Tarot Mat with Pocket Crochet Pattern

Free pattern, bitches.

This is more of a recipe than a pattern, mostly because decks are all different sizes and people’s preferences and all that shit.

Anyway, this pattern is for a tarot case that rolls out into a little mat for a three-card reading.

Now for this bullshit: This pattern is written using US terms. Do not try to sell this pattern, as I am posting it here FOR FREE on purpose.

Here’s what I have:

The deck I want my case to fit

Needle for weaving in ends

Worsted yarn

An H 5mm crochet hook

I recommend an H hook for this pattern, unless your yarn is a particularly thin worsted, then go down to a G. We want this nice and tight. (The ball band is long gone, but I’m pretty sure the yarn I have is Paton’s Classic Worsted.)

The texture of this pattern is created by the sedge stitch.

Create a slip knot, leaving an 8 to 10 inch tail (for sewing up one side later).

Chain a multiple of three. (You want to have this be a bit longer than the long side of your deck.) Here, I chained 21.

HDC in the SECOND CHAIN from the hook. This one:

The chain you skipped counts as the first SC of the first cluster here and throughout.

DC in the same stitch.

*Skip 2 CH, SC HDC DC all in the same stitch.* Repeat until you have one chain left. SC in the final chain.

Your first row will kind of look like shit, as first rows often do.

CH 1 and turn. (This chain counts as your SC for the first cluster.) Then HDC and DC in the very first SC from the previous row.

*Skip two stitches and SC, HDC, DC in the same stitch.* Each cluster should be in the SC’s from the previous row. If not, you fucked up somewhere. Finish the row with a SC in the turning chain from the previous row. This is kind of a bitch to find, so I just stab it in there somewhere.

It will probably be 4 or 5 rows in until you really start to see the pattern.

Now just keep going, the sedge stitch is a one row repeat.

Test it every once in a while to see how it’s coming along. Once it’s long enough to wrap comfortably around your deck once, you’re about half way finished with this part.

Continue until you can wrap your deck once in your piece and lay out three cards on it like this:

Just for reference, my piece is 17″ at this point. Now we’ll begin decreasing.

CH 2 and turn. Skip the first SC and next two stitches, then put your SC, HDC, DC in the next SC. Like this:

I basically skipped the first cluster of the row. We’ll be decreasing one cluster on each side each row. So continue with your clusters until you have two clusters left.

SC in the next SC, leaving the last cluster of the previous row unworked.

CH 2 and turn. Skip the first SC and the next two stitches. SC, HDC, DC cluster in the next SC. Put clusters in each SC until there are two clusters left, then place a SC in the next SC, leaving the last cluster of the previous row unworked.

Repeat decreasing rows until you’re down to either one or two clusters (this depends on how many you chained to begin with). Finish off.

Now, bust out your needle and attach it to that 8 to 10″ tail you left at the beginning. Fold up the bottom edge of your piece, using your deck to measure, and whip stitch along one side to form the pocket that your deck goes in.

Attach a length of yarn to the other side and whip stitch the other side of the pocket. Weave in all your ends.

It should look something like this. From here, it’s just a matter of finishing touches. You could add a button closure, a long chain to wrap around it, beads, fringe, patches, appliques, whatever shit you want on it.