Crocheted Basket With Plastic Strawberry Basket As A Base!

Want to make a super cute crocheted basket that will keep its shape without stiffener? Try crocheting over a recycled plastic strawberry basket, and you'll love the results so much you'll certainly want to make a whole bunch, I know I'm not stopping at three! I haven't seen this idea anywhere, so please do give me credit for it if you're inspired to make your own, and actually this came about as a result of now quite succeeding with my original idea, which was something totally different! Love when that happens! 

One could of course use any really chunky yarn for this, but I just love the results with the commercial t-shirt yarn. The thickness and smoothness of the yarn make this basket really sturdy and yet soft at the same time. Want to give this a try? I've got some important tips for you, so keep on reading!

 These baskets look great from the inside and the outside, as you can see, so whether placed on a shelf and viewed from the side or on a table as a catchall, the look is equally wonderful.

 Fun right? Okay, lets get to work!

You'll Need:

• plastic strawberry baskets
• commercial t-shirt yarn
• a 5mm metal (I broke a plastic one doing this!) crochet hook or a hook that will fit through the grid of the basket and work with the t-shirt yarn
• sharp scissors

How To Crochet Over A Plastic Strawberry Basket:

• All work is done from the outside of the basket, and the ball of yarn is placed on the inside of the basket.
• The stitch used is called a surface slip stitch
• No knots are made to begin a new color or end a color, as knots create bulges. Instead ends are woven in tightly.

Step 1: Start at bottom of basket. Determine if there are any areas that need to be cut in order to accomodate the yarn. I cut through the diagonal pieces circled in the photo above, in each corner.

Step 2: Start crocheting by starting in the corner for the neatest results. Here for the sake of the example I started in the middle of the basket. Place ball of yarn on underside of basket. Put hook down through first hole and bring up a loop of yarn. Now put hook down through second hole and bring up a second loop which is then pulled through the loop on the hook, as done with a slip stitch. Continue around edge of basket, making a stitch in the first hole. 

Step 3: Move up to next row of squares and work around basket as described in Step 2

Step 4: Continue working each row around, until you have filled the entire basket bottom with stitches.

Step 5: Now work the sides in the same way. Corners are covered by simply making a loop that is long enough to get you to the other side and the next hole in the basket, you'll see what I mean when you get there!

Step 6: The edging is worked using a single crochet stitch, and at the corners where there are not holes, I simply crocheted 2 stitches into the corner pieces from the previous round. The edging is crocheted into the same holes as the last surface slip stitch round.

Step 7: Use a large yarn needle to carefully weave in all those ends, simultaneously filled any holes that might exist.

 Thanks for joining me for this fun project, please let me know if you try it, I'd love to see your results!

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save