This hanging holder keeps three spare rolls in a neat vertical stack. It is made of three open-top cube baskets, and each side shows a navy eight-point star on a cream background, like a blue-and-white Portuguese tile.
There are only two colors, cream and navy. Each panel gets a navy edging, and the corner seams are worked so they stand up as raised navy ridges that outline every cube. Two navy straps run down the back, connect the baskets with short gaps, and meet at a 2 in (5.1 cm) wooden ring.
The pattern uses US crochet terms. Each cube is about 5.75 in (14.6 cm) wide and 6.25 in (15.9 cm) tall including the rim. The full holder hangs about 25.75 in (65.4 cm) from the bottom basket to the top of the ring.
You’ll crochet flat single-crochet panels with tapestry colorwork from a written color grid. Each panel gets a navy edging round. Then you slip-stitch five panels into each open box, add a cream rim, and sew the baskets to the straps.
Finished Size and Construction
- Finished size: 3 baskets, each 5.75 in (14.6 cm) wide × 5.75 in (14.6 cm) deep × 6.25 in (15.9 cm) tall; total hanging length 25.75 in (65.4 cm)
- Skill level: Intermediate (tapestry color changes, seaming)
- Terminology: US
- Yarn weight: Worsted (#4) cotton or cotton blend
- Hook: 4.0 mm (G-6)
- Number of pieces: 15 square panels (12 star panels + 3 plain bases), 2 straps, 1 wooden ring
- Layout: 3 cubes stacked vertically, 1 in (2.5 cm) apart
- Panel size before edging: 5.25 in × 5.25 in (13.3 cm × 13.3 cm), 21 sts × 21 rows
- Panel size after edging: 5.75 in × 5.75 in (14.6 cm × 14.6 cm), 23 sts per side
- Rim depth: 2 rounds, 0.5 in (1.3 cm)
Materials
Choose a smooth, firm worsted cotton. Cotton holds its shape, shows colorwork clearly, and copes well with bathroom humidity. Acrylic also works, but the cubes will be softer.
- Cream (C): 200 g, approx. 340 m
- Navy (N): 120 g, approx. 204 m
- 4.0 mm (G-6) crochet hook
- One 2 in (5.1 cm) wooden ring
- Tapestry needle
- 4 locking stitch markers
- Scissors, tape measure, rustproof pins
These quantities include a margin of about 15–20% to cover swatching, carried strands, and seaming.
Abbreviations (US Terms)
- ch – chain
- sc – single crochet
- sl st – slip stitch
- st(s) – stitch(es)
- RS / WS – right side / wrong side
- C / N – cream / navy
Tapestry single crochet: Work each sc over the color you aren’t using so that strand is hidden inside the stitches. To change color, insert the hook, yarn over, and pull up a loop with the current color. Then complete the stitch (yarn over, pull through 2) with the new color. Lay the old color along the tops of the stitches and keep working over it.
Color runs: “C5, N2” means 5 sc in cream, then 2 sc in navy.
Gauge and Checkpoints
Gauge: 16 sc × 16 rows = 4 in (10.2 cm) in tapestry sc on the 4.0 mm hook, with the second color carried.
Make one complete star panel first and use it as your swatch. Tapestry crochet works up denser than plain sc, so a plain swatch won’t give you a useful gauge.
- After Row 11: about 2.75 in (7.0 cm) tall.
- After Row 21: 5.25 in × 5.25 in (13.3 cm × 13.3 cm).
- After the edging round: 5.75 in × 5.75 in (14.6 cm × 14.6 cm).
Too big? Switch to a 3.75 mm hook. Too small? Switch to a 4.5 mm hook. The panel also has to be square. If it comes out wider than tall, tighten your color changes. If it comes out taller than wide, loosen them.
Star Panel (make 12)
Carry navy through every row, including the all-cream rows, so all panels have the same thickness. The ch 1 at the start of each row doesn’t count as a stitch. The grid is symmetrical, so you read every row the same way no matter which direction you’re working.
With C, ch 22, laying N along the chain so you work over it.
Row 1 (RS): Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across, working over N. Turn. (21 sts)
From Row 2 on, start each row with ch 1, work 1 sc in each st, and turn. Every row has 21 sts.
- Rows 2–3: C1, N2, C7, N1, C7, N2, C1.
- Rows 4–5: C21.
- Row 6: C5, N2, C3, N1, C3, N2, C5.
- Row 7: C5, N3, C2, N1, C2, N3, C5.
- Row 8: C6, N3, C1, N1, C1, N3, C6.
- Row 9: C7, N7, C7.
- Row 10: C8, N1, C3, N1, C8.
- Row 11 (center): C1, N2, C2, N4, C3, N4, C2, N2, C1.
- Row 12: Repeat Row 10.
- Row 13: Repeat Row 9.
- Row 14: Repeat Row 8.
- Row 15: Repeat Row 7.
- Row 16: Repeat Row 6.
- Rows 17–18: C21.
- Rows 19–20: Repeat Row 2.
- Row 21: C21. Fasten off C. Cut N, leaving a 6 in (15.2 cm) tail.
What the grid makes: Rows 6–16 form the eight-point star. It has thick diagonal petals, 1-st-wide straight petals, a navy ring in Rows 9–13, and a 3 × 3 cream center. Rows 2–3 and 19–20 add a 2 × 2 navy square in each corner plus a small navy dash at the top and bottom centers. Row 11 adds matching dashes at the side centers.
Stitch check: Each panel has 88 navy sts and 353 cream sts, for 441 total. The runs in every row add up to 21.
Panel Edging (all 15 panels)
With RS facing, join N in the last st of Row 21 (top right corner).
Edging Rnd: Ch 1. 3 sc in the corner st, then 1 sc in each of the next 19 sts. 3 sc in the corner st, then 1 sc in each of the next 19 row ends down the side (the first and last row ends belong to the corner sts). 3 sc in the corner, then 1 sc in each of the next 19 foundation ch loops. 3 sc in the corner, then 1 sc in each of the next 19 row ends. Sl st to the first sc and fasten off.
Count: (19 × 4) + (3 × 4) = 88 sts. Place a marker in the center sc of each 3-sc corner. Counted from one corner center to the next, inclusive, each side has 23 sts (1 + 1 + 19 + 1 + 1). Check: 4 × 23 − 4 shared corners = 88.
Base Panel (make 3)
With C only, ch 22.
Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across. Turn. (21 sts)
Rows 2–21: Ch 1, sc in each st across, turn. (21 sts)
Fasten off. Plain sc can work up smaller than tapestry sc, so check that the base measures 5.25 in (13.3 cm) square. If it is more than 0.25 in (0.6 cm) small, rework it on a 4.5 mm hook. Then work the Panel Edging in N. (88 sts, 23 per side)
Make All Pieces
Each basket takes 4 star panels and 1 base. In total, make:
- Star panels: 12 (cream with navy motif and navy edging)
- Base panels: 3 (cream with navy edging)
- Straps: 2 (navy)
How the panels fit around one basket, drawn as a flat cube net:
[ Back ]
[ Left ] [ Base ] [ Right ]
[ Front ]
How the baskets stack (front view):
( ring )
// \\
[ Basket 1 ]
|| 1 in gap
[ Basket 2 ]
|| 1 in gap
[ Basket 3 ]
Strap (make 2): With N, ch 102.
Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across. Turn. (101 sts)
Row 2: Ch 1, sc in each st across. (101 sts)
Fasten off, leaving a 12 in (30.5 cm) tail. Each strap is 25.25 in (64.1 cm) long and 0.5 in (1.3 cm) wide.
Joining
Method: Join with slip-stitch seams in N. Hold the two panels WS together, so the RS face out, and work through both loops of both panels. This puts a raised navy ridge on the outside of each corner.
Side seams: Match two star panels marker to marker. Join N at the top corner center and work 1 sl st through each matching pair of sts down to the bottom corner center. (23 sl sts) Join all four star panels into a ring this way, with every star facing the same way up. You’ll have 4 seams of 23 sl sts each.
Base seam: Hold the base inside the bottom of the ring, WS together. The bottom edge of the ring has 92 sts, because each of the 4 panels keeps its own 23 sts. The base has 88. Along each side, work 1 sl st through each of the 21 matching pairs between corners. At each corner, work 2 sl sts into the base’s corner center, one with each side panel’s corner st. That uses (21 × 4) + (2 × 4) = 92 base sts, matching the 92 side sts exactly.
Tension: Keep your sl sts about as loose as your sc. Seams that are too tight make the corners pucker, and seams that are too loose make the ridges lean. If your sl sts tend to be tight, seam with a 4.5 mm hook.
Size checkpoint: Each face of the box measures 5.75 in (14.6 cm), and the bottom perimeter is 23 in (58.4 cm).
Border: Top Rim (each basket)
Border gauge: 4 sc = 1 in (2.5 cm) along the edge. Two rounds are about 0.5 in (1.3 cm) deep.
With RS facing, join C in the first st after any top corner center. You’ll work into the navy edging sts along the top.
Rim Rnd 1: Ch 1. *1 sc in each of the 21 sts between the corners, then 1 sc in this panel’s corner-center st and 1 sc in the next panel’s corner-center st; repeat from * 3 more times. Sl st to the first sc.
Count: (21 × 4) + (2 × 4) = 92 sts. That is 1 sc in every existing top-edge st with 0 extra sts added, or 23 sts per side counting that side’s 2 corner sts.
Rim Rnd 2: Ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st to the first sc. (92 sts) Fasten off.
Why the math works: At 4 sts per in, 23 sts measure 5.75 in (14.6 cm), the same as an edged panel. So the rim lies flat without ruffling or pulling in, and the top stays square. Each basket now stands 5.75 + 0.5 = 6.25 in (15.9 cm) tall.
Attaching the Straps
Lay the baskets back-side up. On each back panel, place one strap over the column of sts just inside each back corner seam. Measure from the bottom end of the strap:
- 0–6.25 in (0–15.9 cm): Basket 3
- 6.25–7.25 in (15.9–18.4 cm): gap
- 7.25–13.5 in (18.4–34.3 cm): Basket 2
- 13.5–14.5 in (34.3–36.8 cm): gap
- 14.5–20.75 in (36.8–52.7 cm): Basket 1
Pin the straps in place, then whipstitch both long edges of each strap to the back panels with N. The top 4.5 in (11.4 cm) of each strap stays free. Angle both straps inward, pass each one through the ring from front to back, and fold back the last 1.5 in (3.8 cm). Sew each fold flat to the WS of its own strap. The bottom of the ring should sit about 3 in (7.6 cm) above the top rim.
Final Blocking
- Weave in all ends along the navy edgings or seam ridges.
- Mist each basket lightly.
- Stuff each cube with a towel rolled to about 5.5 in (14.0 cm) square.
- Pinch each corner ridge straight.
- Confirm each face is 5.75 in (14.6 cm) wide and each basket is 6.25 in (15.9 cm) tall.
- Let everything dry completely before hanging.
Final Quality-Control Checklist
- 12 star panels and 3 bases, each with 88 sts after edging
- Every star centered, with two cream rows above and below it
- Every star facing the same way up on all faces
- Side seams of 23 sl sts each and base seams of 92 sl sts each
- Rim of 2 rounds with 92 sts in each
- Each cube 5.75 in (14.6 cm) wide and 6.25 in (15.9 cm) tall
- Gaps between baskets an even 1 in (2.5 cm)
- Strap folds sewn securely at the ring
Troubleshooting
- Navy peeks through the cream: Keep the carried strand flat along the stitch tops so it doesn’t twist.
- Panel slants: A slight slant is normal for flat tapestry sc. Blocking and seaming square it up.
- Panel puckers: The carried strand is too tight. Spread the stitches out before each color change.
- Corners flare: Recount the edging round. It should be exactly 88 sts, with 3 sc per corner.
- Box leans: Check that each side seam has exactly 23 sl sts.
- Rolls fit too tightly: Remake the panels on a 4.5 mm hook.
Care
Hand wash in cool water with mild soap. Reshape while damp and dry flat.
Final Notes
Here is how the measurements build on each other. A panel is 21 sts at 4 sts per in, or 5.25 in (13.3 cm). The edging brings each side to 23 sts, or 5.75 in (14.6 cm). Four panels seam into a 92-st opening, and the 92-st rim keeps the top exactly that size. Two rim rounds bring each cube to 6.25 in (15.9 cm) tall. Three cubes plus two 1 in (2.5 cm) gaps take up 20.75 in (52.7 cm) of each 25.25 in (64.1 cm) strap. If your first panel is on gauge, everything else will fit.
Happy crocheting!