Three little bell-shaped pockets in deep cranberry, each with a cream lattice rim, a scalloped edge and a puffy cream bow. They hang from a crochet-covered rod and each one holds a standard toilet roll. It’s a cozy holiday touch for a guest bathroom, and it’s handy too.
The palette is just two colors: burgundy for the base, walls and rod sleeve, and cream for the colorwork band, scallops, straps and bows. Dense single crochet keeps the pockets sturdy enough to stand up on their own, even when empty.
This pattern uses US crochet terms. Each finished pocket is about 5.2 in (13.2 cm) tall with a base about 5.5 in (14.0 cm) across. The rod sleeve is 20 in (50.8 cm) long, so the whole set fits a rod that’s at least 22 in (55.9 cm) long.
Construction overview: you work each pocket from the bottom up in joined rounds. First a flat circle base, then shaped bell walls, then a cream border with tapestry checks, a flare round and scallops. The straps and bows are made separately and sewn on. The rod sleeve is a flat rectangle that you seam around the rod.
Finished Size and Construction
- Finished pocket size: 5.2 in (13.2 cm) tall; base 5.5 in (14.0 cm) diameter
- Skill level: Intermediate (simple tapestry colorwork)
- Terminology: US
- Yarn weight: Worsted (#4)
- Hook: 5.0 mm (H-8)
- Number of pieces: 3 pockets, 3 straps, 3 bows, 1 rod sleeve
- Layout: 3 pockets in a row on one rod, centers 6.5 in (16.5 cm) apart
- Pocket size before border: 3.3 in (8.4 cm) wall height, 60 sts around
- Border depth: 1.8 in (4.6 cm), including scallops
Materials
Pick a smooth worsted yarn in acrylic or cotton blend. Firm, low-halo yarn shows the checks clearly and holds the bell shape. Avoid fuzzy or very drapey yarns.
- Burgundy: 130 g (260 m)
- Cream: 50 g (100 m)
These quantities cover all three pockets and the rod sleeve, and they include about a 15% margin for gauge swatches and tails.
Tools:
– 5.0 mm (H-8) crochet hook
– Tapestry needle
– Stitch markers
– Scissors
– Rod 1 in (2.5 cm) in diameter and at least 22 in (55.9 cm) long, with wall brackets
– Pins for placing straps and bows
Abbreviations (US Terms)
- ch – chain
- sc – single crochet
- dc – double crochet
- sl st – slip stitch
- st(s) – stitch(es)
- sk – skip
- inc – 2 sc in the same st
- sc2tog – single crochet 2 together
- BLO – back loop only
- rnd(s) – round(s)
Special technique – tapestry sc: Hold the color you aren’t using along the top of the round and work over it. Change color on the last yarn-over of the stitch before the color change.
Joined rounds: End each round with sl st to the first sc, then ch 1 (this ch 1 doesn’t count as a st). Joined rounds keep the color jogs neat.
Gauge and Checkpoints
Gauge: 16 sc and 18 rnds = 4 in (10.2 cm) in sc with a 5.0 mm hook.
Make one full pocket before you start the others. It’s your real gauge test.
- After Rnd 12 (base): diameter 5.5–5.75 in (14.0–14.6 cm), lying flat
- After Rnd 17: the bottom of the wall measures 18 in (45.7 cm) around
- After Rnd 27: wall height 3.3 in (8.4 cm); circumference 15 in (38.1 cm); a toilet roll about 4.5 in (11.4 cm) wide should slide in with a little ease
- After Rnd 33: wall height 4.7 in (11.9 cm)
- Finished: 5.2 in (13.2 cm) tall
Too big? Go down half a hook size. Too small, or the roll won’t fit? Go up half a hook size. If only the base cups or ruffles, check that you have exactly 6 increases per round.
Pocket (Make 3)
Use burgundy.
Base
- Rnd 1: 6 sc in a magic ring, join. (6)
- Rnd 2: Inc in each st around, join. (12)
- Rnd 3: Sc in next st, inc 6 times, join. (18)
- Rnd 4: Sc in next 2 sts, inc 6 times, join. (24)
- Rnds 5–12: Repeat the same pattern, working 1 more sc before each inc on every round. Rnd 5 = 30, Rnd 6 = 36, Rnd 7 = 42, Rnd 8 = 48, Rnd 9 = 54, Rnd 10 = 60, Rnd 11 = 66, Rnd 12: sc in next 10 sts, inc 6 times. (72)
Check that the base is 5.5–5.75 in (14.0–14.6 cm) across and lies flat.
Bell Walls
- Rnd 13: Sc in BLO of each st around, join. (72) This makes the crisp fold where the base meets the wall.
- Rnds 14–17: Sc around, join. (72)
- Rnd 18: Sc in next 10 sts, sc2tog 6 times, join. (66)
- Rnds 19–21: Sc around, join. (66)
- Rnd 22: Sc in next 9 sts, sc2tog 6 times, join. (60)
- Rnds 23–27: Sc around, join. (60)
The two decrease rounds give the bell its shape, wider at the bottom and narrower near the top. Check the wall: 3.3 in (8.4 cm) tall and 15 in (38.1 cm) around. Don’t fasten off burgundy.
Border: Lattice Band and Scallops
Border gauge: same as the body, 16 sc and 18 rnds = 4 in (10.2 cm). The tapestry rounds tend to tighten. If they pull in, loosen your carried strand, not your hook size.
The border starts on the pocket’s own 60 sts. Every pocket is bordered separately, so no stitches come from other pieces.
- Rnd 28: Join cream. With cream, sc around, carrying burgundy inside the stitches, join. (60)
- Rnd 29: 1 sc burgundy, 1 sc cream 30 times, join. (60: 30 burgundy + 30 cream)
- Rnd 30: 1 sc cream, 1 sc burgundy 30 times, join. (60) Each cream st now sits above a burgundy st, which makes the staggered lattice.
- Rnd 31: Repeat Rnd 29. (60)
- Rnd 32: Fasten off burgundy, leaving a tail. With cream, sc around, join. (60)
- Rnd 33 (flare round): With cream, sc in next 4 sts, inc 12 times, join. (60 sts worked 1-per-st + 12 added = 72)
- Rnd 34 (scallops): Sc in next st, sk 1 st, 5 dc in next st, sk 1 st 18 times, join with sl st to the first sc. (18 scallops; 18 sc + 90 dc = 108 sts) Fasten off.
Why the math works: The 2-st check repeat divides evenly into 60, so the checks line up all the way around with no half-repeat at the join. The flare round adds 12 sts to make 72, and 72 ÷ 4 = 18 scallops exactly. Putting 5 dc in a 4-st repeat adds a gentle ruffle, and together with the flare round that makes the rim open outward. Rnds 28–33 are 6 rounds, about 1.3 in (3.3 cm), and the scallops add about 0.5 in (1.3 cm). That gives the 1.8 in (4.6 cm) border depth.
