A Little Info on Tunisian Blankets

I recently made a tunisian blanket for a customer. The blanket was ordered as part of a gift for a newborn living in Texas, however this kind of blanket tends to be heavier than a normal knit or crocheted blanket. Luckily it was a local order so we got together so I could provide her with a few swatches of varying thicknesses in order to make sure the little girl would not be overly warm this summer.

That being said, I thought I could provide a little more information about this style of blanket to my online customers. I did not want to clutter up my swatch gallery with this information, so I am making a separate post.

Tunisian style crochet (or afghan crochet) is a style of crochet that is often compared to a mixture of knitting and crochet, technically and visually. The process itself involves picking up a row of live stitches along a long hook, much as you would pick up stitches along a knitting needle, and then crocheting across these stitches one by one until the end of the row. This means that I am essentially working each row twice. Also, if you look at my swatches, you will notice what appear to be columns of Vs (which are characteristic of knitting)

The fabric created using tunisian crochet is considerably less elastic and substantially thicker than a typical knit or crocheted item. I do want to point out that while this means the fabric is dense, the blanket itself will not be stiff. This may affect your decision in a few ways:

• The blanket will not stretch out much, so you may want to consider this when choosing your size (particularly if you want it to be used into the toddler years)
• This means no little holes for fingers and toes to poke out, which is ideal for harsh winters
• Dense fabric may not be ideal for warmer locales, particularly during summer
• If you do want a tunisian blanket for someone in a warmer locale, consider the large stitch option
• The extra thickness may be ideal for travel or changing tables, due to the cushioning
• Due to the extra time and materials, these blankets will cost a bit more than a regular knit or crocheted blanket of the same size. These blankets also take about twice as long to make.

I do not want to discourage this type of order, but I do want you to understand what you are ordering as well as why it costs more and takes longer to make.

Now, I did mention the large stitch option, so let's get into that a little bit...

Typically I make tunisian blankets using a thin yarn and an average hook (for those of you that are fiber crafters, this means baby/fine weight and H/5mm hook). This creates a pretty sturdy fabric that holds up very well to travel and washing machines. I live in the Chicago area, and this blanket was perfect for our winters.

For the blanket that would be winging it's way to Texas, I played around with different options. I used a much larger hook, but to avoid making the blanket very lacey/holey I also had to use a thicker yarn (again for you fiber crafters, this means worsted weight and L/8mm hook). This created a fabric that was a little less dense. Due to the increase of yarn thickness, it was about as thick as the regular tunisian blanket, but the increase of hook size made it a little airier (the stitches were not as tight together, making the blanket less dense and also providing a slightly lacey texture and appearance allowing for more air flow through the blanket).

You can choose either option, depending on your needs. I would like to point out some key differences in terms of time and cost however:

The regular tunisian blanket took me about 6-8 weeks to complete, whereas the large stitch took about 4 weeks. A typical knit/crochet blanket takes about 2 weeks, sometimes I can rush these and complete them in 1 week (if they are of a smaller/newborn size). I can make accommodations on occasion and finish your item faster than quoted, but it all depends on my other orders, my day job, and my homework load.

Due to the fact that I am using almost twice the amount of materials, and working at least twice as long on a tunisian blanket, the costs are going to be a bit higher. Do not be surprised to see your blanket priced $15-20 higher than a non-tunisian blanket of the same size. If you order a gift set, I will offer a large stitch discount (usually $5-10, depending on the set).

I hope you have found this information helpful. If you have further questions please feel free to ask and I will update the information to reflect them.

I will not sticky this post, but I am going through and updating my tags for easy searching. You should be able to type in the item you want info on (e.g. blanket or tunisian blanket), or you can do a general search for product info. I will also try to find a simpler way to provide you this information in the future, as I begin making more posts about other products.

As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or requests. I regularly check my blog for comments, my etsy shop, facebook, and my email n_n

Swatching and Prepping

One of my orders is supposed to include a tunisian blanket, but due to my customer upping her original deadline by two months, I am unable to do the blanket as I usually would (light/fingering yarn and a size H hook). I am testing out two larger hook sizes (K and L) with heavier yarn (Aran).
I personally prefer the L hook (top of swatch). The stitches are a tad larger, but not so much that it looks loose or sloppy. This difference does make the fabric more pliable. The K hook (bottom of swatch) is a little tighter, but not so much that I think it particularly looks neater, plus this tightness makes the fabric rather stiff. Tunisian blankets tend to feel a bit dense, but I don't want it feeling solid.

I am really hoping she picks the L hook fabric as it is about 2 stitches wider and 1 row taller than the K swatch (both sections are 10 stitches wide by 9 rows tall...K produces a fabric 3x2.5 inches and L produces a fabric 3.375x2.75 inches) Over the course of the entire blanket this cuts down quite a bit of time.

36x36 inch blanket on K: 120 stitches x 130 rows 15600 stitches total Difference: 2974 stitches Equivalent of 25 L rows (work/time I could save using L)

36x36 inch blanket on L: 107 stitches x 118 rows 12626 stitches total Difference: 2974 stitches Equivalent of 28 L rows (work/time I would add using K)

We will see what the client thinks. Either way I need to order a new hook, so hopefully she chooses soon so that my hooks arrive in time to ship this out for a March 16 delivery.