Twenty First Century Canteen

This pattern is just a cotton drink holder that you can clip to your belt or belt loop, the handle bars of a bike, a purse handle, or a diaper bag.

Someone in a craft group I attend suggested using it for clipping a baby bottle to a purse or diaper bag handle and slipping the carabiner off but letting the baby hold the bottle in the cotton sleeve.

Sizes and Materials List …
Size:

Fits wide or small mouth soft drink and water bottles, 16-20 oz.

Hook(s):

US D/3 (3.00 mm) or size needed to obtain gauge.

Yarn:

Lilly Sugar ‘n Cream [100% Cotton Yarn, 95 yds/2 oz (56.7g) ball] but any worsted weight cotton yarn will do nicely

Colors &
Approx. Yardage:

Any light color, 95 yards

Remember – dark colors will absorb the sun’s heat and warm your drink

Notions:

Yarn Needle
Key Ring Type Carabiner

Gauge: 17 sts and 12 rows = 4”/10cm
Always take time to check your gauge

Skill Level Beginner Download pattern in PDF format

Notes …
Hints

There are a couple of quirks about this pattern. When you are crocheting the base circle it always looks too big. Trust me, it is not, I learned this the hard way, several times. You do not have to crochet in the back loops, but it does give the finished item and interesting twisted band effect. Alternating double crochet and single crochet rows effectively interrupts most pooling when you use variegated yarn.

This holster was crocheted from cotton yarn for easy care. You could easily crochet this from wool using a much larger size hook and felt the holster to shape. Block it by letting it dry on a bottle.

Stitches Used

Chain (ch)
Slip Stitch (sl st)
Single Crochet (sc)
Double Crochet (dc)
Yarn Over (yo)

Special Stitches

Decrease (dec) 2 decrease on dc row over 2 stitches

*Yo, insert hook through back loop of stitch, yo and pull up loop, yo and pull through 2 loops on hook*, repeat from * to * so that you have 3 loops on hook, yo and pull through all 3 loops,. 1 dec made.

Instructions …
Base
Work in back loop only of all stitches.
Base Chain

Ch 7, join with sl st in first chain to form ring.

Round 1

Ch 1, sc 10 times in center of ring around, sl st in first sc. (10 sts)

Round 2

Ch 1, *2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in next sc,* repeat from * to * 4 times, sl st in beg ch 1. (15 sts)

Round 3 Ch 1, *2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in next sc,* repeat from * to * 6 times, 2 sc in last st, sl st in beg ch 1. (23 sts)
Round 4 Ch 1, *2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in next 3 sc,* repeat from * to * 4 times, 2 sc in next st, 1 sc in each of next 2 sts, sl st in first sc. (29 sts)
Round 5 Ch 1, *2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in next 3 sc,* repeat from * to * 6 times, sc in next st, sl st in first sc. (36 sts)
Round 6 Ch 1, *2 sc in first sc, 1 sc in next 3 sc,* repeat from * to * 8 times, sl st in first sc. Do not fasten off. (45 sts)
You should now have a flat circle, 3.25″ (8 cm) across.

Cylinder Body
Continue working around on base from last sl st. Check frequently to make sure the number of sts isn’t increasing as you work each round.
Round 1

Ch2 (counts as 1st dc), *decrease 1 dc over next 2 sts, dc in each of next 8 sts,* repeat 3 more times, dec 1 dc over next 2 sts, dc in each of next 2 sts, sl st in beg ch 2 (40 sts).

Round 2

Ch 1, sc in 1st st and in each st around, sl st in 1st sc. (40 sts).

Round 3

Ch2 (counts as 1st dc) , dc in next st and in each st around, sl st in beg ch 2, (40 sts).

Rounds 4-18

Repeat rounds 2 and 3 until cylinder measures 6-1/8″ (15.5 cm) from the bottom of the first dc row to the top. For me, this was 18 rounds, 9 each of dc and sc alternating. Height from base is more important than number of rows, so measure. Last round should be a round 3.

Rounds 19-20 Ch 3 (counts as first dc and ch 1), *skip next sc, dc in next sc, ch 1,* repeat from * to * around, finishing with sl st join in 2nd ch of beg ch 3. (20 dc posts, 20 ch-1 spaces)
Round 21 Sl st in each dc and ch around. Fasten off and weave in end.

Loop & Tie
Loop Ring Ch 7, join to beg ch with sl st to form a ring, ch 1, 11 sc in ring, join with sl st to beg ch 1. Do not fasten off.
Tie Ch 50 or until chain is approx 9″ (22.5 cm) long, turn and sl st in ea ch until you reach the original sc ring. When you get to the sc ring, sl st in first sc, then ch 50 again for second tie, turn and sl st back to ring. Fasten off.
Finishing …

Weave in ends. On the Loop ring, I like to weave the end around and around inside the stitches of the ring for added strength. Holding the loop ring at the back of the cylinder (where you chained up for each new round), thread the ties through the last row of dcs and holes until the ties meet in the front.

Slip your favorite soft drink, energy drink, or water bottle into the holster, pull ties tight and tie in a bow. Slip a carabiner style key holder through the loop and you are ready to hang your drink on your belt and go.

Machine wash as needed but beware – machine drying may shrink cotton yarn.

Pattern and photos © Elonna Mitchell