Crochet Project: Tunisian Entrelac Dishcloth

As I said recently in this post, one of my crochet goals for the year is to learn Tunisian crochet, specifically Tunisian entrelac. By golly, I think I've finally done it!

I've had several false starts over the last year or so in my attempt to master Tunisian simple stitch, which is the most basic Tunisian stitch. On March 29, with the help of this YouTube video and my reference book The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet by Margaret Hubert, I mastered Tunisian simple stitch! My problem was always on the return pass, when you should end up with one loop left on the hook, I always had 2 loops left. Duh, Kimberly, taking off the last 2 loops leave ya with 1 on the hook! Oy.

So then it was off to master Tunisian entrelac! I figured a dishcloth would be an easier project to learn instead of something big. Using leftover green-and-white variegated cotton yarn, an H hook, and this free Ravelry pattern, I got cracking.

Green and white Tunisian entrelac stitches up close

Tunisian entrelac dishcloth

This was my traveling project on our trip to Maryland, and I finished it while we were there. The dishcloth took me about a week, and most of that time was very busy since we were traveling. At first things were a bit confusing, but it quickly became a don't-have-to-think-about-it project. Tunisian simple stitch likes to curl up on itself, so I added a single crochet border, increasing and decreasing as the pattern directed. I also washed and blocked the dishcloth with pins until it dried to help it lay flat.

I don't have a recipient in mind for my dishcloth, but I'm sure it will either be gifted or donated to someone eventually, because we don't use dishcloths at our house.

My reference book has a Tunisian entrelac pattern that makes a square instead of zig-zag edges, and I think I'll make another dishcloth using that pattern. It also has a pattern for a Tunisian entrelac baby blanket. I hope to tackle those this year.