I’ll never forget my reaction after the winner was announced on the first season of the Great British Bake Off. I went bananas. Flaming bananas. Bananas Foster bananas. After watching the contestants labor over 30 different baking challenges for 10 episodes under intense time pressure and with exacting judges, what did the winner get? A kitchen remodel? Nope. The winner received a commemorative glass cake plate.
Are you kidding me? In the aftermath, I was full of righteous indignation and said that I would never make such a huge effort for recognition alone. It took me a minute to recognize what a hypocrite I was. I have been working on this blog and my crochet projects and designs for just that reason. Recognition, and every bit that I have gotten is a lovely reward. My love of crocheting and gardening is the foundation, but having someone appreciate my work or buy one of my patterns brings me loads of joy.
So as I follow the wisdom of Matthew and pull the piece of wood out of my own eye and remind myself not to judge, I’m also going to do unto others as I would have them do unto me. I absolutely love that people from all over the world have visited this blog, so I want to recognize those bloggers whose instruction helped in the development of this pattern.
My Crochet Rope Basket design was inspired by a pattern written by Esther Chandler on her website MakeMyDayCreative.com, and the pattern that I used to make the basket liner came from Audrey and Diane at TheClothParcel.com. Audrey and Diane’s post also helped with the liner that I made for my Lavender Laundry Basket as well.
Instructions
Materials
Lion Brand 24/7 Cotton® Yarn in Ecru, 2 skeins, 2 strands held together
Editor’s Note: I used Cotton Clothesline (7/32″ x 100′) for my basket, but the basket ended up a bit more flexible than I wanted it to be. Cotton sash cord (1/4″ x 100′) is stiffer than clothesline and would make a basket with sturdier sides. If you choose to make your basket with sash cord, keep in mind that dimensions will vary slightly from this pattern.
G 4.0mm crochet hook
tapestry needle
Gauge
6 stitches in 2″, 2 rows in 7/8″
Basket Measurement
approximately 7″ l x 6″ w x 5″ h
Foundation Chain
In general, the shorter your foundation chain, the more square the base of your basket will be. For my slightly rectangular basket, I held 2 strands of yarn together and chained 10 + 2 to turn for a total of 12 chains.
Round 1
Insert your hook into the 3rd chain from the hook. As shown in the picture below, place the rope between your hook and the working yarn. Leave an approximately 1″ tail on the rope that will be trimmed later. Yarn over and pull up a loop and then yarn over and pull through both loops to make the first single crochet stitch. The rope should be enclosed by this first stitch.
Make 8 single crochet stitches continuing to enclose the rope in each stitch. In the last foundation chain, make 6 single crochet stitches to turn the rope as shown in the photo below. Continue by making 8 single crochet stitches in the bottom of the foundation chain to return to the starting point.
Using scissors, cut the rope just ahead of the first stitch. To make the second turn, make 6 single crochet stitches in the space created by the first stitch and the last stitch as shown by the placement of the tapestry needle in the photo below. After completing the first round, you will have made a total of 29 stitches.
Continue by making 1 single crochet into each single crochet stitch until you reach each of the 4 corners of the base of the basket. Each corner will have 3 single crochet stitches. The picture below shows the base at the end of round 2 that measures approximately 4.25″ x 1.75″. Once the base of your basket is the desired length and width, begin making the sides of the basket.
To make the first round of the sides, working in the back loops only, make 1 single crochet in each stitch. Discontinue making 3 single crochets in each corner. For the next and subsequent rounds of the sides, make 1 single crochet into both loops of each stitch until your basket is the desired height. Finish off and weave in ends.
DaisyGardenCrochet 