crochetguideKnow these stitches: chain, single crochet, back loop only, double crochet, slip stitch
Materials and yarn planning
Yarns we’ve reviewed that suit it: Knit Picks Dishie Cone yarn, Lion Brand 24/7 Cotton worsted yarn, Paintbox Yarns Cotton Aran. For the hook, choose by size and handle.
Yarn estimate: the 64 single crochets at about 4 cm of medium cotton each, the 128 double crochets at about 8 cm and the chains come to about 15 m: a 50 g ball of cotton makes several.
This pattern has about 390 stitches. For a closer figure in your own yarn, weigh what you have made once a good part is done, divide by the stitches made so far, multiply by 390 and divide by the ball weight on the label. Taller stitches use more yarn than short ones, so allow a margin.
Finished size and gauge
In medium cotton at about 14 single crochets per 10 cm, the 32-stitch oval measures about 23 cm around, so a standard bar of soap goes in either way up. The 8 mesh rounds, at about 1.4 cm each, make the pouch about 12 cm deep with its base. These are calculations from the counts, not a measured sample.
The gauge calculator compares your swatch with the pattern. A stitch name you do not know is in the abbreviation chart; a UK pattern’s names are in the US/UK term reference.
The pattern
Count rows for this patternBase
- Chain 16. Round 1: single crochet in the second chain from the hook and in the next 13 chains, 3 single crochets in the last chain, then, along the other side of the chain, single crochet in the next 13 chains and 2 single crochets in the last one, beside the first stitch. Join with a slip stitch to the first single crochet (32 stitches).
- Round 2: chain 1, single crochet in the back loop only of each stitch around, join (32 stitches). The edge turns up and the base stays flat.
Mesh
- Round 3: chain 4 (it counts as a double crochet and a chain 1), skip the next stitch, [double crochet in the next stitch, chain 1, skip the next stitch] 15 times, join with a slip stitch to the third chain of the chain 4: 16 double crochets and 16 spaces.
- Rounds 4–10: chain 4, [double crochet in the next double crochet, chain 1] 15 times, join to the third chain of the chain 4: 16 double crochets and 16 spaces. Fasten off after Round 10 and weave in the end.
Drawstring
- Chain 70, about 45 cm, and fasten off. Weave it in and out of the spaces of Round 9, starting at one end of the oval.
- Put the soap in, pull the cord to close the top and knot the two ends together into a loop to hang the pouch up by. Let it dry between uses.
Check the work
The base has 32 stitches: 14 + 3 down one side and around the end, 13 + 2 back along the other. Each mesh round has 16 double crochets and 16 chain spaces, one double crochet for every two base stitches.
- If the base cups up before Round 2, the starting chain is tight: start again and make the chain on a hook 0.5 mm larger.
- If a mesh round ends a double crochet short or over, count the spaces: there are always 16.
- If small slivers slip through the mesh, work the mesh rounds on a hook 1 mm smaller, or make the pouch from single crochet rounds instead.
Updated . Stitch counts checked row by row; we haven’t crocheted a sample of this one yet. How the patterns are checked. Keep your yarn label, hook and swatch on the printable project worksheet.