result in a lovely usable fabric. Handling yarns of different textures and colors is the same pleasure whether you’re crocheting or knitting. In both cases one develops fine hand-eye coordination for tensioning the yarn as it flows through your fingers and becomes stitches. Crocheters and knitters can all use the same yarns, threads, and wire. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise!

NO, because the structures of crocheted and knitted fabrics are different. Crochet stitches are independently created and you can link them to each other from nearly every possible angle. Knitting stitches are so interdependent that they are all completed together, kind of like a wave. In most crochet, you complete each stitch and move it off of the hook as you work. It’s easy to recognize someone knitting because they use two sticks and the stitches are all lined up along them. (Many people see Tunisian crochet as resembling knitting at first glance because the crochet stitches are left on the hook until you complete a whole row.)

YES, because both are therapeutic. Both are simple repetitive activities, so both have that relaxing “yoga” effect on the nerves and brain waves (as you might have heard about in the news).

NO, because each has its own history and traditions.

YES, because you can make the same range of items. Whether it’s a belt, bag, sweater, dress, shawl, scarf, mittens, afghan, dishcloth, rug, bracelet or toy, there is a way to crochet it and a way to knit it, and which way you choose to make it is purely personal preference. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise!

I tried learning to crochet and couldn’t do it. Any suggestions?

Most people can make the foundational stitch of crochet: the Chain Stitch. Traditionally, children practiced by making chain stitches until they used up a whole ball of yarn! That’s a lot of chain stitches. I wonder how many were too bored by this to continue.

Nowadays, beginning crocheters are rarely told to make this many chain stitches, but some learners may need practice handling the yarn and hook together. It’s a new kind of coordination that takes time.

If you learned the chain stitch and then were taught how to do a popular basic stitch called the Single Crochet by crocheting into some chain stitches that you had just made, this could have been the problem and it’s not your fault. This is not necessarily the best next step.

It’s easier and more fun for many beginners if the next step after learning the chain stitch is any of these three:

  1. Single Crochet into a ring. This step prepares you to make round items like flowers, hats, bags, granny squares, or doilies for your first project.
  2. Single Crochet into holes punched into a piece of leather or vinyl fabric. This step prepares you to make flat four-cornered items like scarves, dish cloths, pillow covers, square bags; also to edge hand knits.
  3. Tunisian Simple Stitch into chain stitches. This step also prepares you to make flat four-cornered items like #2 above; often especially helpful for knitters who have had trouble getting the hang of crochet.

How do you know if something is crocheted?

Some people are very good at identifying crochet by sight. Each completed crochet stitch has a telltale chain-like top that is sometimes easy to spot.

1890’s star stitch variation

However, there are so many different kinds of crochet, and crochet is so versatile, that it’s easy for it be mistaken for other fiber arts, such as knitting, tatting, embroidery, and weaving.

It helps to know what tool was used to make an item. Some Bosnian and Tunisian crochet can look like knits, but they are still crochet, not knit. Only a crochet hook is needed. Knitted stitches require knitting needles instead.

In the case of older pieces, the tool may be missing. More experience may be needed to identify less common types of crochet. The range of textures and looks crochet can have is remarkable. In fact, this range is typically underestimated! This is an ongoing obstacle to bringing the history of crochet into sharper focus. (For more on this, see What IS Crochet, Really?.)

Why crochet by hand when a machine
can do anything faster and better?

Personally, I love that there is still no machine that can crochet. All the crochet you’ve ever seen is handmade—even the mass-produced crochet in stores.

Crocheters can really build up speed! Some people love to crochet for this reason. Even if there were a crochet machine, crochet is still plenty fast enough to be fun to do by hand.

By the way, hand knitting remains plenty of fun even after 1589, when knitting machines were invented. It can’t be fully replaced by machines for many reasons.

Aquarienne Beach Cover Up

Aquarienne is a convertible layer of two identical triangles of filet Tunisian crochet. Each is crocheted point to point (a.k.a. side to side in this case). They’re edged as you go with sparkly “water droplets” (a beaded twisted fringe) because that’s how I roll.

No pre-stringing of beads required. Remarkably, only one 100g. (256-yard) ball of the main color yarn was needed, plus scrap amounts of two contrast colors. Filet-style Tunisian crochet is not a yarn gobbler.

Lace together the colorful linen stitch band several ways: partially unlaced for a poncho, one-sleeved vest, or full-sized V-shawl. Wear the lacing in the front and back for a V-neck, or at the shoulders for a bateau neckline.

My goal was to design a breezy, versatile beach cover up that would be fun to wear here in Florida at the peak of summer (i.e. June to October).

Skill Level

Advanced Intermediate. Two simple Tunisian stitches make a one-row filet-style pattern. Its loose gauge and laciness add challenge; so does starting it in one corner and steadily increasing at one end of each row with a built-in beaded twisted-loop fringe edge. Don’t worry though! Pattern has professional stitch diagrams, a schematic, and video tutorial.

Stepping-stone patterns to build up to an Aquarienne experience would be Diamond Ennis. Also, Aero or Minuet.

After using this pattern, you will know (if you didn’t already):

  • How to crochet a strikingly open net of Tunisian crochet stitches.
  • How to crochet a triangle by starting at one point and ending at the opposite one.
  • How to add a finished edge with beaded twisted loops as you complete each row.
  • How to combine two lacy triangles to create a convertible garment.
  • How to apply principles of filet crochet to Tunisian stitches.
  • How to add beads without pre-stringing them.

Materials

Crochet Hook: Straight or Flexible Tunisian crochet hook at least 9” {22.9 cm} long: Size H/8 {5 mm} or size needed for gauge.
Regular crochet hooks Sizes 7 {4.5mm} and G/6 {4 mm} for border.
Yarn used, Main Color: DesigningVashti.com Lotus (52% Cotton, 48% Rayon; 256 yds/235 m per 3.5 oz/100 g skein): 1 full skein, color shown is Crystal Blue.
Very Small Amounts of two Contrast Colors: DesigningVashti.com Lotus Snack balls (52% Cotton, 48% Rayon; 85 yds/77.7 m per 1.16 oz/33 g skein): 1 ball each of Teal Glimmer and Bamboo Green.
Beads: 64 size 6/0 seed beads.
Notions: Steel crochet hook for hoisting a bead onto a loop of yarn. Scissors. Yarn needle. A paperclip, and a way to twist a long cord for lacing such as a kitchen hand mixer (optional; you could crochet, braid, or purchase a lacing cord instead).

Our Lotus Yarn: Original Large 256-yd (3.5 oz/100g) Ball

Lotus News

We Love Lotus

It’s “hook ready” because the starting yarn end of its center-pull ball is waiting for you: it’s attached to the yarn label. (No more “yarn barf”.)

It’s made in an American mill that serves the fashion industry, so this yarn is designed to gleam and drape, to hold up, and to have virtually zero knots per ball.

Machine wash and dry Lotus gently with like colors, although as with most fashion fabrics, hand washing and air drying will extend its life.

Patterns for Lotus

See all of our Lotus patterns in one place. Designers Doris Chan and Vashti Braha carefully chose the Z-twisted plying and fiber blending of Lotus to optimize the crochet experience. It interacts beautifully with crochet stitches. Of course knitters and weavers love working with it too.

To find out when we add new patterns for Lotus, subscribe to our free Crochet Inspirations newsletter. Need advice about substituting Lotus for a specific crochet pattern? Visit our helpful forums in Ravelry: Doris Chan Crochet, Vashti’s Crochet Lounge.

For more inspiration, view a self-updating gallery of Lotus patterns by all designers in Ravelry.

How to Substitute Lotus Yarn with Your Favorite Patterns 

If the crochet hook called for in the pattern is a US F-5 (3.75 mm), G-6 (4.00 mm), or G-7 (4.50 mm), then look next at the type of yarn listed. If it’s primarily cotton or rayon (a.k.a. viscose, bamboo, tencel) and looks smooth, chances are great that Lotus will give you the results you’re looking for. (As for any pattern, swatch and damp block it. You’ll see its lovely drape too!)

Especially with lacy projects, Lotus may also work great with a pattern calling for a US H-8 (5.00 mm) crochet hook. Doris Chan crocheted a lovely Jolimar Skirt with Lotus and a US H-8 hook. (It was originally designed with the discontinued Naturallycaron Spa and a US I-9/6mm hook.)

Especially with jewelry, bags, belts, and kitchen projects, Lotus Yarn works great in a tighter gauge, such as a US E-4 (3.50 mm) crochet hook. For example, Vashti successfully substituted Lotus colors for her Aran Rozsana pattern.