Millie Bookmark Crochet Pattern

The Millie Lace Crochet Bookmark Pattern is a fun, textured project that works up quickly and is fantastic for using up scraps of yarn. Sized to fit in a range of book sizes, you’ll be able to use your crochet bookmark in anything from a paperback novel to a large, hardback epic fantasy.

The Inspiration for this Lace Crochet Bookmark Pattern

Recently, I released two totally different patterns: The Millie Hanging Basket and the Kelly Kindle Cover. I had so much fun creating these patterns for different reasons, of course, but truly I couldn’t get the boho-lace stitch pattern of the Millie Hanging Baskets and reading out of my head.

I was inspired to design a lace crochet bookmark pattern because of these two things. I absolutely loved the texture of the wall hanging portion of the Millie Basket and, while I do love my kindle, I also love my “real” books and wanted to crochet a little something for them, too.

The result is a fairly quick, textured and pretty crochet bookmark pattern that is great to make for yourself or other readers in your life.

Using a small amount of yarn, you could make quite a few of these bookmarks from a skein or use scraps that would otherwise be too little for a larger project.

My favorite thing about this lace crochet bookmark pattern is the stitch, which was originally dreamt up for the Millie Hanging Baskets. It has such beautiful texture while remaining flat which makes it perfect for holding your place in a book.

The Millie Lace Crochet Bookmark Pattern comes in one size but is fairly easy to customize if you’d like to. This will come in handy if you’d like to use a different weight of yarn or yarn fiber than I did.

If you prefer a premium, ad-free PDF version of this pattern, you can grab one on in my Etsy shop by clicking the button below!

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How do I choose the best yarn for this bookmark?

For this lace crochet bookmark pattern, I used Stylecraft Naturals Bamboo & Cotton DK in colorways Natural and Lavender. I had a bit left over from another project and absolutely loved the look, feel and stitch definition.

Stylecraft Naturals Bamboo and Cotton is a DK (3 – Light) weight yarn and is 60% Bamboo and 40% Cotton.

Because the yarn is a cotton blend, this means that it is thinner than an acrylic DK. If you decide to use a different fiber (which is totally okay!) your size may be different. Just keep that in mind! 🙂

A cotton or cotton blend yarn typically is best for projects that will receive a lot of heavy usage but, seeing as a crochet bookmark is simply placed between pages, you’ll be fine using any other fiber.

Where to Get the Millie Bookmark Pattern

The Millie Bookmark is a free lace crochet bookmark pattern in this blog post. Scroll down to view the free version.

However, if you’d like a more robust pattern with a photo tutorial, the steps for the photo tutorial written out in full sentences and a printer friendly version of the PDF, I recommend you purchase the inexpensive PDF pattern.

With the PDF pattern, you will receive detailed photo tutorials for the special stitches and techniques and step by step through the entire pattern which will set you up to work this crochet hanging basket with confidence. The photos include details with arrows, highlights and dots to help identify all the stitches and their placement.

SKILL LEVEL

Intermediate – Crocheters looking to follow this pattern should know how to:

• Read a crochet pattern – There is NOT a video tutorial for this pattern
• Feel confident with the standard stitches: Chain, Slip Stitch, Single Crochet, Half Double Crochet and Double Crochet
• Create chain spaces and work into them.
• Place several stitches in the same stitch or space indicated
• Be willing to learn a new stitch: Extended Half Double Crochet 2 (or 3) Together
• Be willing to learn techniques that may be new to you (starting a stitch in the previous stitch or working into a Chain 1 “Eye” which is explained in detail)
• Feel comfortable pulling a loop through many loops on hook (or be willing to try).

While I believe an advanced beginner absolutely could follow this pattern, you will need to be familiar with these techniques and understand how to work them to feel confident doing so. The photo tutorial included in the PDF pattern will walk you through all the special stitches and techniques as well as step-by-step through the pattern with arrows and dots for further clarification, if you need it. The PDF pattern for this crochet bookmark pattern is available on Etsy!

MATERIALS

DK (3) cotton or cotton blend yarn. You will need approximately: 10 grams / 30 yards
Note: If you customize the size of the bookmark, your yarn usage will not match these requirements.

Yarn Used
Stylecraft Naturals Bamboo & Cotton DK in colorways Natural and Lavender. This yarn is 60% Bamboo and 40% Cotton.

NOTE: Because this is a cotton and bamboo blend, this DK yarn is on the thinner side and may have a significant gauge difference to an acrylic DK. If you wish to use acrylic yarn, you may want to look into a Sport (2) weight instead.

TOOLS

3.5 mm (E) crochet hook
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Stitch Markers

FINISHED SIZE

Approximately 7 inches long by 2.25 inches wide.

GAUGE

Matching gauge perfectly isn’t required for this pattern. You can check your gauge after working 5 rows. Your work should be approximately 2 inches wide and 1.5 inches tall. 

Note: I am a tight crocheter, so my tension is usually tighter than others. Learn more about gauge and what this means here.

ABBREVIATIONS (US TERMS)

• Ch – Chain
• Sl St – Slip Stitch
• Sc – Single Crochet
• Hdc – Half Double Crochet
• Dc – Double Crochet
• Ehdc2tog – Extended Half Double Crochet 2 Together (see special stitch)
• Ehdc3tog – Extended Half Double Crochet 3 Together (see special stitch)
• Ch 1 “eye” – Created by chaining 1 after creating Ehdc2tog or Ehdc3tog. (see special technique Ch 1 “eye”)
• Sk – Skip
• St(s) – Stitch(es)
• Spc – Space
• RS – Right Side
• WS – Wrong Side
• […] – Repeats are listed within brackets.
• (…) – Instructions within parentheses indicate to work all instructions in the same stitch.
• (…) – Stitch counts are listed at the end of the row in parenthesis and bold italics.

NOTES

• Chain 2 at the beginning of the row does not count as a stitch. This means you will always place your first stitch of the row in the first stitch or indicated stitch.
• You will very likely learn a new stitch with this pattern. Please review the special stitch instructions before starting this pattern.
• Please be sure to read over all descriptions for special techniques and special stitches BEFORE starting this pattern.
• You can customize the size of this bookmark easily, if you prefer. Please see “Customizing Size” note.

CUSTOMIZING SIZE

Customizing the size of this lace crochet bookmark pattern is fairly easy.

You can make your bookmark as wide as you like by chaining any EVEN amount and then following the pattern instructions. You will have an ODD  number of stitches.

To customize the length, simply repeat the indicated rows as many times as preferred until your bookmark is your desired length.

Make sure to end on a repeat of Row 3 so that the pattern finishes properly and the border instructions work as intended. Please note that customizing the size means the repeat and stitch counts will NOT match the pattern. You will have to work more or less of the indicated repeats and you’ll have a different stitch count than listed.

Special Stitch – Extended Half Double Crochet 2 Together (Ehdc2tog)

The Extended Half Double Crochet 2 Together makes 2 stitches into 1 stitch. While this is technically a decrease, it is used for texture as a cluster of stitches in this crochet hanging basket pattern.

To work an Ehdc2tog, you will:

Yarn over, insert hook into indicated stitch, yarn over and pull a loop through. 3 loops on hook. Yarn over, pull through the first loop on hook ONLY. You will have 3 loops on hook.

Yarn over and insert hook into the NEXT stitch, yarn over and pull a loop through. 5 loops on hook. Yarn over and pull through the first loop on hook ONLY. 5 loops on hook.

Yarn over and pull through all 5 loops. Ehdc2tog Complete!

Special Stitch – Extended Half Double Crochet 3 Together (Ehdc3tog)

The Extended Half Double Crochet 3 Together makes 3 stitches into 1 stitch and is used as a cluster of stitches in this pattern. This is similar to the Ehdc2tog above, it just has 1 more stitch.

To work an Ehdc3tog, you will:

Yarn over, insert hook into indicated stitch, yarn over and pull a loop through. Yarn over, pull through the first loop on hook ONLY. 3 loops on hook.

[Yarn over and insert hook into the NEXT stitch, yarn over and pull a loop through. Yarn over and pull through the first loop on hook ONLY.] Repeat the instructions within brackets 2 times.

You will have 7 loops on hook. Yarn over and pull through all 7 loops. Ehdc3tog Complete!

Special Technique – “Starting in Previous St”

In this crochet bookmark pattern, you will see instructions to begin Ehdc3tog’s “starting in the previous stitch”.

What this is referencing is to use the same stitch where your previous stitch ended to begin your next Ehdc3tog. This is the “previous stitch”.

To work your next Ehdc3tog, you will yarn over, insert your hook into the “previous stitch” (the SAME stitch that your last Ehdc3tog ended in), yarn over and pull a loop through. Then continue making the Ehdc3tog in the next 2 stitches.

Special Technique – Ch 1 “Eye”

After all Ehdc3tog stitches and Ehdc2tog stitches, we chain 1 as instructed. This chain 1 secures all of the loops we have gathered to create the stitch so that they aren’t able to slide around. This is referred to as the Ch 1 “Eye” in the pattern.

This is important for the crochet bookmark pattern. This chain 1 and “starting in the previous stitch” is what keeps our work from decreasing.

We will work into these chain 1 spaces (“eye”s) on the next row or round. All of the loops from the Extended Half Double Crochet (2 or 3) Together stitches help keep these chain 1’s open so that they are easy to work into.

Millie Lace Crochet Bookmark Pattern

Ch 10

Row 1 (WS) – 1 hdc 2nd ch from hook and 1 hdc in each ch across. (9)

Row 2 (RS) – Ch 2 (does not count as a stitch here or throughout), turn. Ehdc2tog, ch 1. [Ehdc3tog starting in previous st, ch 1]. Repeat inside brackets 3 times. 1 st remains. 1 dc in last st. (9, including ch 1’s)

Row 3 (WS) – Ch 2, turn. Sk 1st st,  [2 hdc in ch 1 “eye”, sk ehdc3tog]. Repeat inside brackets 4 times. 1 hdc last st. (9)

Row 4 (RS) – Ch 2, turn. 1 dc first st. [Ch 1, sk 1, 1 dc next st]. Repeat inside brackets 4 times. (9 sts total – 5 dc, 4 ch 1 spcs)

Row 5 (WS) – Ch 2, turn. 1 hdc first st. [1 hdc in ch 1 spc, 1 hdc next st]. Repeat inside brackets 4 times. (9)

Rows 6 through 19 or until bookmark reaches desired length – Repeat Rows 2 through 5 in sequence.

For example, Row 6 will be a repeat of Row 2 and Row 7 will be a repeat of Row 3. Row 19 will be a repeat of Row 3.

If you change the length, make sure to end on a repeat of Row 3.

Border Instructions

Round 1 – Ch 1, turn. Place 1 sc in each st across (9). Ch 2 and rotate to work along the long edge. Place 1 sc in side of each hdc and 2 sc in side of each dc (28). Ch 2 and rotate to work along the bottom of chains. Place 1 sc in bottom of each ch across (9). Ch 2 and rotate to work along the long edge. Place 1 sc in side of each hdc and 2 sc in side of each ehdc (28). At the end of the round, sl st to the first sc made to close. (74 total – 9 + 28 + 9 + 28)

Optional, Round 2 – Ch 1, do not turn. Place 1 sl st in each st around. In each ch 2 spc, place (1 sl st, ch 1, 1 sl st). (82)

Cut yarn, weave ends. If desired, you can block the crochet bookmark to strengthen the shape but it is not required.

Finally, open a book and enjoy! You’re done!

Want to get the PDF version of this crochet bookmark pattern? Get your copy on Etsy by clicking the button below!

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I hope you love the Millie Lace Crochet Bookmark as much as I do! Enjoy!

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