ct 10, 2015
As you may be aware The little bee family are yurt dwellers. Our living space is really small, open plan, and there is zero built in storage! And with three little boys you can imagine the stuff that I have to try and hide on a daily basis so that:
a) we don't kill ourselves tripping over amazing (and endless) lego creations, and;
b) we can achieve some kind of level of tidiness, albeit only for 5 minutes per day LOL!
With all this in mind I found myself daydreaming about solving some of my storage problems with an arsenal of brightly coloured, sturdy baskets. Enter factor #2. I'm also inherently lazy and like nothing more than a good, FAST project. Fortunately there's a solution to that too. ROPE! And that was about the extent of my plan.
I found some rope at the hardware store and went about choosing some nice, bright colours from my stash.
If you follow me on Instagram & Facebook you may already have seen my progress shots of the first circle, and work 2 more hdc around the rope. This will cover the gap created before heading into the spiraling rounds.
For the next round make 3 hdc in the first st, then 2 hdc in each stitch of the round.
The third row will see you making an increase in every second stitch. For the rest of the rounds in the base you will only need to increase in each of the increase stitches from the previous row.
Continue to increase your circle until you are happy with the circumference size for your basket. If you find your circle is curling or warping this may mean that you need to make more stitches (for curling), or less stitches (for warping) in the round. Another tip for dealing with warping is to gently pull the rope, and massage back down the round to even out the stitches. If your circle is curling the rope may be too tight, so gently push a little more length back into the circle and massage back down the round to even out the stitches.
To make the turn and work the sides of your basket you will need to cease the increases and begin working in the back loops of the hdc stitches (for this round only).
After your first side round check that your basket is not too loose. If it is splaying outwards then give the rope a gentle tug and smooth the stitches until you are happy with the angle of your side (a rough right angle is good).
Now is the easy part. Make one hdc stitch in each st, around and around and around until you reach your desired height. Keep an eye on the tension of the rope and adjust 4-5 times per round, either gently tightening, or feeding the rope back into your stitches to keep an even shape.
To make your handles fold your basket in half and mark the points on either side. Mark an equal number of stitches on each side of the basket (I used a total of 20 stitches on either side for this basket and only 10 for the first basket as the yarn was thicker) and attach markers in place.
Continue to work your hdc stitches until you get to the stitch before the first marker and make 2 hdc in this st (for strengthening). At the first stitch marker stop working into the stitches from the previous row and begin working around the rope only for a total of 30 hdc stitches (15 hdc st for the first basket).
Connect to the previous row again after the next marker, make 2 hdc in the stitch after the marker and make one hdc per st for the next couple of inches before adjusting the rope to make the opening of the handle the size you would like. Continue making hdc stitches until you reach the next markers where you will repeat this process for the second handle. When you have finished both handles, fold the basket in half to align the handle openings and adjust the second handle opening to match the first.
Work up to about 10 st away from the first handle and switch to working in sc for the final round. Work 1 sc in each stitch around until you get back to the first sc st. Cut and seal your rope at this point and work 2 sc stitches in the stitch covering the end and 1 sc st in each of the next 4-5 stitches, sl st into the last st (approximately 5 stitches away from the beginning of the handle). Fasten off & weave in ends.
You may like to decorate your basket with tassels or pompoms, or just leave it plain, it's up to you!
I hope you get as much enjoyment & function from your Ropey Rainbow Basket as I have.
Happy Hooking!
