On this page, I show the 4 basic stitches used in Tunisian crochet. These are the most common stitches used, that you will find everywhere on the net and in books.

Tunisian simple stitch (Tss)

The Tss is THE Tunisian stitch par excellence, the stitch that gives TC its identity.

It is made by inserting the hook under the vertical front bar in the direction of the row, i.e. from right to left for right-handed people and from left to right for left-handed people. Then make a yarn over and pull up a loop. This stitch is anchored to the front side of the work and pushes the RetP chain to the back of the work.

I made a short video in French to show the basic elements of TC.

Tunisian knit stitch (Tks)

It is made by inserting the hook between the front and back vertical bars, from front to back, through the work, under the RetP chain. The head of the hook is out at the back of the work. Then make a yarn over and pull up a loop.

Tunisian full stitch (Tfs)

To make this stitch, insert your hook under the RetP chain in between to stitches, from front to back through the work. Then make a yarn over and pull up a loop.

The Tfs is anchored in between 2 stitches from the previous row. If you systematically start your row by picking up a stitch in between the first and second stitches from the previous row, your work will have a slanted shape. To get a straight work, that does not slant to the right or to the left, skip the space in between the first and second stitches every second row.

Tunisian reverse stitch (Trs)

It is made by inserting the hook under the back vertical bar. It is probably the less easy stitch from the basic stitches because you need to identify the vertical bar that is on the back side of your work.

The Trs is anchored to the back of the work. Mechanically the RetP chain is pushed towards the front of the work, which gives this visual effect of little bumps.

Beyond the strictly visuel aspect, by pushing the RetP chain to the front, the Trs helps to fight against curling.