Do you love Tunisian Crochet? Have you tried tunisian lace yet?

The Tunisian Shell Lace Dog Cowl is an easy way to begin practicing with tunisian lace. You can use any worsted weight yarn and a size L (8.00 mm) afghan or interchangeable hook.

I was a bit clueless in starting this design because it is meant for the fur babies of the world rather than being a women’s garment or accessory, which is what I design most often. I enjoy a challenge, but this was hard since I don’t have a dog… I have fish. But one of my close friends has a sweet dog that agreed to model. Zoey “agreed” to the color choices to match her collar. LOL

I know. I know. You’re asking why would I design something for a dog when I don’t have a dog… Well I enjoy collaborating with other designers, was invited to participate in the Underground Crafter second annual Christmas in July Make Along, and chose to do something different. 🙂

I LOVE tunisian crochet because it creates a knitted look sometimes, but usually it own’s unique look that differs from crochet and knit. After going do the rabbit hole over a few evenings, I stumbled across this shell lace patter on YouTube. In an attempt to find the proper name, I learned that this shell lace can be created with a multiple of 4 or 5. I chose to use a multiple of 4, as it was the first one that I learned.

Besides not having a dog on hand to model as I made it, it was a challenge to figure out the best way to write a tunisian lace pattern. Unfortunately, there isn’t a pattern writing handbook for tunisian, so I went through the books that I have and patterns by other designers. Usually, I would use special stitches and techniques to explain an intermediate stitch, but I decided to write it out so that even an adventurous beginner crocheter can give this a go.

*Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products that I use, and think you will enjoy using too. Should you decide to use any such link, I will earn a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting this small business.

Do you have a single tunisian hook or set of tunisian hooks?

I used my Denise Interchangeable Love2Crochet set with a 4 in [10 cm] cord, but also have a wood and aluminum Boye interchangeable set, and a few single Bates afghan hooks. Actually, I have one circular tunisian hook and a double-ended hook for tunisian in the round…. I have a lot of hooks like every other crocheter. Anyways, an interchangeable set offers the most variety of being able to work with all size tunisian projects. If you’re not ready to invest in a set of interchangeable hooks yet, a traditional afghan hook will work for this project too.

If you want a gorgeous tunisian hook, check out the Furls Crochet Tunisian Hooks, especially the Cruella Deville and Kingsnake ones. 😍

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Materials

• Red Heart Soft, Medium weight #4 yarn (100% Premium Acrylic; 256 yds/234 m; 5 oz/141 g skein): Color A -Teal, Color B – Turquoise, 1 Skein Each or 103 yds/ 1.4 oz each
• Hook US L/11 (8.00 mm) or size needed to meet gauge
• 3 buttons, 23 mm
• Scissors
• Yarn needle
• Measuring tape

GAUGE

4 shells x 7 pattern rows = 4″ [10 cm]

SIZES

When Flat: 27 in. [68.5 cm] x 6.5 in. [16.5 cm]

PATTERN KEY

• Ch: Chain
• Fwp: forward pass
• hdc: half double crochet
• RetP: return pass
• sl st: slip stitch
• sc: single crochet
• YO: yarn over

EXPERIENCE LEVEL

Intermediate

NOTES

• Pattern is written US terms.
• Read the entire pattern before beginning.
• Each row is written as the forward pass and return pass. Work is never turned.
• The instructions below are for a dog that can fit a 16 inch [40.6 cm] collar.
• Measure your dog’s collar and add at least 10 in. [25 cm] for total length to ensure proper fit around neck; or you can use scrap yarn to measure the length of overlap and a comfortable fit.
• This cowl is meant to be fit with minimum ease.
• Edging will be a little wavy from using a large hook. You can choose to use a smaller hook for the edging rounds.
• Additional buttons can be added for closure.
• Width can be adjusted by chaining a multiple of 4+1 sts

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Crochet for Rescue Dogs

The Crochet for Rescue Dogs blog hop is now over, but definitely hop over to Madame Stitch to see a roundup of all the featured patterns + more!

INSTRUCTIONS

Ch 21

Row 1 FwP: insert hook in second chain from hook, pull up a loop, * insert hook in next ch, YO, pull up a loop; repeat from * in each ch  – 21 loops

Row 1 RetP: YO, pull through 1 loop, ch 2 (counts as ch-3 group), YO, pull through 5 loops, ch 1 (cluster made), *ch 3, YO, pull through 5 loops, ch 1; repeat 3 more times – 5 clusters

Row 2 FwP: *insert hook in ch-1, pick up loop in each st of ch-3; repeat from * 4 more times – 21 loops

Row 2 RetP: YO, pull through 1 loop, ch 2 (counts as ch-3 group), YO, pull through 5 loops, ch 1 (cluster made), *ch 3, YO, pull through 5 loops, ch 1; repeat 3 more times – 5 clusters

Row 3-6: Repeat Row 2

Row 7 FwP: *insert hook in ch-1, pick up loop in each st of ch-3; repeat from * 4 more times – 21 loops

Row 7 RetP: With Color B, YO, pull through 1 loop, ch 2 (counts as ch-3 group), YO, pull through 5 loops, ch 1 (cluster made), *ch 3, YO, pull through 5 loops, ch 1; repeat 3 more times – 5 clusters

Note: Do not fasten off Color A; instead carry along one side.

Row 8-14: Repeat Row 2, change to Color A Row 14 RetP

Row 15-21: Repeat Row 2

Next Rows: Continue to repeat Row 2 until desired length, and change the color at the RetP of the 7th row of that color. Do not fasten off the current color of the last row; fasten off the other color.

Edging

Round 1:  *Hdc in first ch-1, sc in next 3 ch; repeat from * 3 more times, hdc in next ch-1, sc in next 2 ch, hdc in next 2 ch (this turns the corner), **hdc evenly in each st to the next corner**, 2hdc in corner st, hdc in each st until 1 st before the corner, (2hdc in next st) two times (this turns the corner), repeat from ** to **, sl st to join, fasten off

Round 2:  Attach second color, ch 1, hdc in corner st, *hdc in each st until the corner, 2hdc in corner st; repeat from * around, hdc in first corner st, sl st to join, fasten off

Finishing

Sew in all ends, trim excess.

Lay cowl flat, attach 2 buttons on one end, attach third button to the opposite side in one corner.

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