Changing colors in Tunisian Crochet is easy! You can do it to horizontally to make stripes, or in the middle of a row – to make a pattern or picture. Basically, there are three places where you can introduce the new color to have a very different effect. Here’s how Tunisian Color Changes are done!
Tunisian Color Changes Video Tutorial
Tunisian Color Changes Photo Tutorial
To change color with vertical overlapping, interlocked colors, switch colors when finishing the last stitch of the forward pass, and then use the new color on the return pass. That gives you this look:
To change colors with a more even, straight, clean edge, switch colors when finishing the last stitch of the return pass, and then use the new color for the forward pass. That gives you this look:
To change colors in the middle of a row, as for a graph-ghan or other colorwork, start on the forward pass. Drop the old color and yarn over with the new color, and work as directed. On the return pass, switch back to the first color when the second loop on the hook is the first color. See below:
And that’s all there is to Tunisian color changes! There are so many great effects you can get with these. I hope you’ve enjoyed learning more about this great technique! Let me know if you have any questions, or any other techniques or stitches you’d like to see a tutorial for!
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Maria LaLima
Thanks! That was really helpful. Now I can make “clean” color changes in my work in Tunisian crochet.
Cheers!
Tamara Kelly
😀 Thank you Maria! Glad you liked it!
Joanne Milburn
I’m new to Tunisian crochet, do you cut the yarn for each colour change?
Tamara Kelly
Not necessarily – it depends on the pattern! If you’re coming back to it, you can let it hang and pick it up again for the next row. 🙂
Marrie
This is wonderfully OUTSTANDING!..i can’t believe that some body can make any thing this much clearly!..**Hats Off…**!..i just ♥ed it! ♥♥♥
Tamara Kelly
Thank you Marrie!
Jessica-Jean
THANK YOU!! So clearly explained/shown! Now, to tackle intarsia with a hook! 😉
Emma
Thank you for the wonderfully clear pictures and video! I love doing the Tunisian Stitch, and I have been looking for a way to spice it up. Changing colors should do the trick 🙂
Tamara Kelly
😀 Glad to help Emma!
Joyce Powers
Do you have tutorial to crochet Tunisian left handed including changing colors? Thanks
Tamara Kelly
Hi Joyce! I’m afraid I don’t have any left handed tutorials, but here’s a link to one on youtube: http://youtu.be/pxM2RIJ6zSU
Joyce
Thanks so much for info!
Tamara Kelly
🙂 You’re welcome!
Tina First
How do you prevent the curl when doing a graphghan? I tried Tunisian seed stitch, but still got the curl. Also, my right side end of row seems to be looser … is there a trick to keeping it tight and even with the rest of the blanket? Thanks for your help!
Tamara Kelly
Hi Tina! For the edge it’s really a matter of consciously keeping it tight – I wish I had a better suggestion! You can find some curl prevention tips here: http://kimguzman.com/blog/tunisian-crochet-stop-the-curling/ 🙂
Ashton Collins
I’m having a tension problem. When I am switching colors frequently on a graph pattern, I find that that area gradually narrows, no matter how hard I try to keep the stitches loose. I’m not losing any stitches (decreasing). I’ve managed to make the effect less pronounced, but it’s still getting narrow at points. Any tips on how to prevent this problem?
Tamara Kelly
Hi Ashton!
The first thing is to relax your shoulders and arms and neck – frequently! Using a pillow under each elbow to support your arms while you crochet can help with this too.
Since it’s Tunisian, I also wonder if they loops are tightening up when they move from the solid hook to the flexible tube portion? If so, keeping them on the solid hook longer might help.
Since there are color changes, are you using bobbins that hang off the back? That might be pulling those stitches tighter as well – removing the weight by using smaller bobbins or laying the piece on a table as you work may help.
Lastly, worst case scenario, you can work the too tight section with a bigger hook than the ends!
I hope something here works for you! ♥
Christine
How do you carry stitches under the work for when you want to change colors more frequently? Or do you just need to do a bobbin for each column of color? I’ve done intarsia with traditional crochet, and you can carry the yarn a few stitches to avoid using many different bobbins. But I’m new to tunisian and I don’t know how to do it here.
Thanks!
Tamara Kelly
Because Tunisian is already a thicker fabric, I think bobbins would be the best option for this technique.