Crochet Entrelac

It's been maybe a year ago that I watched a lady in the knitting group work on an entrelac pattern. She tried to show me how to do it, but, not being much of a knitter, I failed to grasp the ins and outs of the stitch. 

That didn't stop me from being fascinated with the look of the pattern, and I went on a crochet stitch hunt. I found two ways to accomplish something like it.

The first way, and the one that most closely resembles a knitted entrelac piece is crocheted with a Tunisian stitch.  Because you only pick up 5 or 6 stitches at a time, you don't need a special Tunisian hook for this pattern.  Each row is a string of diamond shapes built on the row of diamonds below it.



The second way to make an entrelac-like pattern is to make a bunch of mitered squares and sew them together diamond-wise with one color per row.  You can alternate colors or make a color sequence that pleases you.



One book that you can find here in the library with a pattern for the Tunisian entrelac stitch is called Unexpected Afghans: Innovative Crochet Designs with Traditional Techniques by Robyn Chachula.

Another book explaining this technique is Ultimate Crochet Bible: A Complete Reference with Step-by-Step Techniques by Jane Crowfoot.  This book can be put on hold and borrowed from another Evergreen Indiana library.

Thanks again to Lion Brand Yarns for letting us use their photos. The top one is called "Enticing Baby Afghan" and the lower one is called "Mitered Diamonds Throw".

Happy crafting,

Kathi