Below is what came of my efforts. Two things to note, I used two different yarn sizes and the gray yarn was incredibly stretchy, which gave it a sort of abstract slant. In an attempt to tamp down the tendency of the Tunisian Crochet to curl (paired with the stretchy gray yarn), I worked two rounds of single crochet around the edges. As you can see, that added a rather interesting effect. The center seems to have turned out nice and flat, but the exterior curls and waves.
So, lessons learned:
One, on Red Hearts pattern, there are two distinct "block" patterns, although they reveal those across two pages of pattern. I got royally confused about these because it wasn't super clear where to start the blocks on the second round where it started becoming important.
The first block pattern (corner block), worked in Tunisian crochet (but in a way I've seen referenced as linked crochet because you're making stacked rows of linked sc) is begun on an exterior block. The fist block pattern starts with a chain 6.
The pattern refers to starting in the lower outer corner of any corner block. If you look at this crazy thing I made, they are talking about the corner of the greater square. In the first round, all of the blocks are the outer corner. In the next one, it's the end of each of the blocks that make the plus sign. To find the lower outer corner, you turn it to look like a plus, making your outer block to the left of your needle and working Tunisian up the edge.
The arrow below points to the corner you'll start in for the corner blocks (first block pattern).
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| Figure 1: The starting position and the chains are the only thing that's different about the first vs. the second block pattern. |
The second block pattern (side block) is worked into the side of one of the previous row's blocks after completing a corner or side block. Assuming you start the first block in the right place, shown above, you should be good to go.
Instead of working 6 chains, you draw up loops along the edge of the block and then catch your extra loop in the corner below. Then you work on as you did for the other block(s).
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| Figure 2: Unlike the corner blocks, These start on the descending edge of one of the block on the previous round, working down it drawing up loops to make up your first row. |
As for finishing, all their pattern says to do is weave in ends. I experimented with a few options, landing on the ruffled looking single crochets in my sample, but I think that might not have been needed if I hadn't used such a springy yarn (gray).
Want to give it a shot?
Here's the link to the free pattern on Red Heart's website for the finished project shown below. If you're unfamiliar with Tunisian Crochet, check out their tutorial page here. A benefit of the patterns on Red Heart is if you want to do a project, they have all the supplies queued up for quick purchasing.
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| Source: http://www.redheart.com/medias/sys_master/images/images/h5c/h43/8799497027614.jpg |
That's it!
I'd love to hear from you in the comments if you've given this pattern a try, especially if you've managed a way to tame those curled edges.
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