Blue Windowpane Lattice Bed Cover with Tassels Crochet Pattern

This bed cover looks like a garden trellis on a sunny morning. It is an open lattice of cornflower blue bands, crossing to make big square windows, and at every crossing sits a round green bobble like a little bud about to open. A border of three colors frames the lattice: a green round, a row of cream shells and a row of blue scallops. Big tassels in blue, green and cream hang from the scallops along both sides and the foot, so the cover sways gently with a cheerful, playful edge.

Unlike most of my bed covers, this one is not made from motifs. It is one big piece worked back and forth in rows, which makes it wonderfully simple and quick. The lattice is built from two kinds of rows. Band rows are solid double crochet, and window rows have three double crochet for each vertical bar with a chain of seven between the bars to make the open windows. Two band rows and four window rows make one repeat, and the pattern simply repeats up the length of the bed.

The green bobbles are worked in the second row of every band. As you work across the row in blue, you carry the green yarn along the top of the row, hidden inside the blue stitches. When you reach the center of a vertical bar, you switch to green for one bobble, then switch back to blue and keep going. Because the bobble rows are always wrong side rows, every bobble pops out to the right side by itself, plump and round. There are 25 bobbles in each band row and 29 band rows, for 725 little green buds in all.

The finished lattice has 24 windows across and 28 windows down, and each window is about 2 inches square, framed by bands about an inch wide. The panel measures about 69 by 85 inches before the border. The border adds about 1.5 inches on every side, so the cover is about 73 by 88 inches, and the tassels add another 6 inches of swing along the sides and foot. It is a lovely size for a queen bed, with the tassels hanging just above the floor.

The border has four rounds. A blue round of single crochet tidies the edges, a green round of double crochet adds a band of color, a cream round of shells creates soft scallops and a blue round outlines every shell. I worked out the counts so the shells fall evenly on every side. The tassels are wound around a piece of cardboard, mixing blue, green and cream strands, and tied to the center of every other blue scallop, with a blue wrapped neck that looks like a little bead.

The stitches are chain, slip stitch, single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet and the bobble. What makes this pattern intermediate is carrying the green yarn along the band rows and keeping the window bars lined up from row to row. Both are easy to learn, and the counts are the same in every row of the same kind, so after the first repeat you will barely need to look at the pattern.

The finished cover is light, airy and full of personality. The open windows make it breathable, perfect for warm nights or for layering over a blanket in winter. Cornflower blue and leaf green feel fresh and natural, and the cream shells soften the edge. It suits a cottage bedroom, a guest room with blue and white prints or a child's room that needs a little fun. And with no motifs to join, it is one of the fastest bed covers you can make.

I love that this bed cover is made in one piece. After many projects with dozens of motifs, it feels so freeing to simply work row after row and watch the lattice grow longer and longer. There is no joining, no stack of squares to block, no counting of how many motifs I still need. Just one row, then the next, and before I know it, the cover reaches across my lap and down to the floor.

The window rows are my favorite to work. Three double crochet, a long chain, three more double crochet, and the windows simply appear. They go so quickly that I can finish a window row during a short coffee break. Then the band rows close each row of windows like the top of a picture frame, and the green bobbles pop up one by one. The rhythm of quick windows and steady bands keeps the work lively from start to finish.

Carrying the green yarn felt a little strange at first, but I quickly came to love it. You simply lay the green along the top of the row and work your blue stitches over it, so it is hidden inside. When you reach a bobble, you pick up the green, make a plump little bud and go back to blue. Watching those green buds appear across the row always makes me smile. They give the cover its charm.

Here are the habits that kept this project easy for me:

• Count the vertical bars in every window row: there should always be 25.
• Keep the green carried loosely so the band rows do not pull in.
• Push each bobble out to the right side as you go.
• Wind all the tassels in one cozy evening near the end.

I love the tassels so much. They make the whole cover feel joyful, like a summer picnic blanket or a festive tablecloth. Mixing the three colors in each tassel ties the border together, and the wrapped blue necks look like little beads. When the cover is on the bed, the tassels swing softly whenever someone walks past. Children adore them, and so do I.

The colors feel like springtime to me. Cornflower blue is soft and happy, leaf green feels fresh and alive, and cream keeps everything light. Together they remind me of blue skies over a green garden. With blue botanical prints on the wall and white hydrangeas on the nightstand, this cover makes a bedroom feel fresh and welcoming, as if the windows had been thrown open on the first warm day of the year.

Finally, I love how fast it is. For a bed cover of this size, about 85 hours is wonderfully quick, and because it is one piece, you see your progress every single day. It is a perfect choice if you want a large, impressive project that you can actually finish this season, or a gift for a wedding or a new home that needs to be ready by a certain date.

Choose new colors. The lattice looks charming in many combinations. Red bands with white bobbles look like a classic gingham picnic, sage green bands with pink bobbles feel soft and romantic, and navy bands with yellow bobbles are crisp and nautical. For a calm room, try oatmeal bands with cream bobbles. Keep the bands in the strongest color, because they carry the pattern, and use a bright accent for the bobbles so the little buds stand out.

Make it for any bed. The width is set by the number of windows across. For the border to divide evenly, use a number of windows that is a multiple of 3, and work 10 sts for each window plus 3 in the foundation. The length of 29 bands, 170 rows, works for every size. These sizes include the border but not the tassels:

• Twin: 18 windows across, 183 sts, about 55 by 88 inches
• Full: 21 windows across, 213 sts, about 64 by 88 inches
• Queen: 24 windows across, 243 sts, about 73 by 88 inches
• King: 30 windows across, 303 sts, about 90 by 88 inches

For a longer cover, add bands in steps of one band plus four window rows; the border still works because the long sides always come out right with the one extra stitch in Border Rnd 1.

Make a sofa throw. Work 15 windows across, with a foundation of 153 sts, and 19 bands, which is 110 rows. The throw measures about 47 by 58 inches with the border, and with tassels on the two short ends only, it looks lovely folded over the back of a sofa. It uses about a third of the yarn and makes a cheerful gift for a new home.

Make a baby blanket. Work 12 windows across, with a foundation of 123 sts, and 13 bands, which is 74 rows. The blanket measures about 38 by 40 inches with the border. For a baby, leave off the tassels, which can be pulled or chewed, and finish with the border alone. You can also close the windows a little by working ch 5 and skipping 5 sts with 8 sts per window, recounting the foundation to match.

Add matching pillows. A small piece of lattice, 5 windows wide and 5 windows tall, makes a pillow front of about 16 inches. Work the border around it and sew it onto a blue fabric pillow cover so the bobbles stand out. A cream pillow worked in rows of half double crochet with a row of small tassels along each end makes a pretty lumbar pillow to finish the bed.

Change the bobbles. You can make the bobbles bigger or smaller by working 6 or 4 double crochet together instead of 5. You could also use two bobble colors, alternating green and cream in every band row, or use cream on every other band to create a checked effect. For a calmer cover, leave the bobbles out and work plain double crochet in their place, which turns it into a simple, elegant windowpane.

Change the edge. The tassels are playful, but you can choose a quieter finish. Stop after the blue scallop round for a soft scalloped edge, or add tassels only to the corners for a touch of fun. You can also make longer, fuller tassels for a dramatic look, or small pompoms instead of tassels. Place one on every scallop rather than every other if you love a lush edge.

Change the yarn weight. In DK cotton with a 4 mm hook, the windows are smaller and the cover looks finer, so a queen needs about 30 windows across and 36 bands. In bulky yarn with a 6.5 mm hook, the windows are larger and the cover grows very fast, so a queen needs about 18 windows across and 22 bands. Always swatch one repeat of 3 windows by 1 window first and measure it before you plan.