This holder turns spare toilet rolls into a row of holiday baubles. Three round bobble pockets hang from a plum back panel. Each one is topped with a little gold ornament cap and finished with a soft lavender rim. Lavender button tabs loop the whole piece over a wooden rod, so it hangs neatly on the bathroom wall.
The colors are deep plum, light lavender and soft gold. The two outer pockets are plum and the center pocket is lavender, so the row looks like a string of sugared ornaments. The bobbles add texture and give the pockets a firm, sturdy wall.
This pattern uses US crochet terms. The finished holder measures 17 in wide x 7 in tall (43.2 cm x 17.8 cm) at the panel, and the pockets hang about 0.5 in (1.3 cm) below it. Each pocket is 6.0 in (15.2 cm) across at its widest and 5.5 in (14.0 cm) tall.
You crochet ten pieces: one back panel, three pockets, three caps and three tabs. The panel gets a two-round border. Then the pockets, caps and tabs are sewn on, and the finished holder is buttoned over the rod.
Finished Size and Construction
- Finished panel size: 17 in x 7 in (43.2 cm x 17.8 cm)
- Skill level: Intermediate
- Terminology: US
- Yarn weight: Worsted (#4)
- Hook: 5.0 mm (H-8)
- Number of pieces: 10 (1 panel, 3 pockets, 3 caps, 3 tabs)
- Layout: 3 pockets in one row, centered 5.7 in (14.5 cm) apart
- Pocket size: 6.0 in (15.2 cm) wide x 5.5 in (14.0 cm) tall
- Panel size before border: 16 in x 6 in (40.6 cm x 15.2 cm)
- Border depth: 0.5 in (1.3 cm) on every side
Materials
Use a smooth worsted-weight cotton or cotton blend. Cotton keeps the pockets firm and holds up in a humid bathroom. Acrylic also works, but the pockets will be a little softer. The amounts below are based on about 180 m per 100 g.
- Plum: 150 g / 270 m (panel, 2 pockets)
- Lavender: 100 g / 180 m (1 pocket, 3 rims, 3 tabs)
- Gold: 15 g / 27 m (3 caps and loops)
These quantities include a margin of about 25% for gauge swatches and differences in tension.
Tools and notions:
– 5.0 mm (H-8) crochet hook
– Tapestry needle
– 8 stitch markers
– 3 wooden buttons, 3/4 in (1.9 cm)
– Wooden dowel rod, 1 in (2.5 cm) thick and 22 in (55.9 cm) long, with end knobs and wall brackets
– Measuring tape, scissors, rust-proof pins
Abbreviations (US Terms)
- ch – chain
- sl st – slip stitch
- sc – single crochet
- inc – 2 sc in the same stitch
- sc2tog – single crochet 2 together
- BLO – back loop only
- st(s) – stitch(es)
- MR – magic ring
Bobble:4 times in the same stitch, then yarn over and draw through all 5 loops on the hook. One bobble counts as 1 stitch.
Gauge and Checkpoints
Gauge: 14 sc x 16 rows = 4 in (10.2 cm) in single crochet. That works out to 3.5 sts and 4 rows per inch.
Make one pocket first, because it is the best test of your gauge. Check it at these points:
- After Rnd 10 (base): 5.5 in (14.0 cm) across, lying flat.
- After Rnd 15: circumference 18.9 in (48.0 cm).
- After Rnd 30 (finished): 5.5 in (14.0 cm) tall, and a toilet roll drops in easily.
- Panel after Row 4: 16 in (40.6 cm) wide.
If your pieces are too big, go down half a hook size. If they are too small, go up half a size. Change the hook, not the stitch counts, because the joining positions depend on those counts.
Pocket (Make 3: 2 Plum, 1 Lavender)
Main color (MC) is plum for two pockets and lavender for one. The rim is always lavender.
Base
Work in continuous spirals. Mark the first stitch of each round.
- Rnd 1: In MC, MR, 6 sc in the ring. (6)
- Rnd 2: Inc in each st around. (12)
- Rnd 3: Sc 1, inc 6 times. (18)
- Rnd 4: Sc 2, inc 6 times. (24)
- Rnd 5: Sc 3, inc 6 times. (30)
- Rnd 6: Sc 4, inc 6 times. (36)
- Rnd 7: Sc 5, inc 6 times. (42)
- Rnd 8: Sc 6, inc 6 times. (48)
- Rnd 9: Sc 7, inc 6 times. (54)
- Rnd 10: Sc 8, inc 6 times. (60)
Checkpoint: the base should be 5.5 in (14.0 cm) across.
Body
From here, work joined, turned rounds. At the end of each round, sl st to the first st, ch 1 and turn. The ch 1 does not count as a stitch.
Bobbles pop out on the side facing away from you. Because the rounds are turned, every bobble round is worked with the inside of the pocket facing you, so the bobbles push to the outside. Turning also staggers each bobble round over the previous one automatically.
- Rnd 11: Sc BLO in each st around. This sets the edge of the base. (60)
- Rnd 12: Bobble, sc 1 30 times. (60, including 30 bobbles)
- Rnd 13: Sc in each st around. (60)
- Rnd 14: Bobble, sc 1 30 times. (60, including 30 bobbles)
- Rnd 15: Sc 9, inc 6 times. (66)
Checkpoint: the circumference should be 18.9 in (48.0 cm).
- Rnd 16: Bobble, sc 1 33 times. (66, including 33 bobbles)
- Rnd 17: Sc in each st around. (66)
- Rnd 18: Repeat Rnd 16. (66)
- Rnd 19: Sc in each st around. (66)
- Rnd 20: Repeat Rnd 16. (66)
- Rnd 21: Sc in each st around. (66)
- Rnd 22: Repeat Rnd 16. (66)
- Rnd 23: Sc 9, sc2tog 6 times. (60)
- Rnd 24: Bobble, sc 1 30 times. (60, including 30 bobbles)
- Rnd 25: Sc in each st around. (60)
Fasten off MC. This gives you 7 bobble rounds: the 66-stitch rounds in the middle make the ornament bulge, and the 60-stitch rounds above and below them shape it.
Rim
Join lavender at the round seam. Keep working joined, turned rounds.
- Rnd 26: Sc BLO in each st around. (60)
- Rnds 27–29: Sc in each st around. (60)
- Rnd 30: Sl st loosely in each st around. (60)
Fasten off and leave a 24 in (61.0 cm) tail for sewing. The rim is 1.25 in (3.2 cm) deep. The round seam marks the back center of the pocket.
Ornament Cap (Make 3, Gold)
Work in continuous spirals.
