Tunisian Entrelac.

Make a nine-position Tunisian simple-stitch sample with one setup row and five more complete simple-stitch rows. Bind off loosely and secure its active yarn. Do not pull the bind-off tight; later pickup methods may need to enter those stitches.

Lay the sample flat and identify the completed row ends along the edge where the tab will attach. Mark six successive pickup points from the foundation towards the top, one for each completed row. Choose a stable pair of strands at each row-end point rather than an open gap or a single loose fibre.

For a right-handed setup, place the base on the left of the new tab's working area. A left-handed setup mirrors this arrangement. The old sample can be rotated as you position it; its bars do not define the new tab's working direction.

Join a new yarn supply at the first marked point near the bottom of the base, leaving a tail for finishing. Make a slip stitch to anchor it, then chain five out into the new working area.

Beginning in the back bump of the second chain from the hook, draw up a loop in each remaining chain, using its back bump each time. With the retained active loop, you now have five working loops for the tab.

Insert into the same marked pickup point on the neighbouring base and draw up one more loop. There are now six loops on the hook, but the last is a joining loop. It is not a sixth independent column to add to the tab.

For this joining method, omit the usual initial pull-through-one. Instead, yarn over and draw through two loops immediately, combining the joining loop with the last working loop.

Continue with yarn overs drawn through pairs until one loop remains. Starting with six held loops, five paired pull-throughs leave one.

This is a method-specific return pass. Do not apply the same omission to the ordinary unjoined Tunisian rows you learned earlier. Other entrelac designs may define different returns or a different first-row convention.

Keep the same face towards you. The retained first loop begins the next forward pass. Work Tss into each of the next four working front bars of the tab, retaining the loops.

You again have five working loops. Instead of making a separate ordinary far-edge stitch, pick up the joining loop at the next marked row-end point on the neighbouring base. There are six held loops in total.

Use the joined return pass again, beginning directly through two loops. The tab has advanced one row up its neighbour.

Repeat this sequence until you have used the six marked pickup points once each. Do not skip ahead because a loose space is easier to enter, and do not use the same row-end point twice unless the design specifically asks for that placement.

After the sixth joined return pass, leave its retained first loop on the hook. Make a loose simple-stitch-position slip stitch in each of the next four working bars of the tab.

Finish by slip stitching into the same neighbouring point used for the last joining pickup. Do not advance to an imaginary seventh row. Fasten off and secure the new tails without gathering the joining edge.

Count five working columns in the tab, the six joining locations on the base and one use of each marked row end. The joined edge should be assessed from both faces for missed positions, split strands and pulling.

These two practice pieces deliberately have different widths. Their dimensions do not establish a square-block ratio. For a full entrelac project, the design must specify block width, row count, pickup placement and how beginning, middle and ending units differ.

A unit started along a neighbour's bind-off edge needs its own pickup count and final-edge treatment. A middle unit can connect to more than one existing edge. Do not repeat the side-tab instructions blindly at every location in a larger layout.

Draw a simple unit-order map before beginning a complete project, and label which edges are already present at each step. Keep unused loops secured if its instructions leave any live.

Use the glossary for the defined abbreviations, the gauge guide when dimensions matter and the care lesson for the actual yarn. Check the actual join and the pattern's unit plan before starting a larger piece.