Crochet Scale Pouch Pattern

I recently made another big order from The Ring Lord, and decided to splurge on some scales planning to use them in crochet. Haven't done that yet. These are small aluminum tags from The Ring Lord. They come about 500 to a bag which is enough to make 2 of these little pouches which would be excellent for a small amount of dice or as a little bag to tie to a belt to hold money at a Ren Faire. Look under Blanks and Tags.

You will need:

• Size 10 crochet cotton
• Size 5 crochet hook 
• Scissors
• Tapestry needle to weave in ends
• 1 package of small aluminum tags from The Ring Lord- I used Frost

Start by stringing 225 tags on the thread. These are crocheted in as you go. If you don't want to count 225 tags, count 25, measure that, and string on a bit over 9 times that number in length. Because of the large hole in these tags (large by the standards of a beader who's done a lot of dental floss bead threading on crochet cottons) you can actually just put the tapestry needle on the thread and string them directly on. Unwind a bit of thread and push them down the crochet thread and rewind it on the ball.

Stitches-

dc= double crochet

sc=single crochet

tagged sc= single crochet with a tag

ch= chain 

sl st= slip stitch

st or sts= stitch or stitches

repeat ** around = Repeat what is between the asterisks until you get to the starting stitch of the round.

tagged sc= insert hook in stitch, yarn over, pull loop through stitch, leaving two loops on the hook. Slide tag up the thread to the stitch, yarn over, pull thread through both loops. 

Quick note on starting rounds- I don't like using chains to start single crochet rounds. They aren't the same size as a single crochet, and I prefer the look of a tight ch, then single crochet in that stitch. Generally it's not a big deal if you do it the way you are used to doing it for my patterns, but in this case, it's essential to do that way because the tags are set up to alternate columns which means some rounds start with a tagged single crochet. For starting dc rounds, I generally do 1 tight single crochet and 2 normal single crochets. If you prefer starting DC rounds differently, do them the way you prefer.

Base of pouch:

Round 1: Ch 4, 9 dc in starting ch, sl st to 4th ch to join. (10 dc)

Round 2: Ch 3(counts as first dc), dc in same stitch, 2 dc in each st around, sl st to 3rd ch to join. (20 dc)

Round 3: Ch 3(counts as first dc), 2 dc in next st, *1 dc in next st, 2 dc in next st* , repeat ** around, sl st in 3rd ch to join. (30 dc)

Round 4: Ch 3(counts as first dc), dc in next stitch, 2 dc in next stitch, *dc in next st, dc in next st, 2 dc in next st*, repeat ** around, sl st to 3rd ch to join. (40 stitches)

Round 5: Ch 3(counts as first dc), dc in next st, dc in next st, 2 dc in next st, *dc in next st, dc in next st, dc in next st, 2 dc in next st*, repeat ** around, sl st to 3rd ch to join (50 dc)

Scale part of the pouch:

The scales are offest by one column, and have one plain row between them. This diagram shows the placement as an example.

Round 6: Ch 1 (does not count as first st), sc in same stitch, sc in each stitch around, sl st to first st to join.

Round 7: Ch 1 (does not count as first st), sc in same stitch, tagged sc in next stitch, *sc in next st, tagged sc in next st*, repeat ** around, sl st to first stitch to join

Round 8: Repeat round 6.

Round 9: Ch 1 (does not count as first st), tagged sc in same stitch, sc in next stitch, *tagged sc in next st, sc in next st*, repeat ** around, sl st to first stitch to join. 

Repeat Rounds 6-9  3 times 

Round 17- repeat round 6

Round 18- repeat round 7

Round 19- repeat round 6

Scales done!

Top of pouch:

Round 20: ch 3, dc in each stitch around, sl st to 3rd ch to join. 

Rounds 21-24: repeat round 20

Round 25: ch 3, dc in next st, ch 3, skip 3 sts, *dc in next st, dc in next st, ch 3*, repeat ** around, sl st to 3rd ch to join.

Round 26: ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st to join.

Make 2 cords and weave them through row 25. You can either chain cords, use ribbons or make monk's cord. My example uses monk's cord. 

The technique is easy, and if you want a bigger pouch, just plan accordingly. So if you went with a base that was 80 stitches around, you would need 40 tags per scale row, and you'd want more rows of them probably. 

Oh, this has nothing to do with the crochet project, but The Ring Lord also has rings of course and kits! One of the things I ordered was the juggling ball kit for my son and he made this lovely set of juggling balls for Michael for Father's Day! The instructions are well written, and the project itself is no-sew.