Basket assignment, finished!

While making a pit stop at Groovy Girl Yarn the other day for some Weird Watermelon hand dyed yarn by Groovy Girl herself, I asked her..."Groovy Girl, what happened to that magazine picture of that basket with the yarn top crocheted on it?"  She knew not of what I was speaking....So I went to the wall of magazine photos, removed a taped piece of paper and said, "hark, here it tis!"  I want to make one of these I said.  And she said, "Bee Lady, your assignment for next week is to do just that."

(we don't really talk that way, but we could...if we wanted to)

 So I hunted around for the perfect basket...and did not find one.  So I used this battered old thing instead.

 I didn't have a pattern, so I sort of did what I thought would work.  I crocheted in between the weavings of the basket. And I was careful to stay in between the same weavings all the way around. The first row or two was a bit tricky.  I had to work a small crochet hook through the slats of the basket, and the yarn was much larger than the hook size.  I just pulled the yarn through on the first row and crocheted it onto the basket.

After the 2nd or third row it got pretty easy just single crocheting a long.  As you can see in the above two photos, where the slats were (up and down slats) I just added about three rows of single crochets so that I would have some chains to hook onto on the 2nd row.  If you kind of study the two pictures above you'll see what I mean.

 I just kept single crocheting around until I thought it got a little too floppy.
 When it got a little too floppy I decreased the rows once every 20 stitches, but just for a couple of rows.
 
Really, you just kind of go on your own here.  Don't be afraid to keep it the same size or make it smaller.  If I were making it like the picture, I would have made it a lot smaller.  But I decided to make a drawstring top, and handles, on it.  I think it's easier to get in and out of it with a larger opening at the top.

 I know these directions probably makes no sense at all.  I'm typing and watching a show about Beavers on the public broadcasting channel!  I love nature shows...but I wanted to get this typed up!

 So if you want to make one and have questions, ask away.

 Here's the finished basket.  It's empty so it's a bit floppy.  I love it.

 I've decided I want to make a bag out of this same yarn.  It's cotton yarn and it's very thick.  I'm sure any thick cotton or wool yarn would work.

 To make the handles I just quit crocheting into the row and chained instead.  Then when I went around again, I crocheted onto the chain.  I think I skipped about 20 stitches on the row, but I only chained 15.  I figured the handles will stretch anyway.

 So there you have it, my assignment for the week....finished!

 Cindy Bee