How to Work Tunisian Knit Stitch.

Use smooth yarn and a hook with room for nine loops to rest freely on the shaft. Start with nine chains, draw up loops from the second chain onwards and retain them all. The original loop plus eight new loops gives nine on the hook.

Complete the standard return pass: draw the first yarn over through one loop, then work yarn overs through pairs until one loop remains. Do not turn the piece over.

Make one complete Tunisian simple-stitch row above this setup before starting the knit-stitch practice rows. Keep the total at nine. The preparation is part of this practice sample, not an instruction to add extra foundation rows to another pattern.

Look at an interior stitch from the front. Its front vertical strand and corresponding back strand belong to one stitch. The knit-stitch insertion passes between those strands, from the front face through to the back.

Do not pass sideways under just the front bar as for simple stitch. Also avoid inserting through the open gap between two neighbouring stitches; that is another position and can change the fabric or count.

Gently separate the strands enough to recognise them. A small sample in a clear colour is more helpful than trying to force the hook through dense, dark fabric.

The active loop already represents the first edge position. Leave that edge alone and begin in the next stitch.

1. Keep the working yarn behind the sample.
2. Push the hook from front to back through the next stitch, between its front and back vertical bars.
3. Yarn over behind the fabric and draw a new loop through to the front.
4. Retain that loop on the hook. Do not make an ordinary crochet pull-through to finish it.
5. Repeat in the remaining interior stitches.

For the far edge, find the outside V and draw up the final loop beneath both strands, as in the simple-stitch edge method. Keep this edge instruction separate from the through-the-middle movement used for the interior.

Count nine loops: one retained edge, seven interior pickups and one final edge pickup.

Use the standard return pass. Yarn over and draw through one loop, then draw successive yarn overs through two loops at a time until one remains.

That completes one knit-stitch row. The front should begin to show Vs arranged in columns. The appearance does not mean you are knitting, and a knit-stitch label does not establish the same gauge, stretch or drape as a knitted fabric.

Make five complete knit-stitch rows in total, including the first row just described. Work four more forward-and-return pairs after that first knit-stitch row, checking for nine loops at the end of each forward pass. The sample then has seven completed rows: one setup row, one simple-stitch preparation row and five knit-stitch rows. The bind-off below is a separate finish, not an eighth full forward-and-return row.

After the final return pass, keep its single loop on the hook. Insert through the next interior stitch as for Tks, yarn over and draw the yarn through the fabric and the active loop. This makes a slip stitch instead of leaving another loop on the shaft.

Continue through each interior stitch, then use both strands of the final edge V for the last slip stitch. In this nine-position setup, you make eight slip stitches after the already retained first edge position.

This lesson chooses a slip-stitch bind-off. Do not add a second yarn over after drawing up the loop; that would make a different finishing movement. Fasten off and secure the tails without pulling the top into a smaller width.

If the width changes, first count the loops at the two edges. Working the first edge again adds a position, while omitting the final edge removes one. A stitch accidentally inserted between neighbours can also leave a gap.

If the count is steady but the fabric feels very tight, check that loops can move along the shaft. Reconsider the hook and yarn combination in another sample before starting a large piece. Do not try to flatten a very curled sample by forcing it into stretched dimensions.

Use the gauge guide to record the result after appropriate finishing, and follow the care lesson alongside the actual yarn label.