Crochet guide
Entrelac crochet
Entrelac crochet builds a fabric out of small square blocks. Each block is worked onto the blocks next to it as it is made, so nothing is sewn together afterward. The blocks are laid out on the diagonal, and the finished fabric looks as if it were woven from strips.
On this page 10 parts
What entrelac is
Entrelac is known mainly as a knitting technique. The crochet form on this page is made in Tunisian simple stitch. A block is a few stitches wide and a few rows tall. When one block is finished, the next one grows out of its edge, and each row of the new block is hooked to the block beside it.
The blocks are worked in tiers. A tier is one line of blocks across the piece. The next tier is built on the edges of the tier before it.
Entrelac needs the foundation row, the simple stitch and the two passes of Tunisian crochet. They are taught in the guide to Tunisian crochet.
The hook
Tunisian crochet usually takes a long hook, because a whole row of loops sits on it. An entrelac block is only a few stitches wide, so only a few loops are on the hook at one time. That is why entrelac can be worked on an ordinary crochet hook.
How one block is made
Every block follows the same plan, whatever its place in the piece.
- First row. Pick up a loop for each stitch of the block. The loops come from a chain, or from the edge of a block that is already there.
- Middle rows. Work Tunisian simple stitch across the block. At the end of each forward pass, pick up one more loop from the block beside this one. That loop is the join.
- Last row. Bind off with a slip stitch in each stitch, and join the last one to the block beside this one.
A row that ends with a join has a small change on the way back. The return pass starts by pulling through two loops at once. The usual first move through one loop is left out.
Two ways to build the piece
In rows. The first tier is worked along one long starting chain. Each block takes up a few chains for its first row, and at the end of every forward pass it picks up a loop from the next chain along. For the second tier, one way is to fasten off and join the yarn again where the first tier began. Each of its blocks picks up its first row along the edge of a block in the tier below, and joins to the side of the next block as it goes.
From a corner. The piece starts with one square. The second tier has two squares, the third has three, and so on. Later tiers get shorter again. Here it is the tiers that run on the diagonal. The blocks themselves lie square to the sides, so the finished piece is a square or a rectangle.
Entrelac can also be worked in the round, as a tube.
Edges
Worked in rows, a tier ends in points. Where a straight edge is wanted, the gaps between the points are filled with half blocks, which are triangles.
Color
When several colors are used, each tier is worked in one color. The yarn is fastened off at the end of a tier, and the next color is joined for the next tier. Each tier then shows as a line of blocks in its own color.
Entrelac can be made in one color too. The blocks still show, as a texture.
The size of a block
Patterns differ in the size of the block. One uses blocks four stitches wide, and another uses blocks seven stitches wide and five rows tall. A piece is made larger by adding blocks.
Entrelac in ordinary crochet
Entrelac is not only a Tunisian technique. The blocks can be made in an ordinary stitch, such as single crochet. Stitch names here are United States terms: single crochet is called double crochet in the United Kingdom.
What it is used for
Entrelac is used for blankets, and also for cushions, scarves and shawls.
Where to go next
- Tunisian crochet teaches the hook, the foundation row and the simple stitch.
- Tunisian crochet stitches sets the other stitches side by side.
- Changing colors in Tunisian crochet covers where a new color comes in.
- Corner to corner is another fabric built from small blocks on the diagonal.