Roll or Bullion Stitch How-To

This stitch consists of a coil of wraps around the hook, through which the thread is drawn.

Wind thread around the hook smoothly 10 times (or as many times as called for in your directions); insert hook in work, wrap thread over hook and draw a loop through, wrap over hook again and draw carefully through the coil of all the loops on the hook, (you may find it necessary to pick the loops off the hook with your fingers, one at a time), wrap thread over hook again and draw through the remaining stitch.

The length of the roll stitch (bullion stitch) is determined by the number of wraps around the hook.

Handbook of Crochet, early 1900s, says this about the roll stitch (bullion stitch): "A slender needle, tapering to the hook, is better for the purpose than a straight one, and its passage through the coil or roll is facilitated if the latter be held firmly between the thumb and finger of the left hand as the hook is worked through by the right." (In the early 1900s, crochet hooks were often called crochet needles.)

Photo from Handbook of Crochet No. 2, Needlecraft Publishing Company, Augusta, Maine; No date in publication, circa early 1900s

At the Site Elegant Crochet: Tips for Working With Bullion Stitches

Some of the squares at the Elegant Crochet site use bullion stitches within the designs: Free Patterns at Elegant Crochet

Free Tassel Pattern that uses the roll (bullion) stitch: http://crochet.about.com/library/weekly/aa082899.htm