Caron Cotton Cakes Basket - Free Crochet Pattern

Caron Cotton Cakes are one of my favorite yarns to work with, and this crochet basket is super easy to make! Find the free pattern below!

Caron Cotton Cakes are anticipated to come back to Michael's Stores this April (2018). I haven't seen any sightings just yet, but we are nearing the end of April so I'm sure they will be on the shelves any day now!

I used the Caron Cotton Cakes in Beach Glass from last summer when they were newly released. I love the blue and gray combination and I love how it worked up double stranded!

As you can see, I made this basket for the newest addition to our family! A cockapoo named Milo, who is now 9 weeks old. I have already started to crochet all the things for this little pup! This basket is for all of his toys and extra blankets.

I had a limited number of skeins to work with for the Caron Cotton Cakes, so I had to add a different cotton yarn to the top. It seemed to work out in my favor, because I love the block of white on the top - perfect to add his name! 

Of course, you can leave it blank or stitch on another word such as "yarn", "toys", your child's name, etc. I didn't do anything fancy for the stitching, just a running stitch. Surface crochet was proven too difficult for me, but that could totally work too!

I used a crab stitch for the very top of the basket, and I think it makes such a nice finishing touch! Along with the rope handles, I think this basket looks pretty legit! The rope handles are optional, but I like to move my baskets often so they will be very useful for me.

After crocheting the basket, it did not stay up on its own.  It kind of just fell over on itself although I doubled up the yarn throughout. I did have to stiffen the fabric, which I dreaded doing.. but it was easier than I thought it would be and it turned out great!

There are many different ways of doing this, but I used water and white glue. Cheap and easy. I'll have tutorial coming up on just how I stiffened this basket to stand up! Although it holds the shape, it is still flexible as you can see when Milo digs into his toys. :)

Are you making this for later?

DOWNLOAD THE FREE PDF PATTERN HERE

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Pattern

Materials

4 skeins Caron Cakes (Beach Glass)

1 skein I Love this Cotton! (white)

Yarn to sew on name/word (optional)

J/6.00mm hook

1 yard of rope for handles (I got mine at Joann Fabric's)

Tapestry needle

Scissors

Notes

The basket will be made by holding two strands of yarn together throughout. 

*When making the base of the basket, I kept increasing each round until it got wavy. When the circle become ruffled, I added a round of even stitches (no increasing), then continued to increase. The pattern is a bit 'uneven', if you will, but if you come to a point where your circle is completely ruffled, you may need to add more rows with no increases.

Crab stitch: Single crochet into the previous stitch, going the opposite direction you normally would crochet.

Abbreviations (US terms)

Ch = chain, hdc = half double crochet, st = stitch(es), sk = skip

Gauge: 13 st x 10 rows in hdc

Dimensions: 9.5 inches in height, 13 inches in diameter

Start by holding two strands of Caron Cotton Cakes together

Round 1: Magic ring, Ch 2, 12 hdc in ring, join to first hdc

Round 2: Ch 2, 2hdc in each st around, join to first hdc

Round 3: Ch 2, *2hdc, hdc, repeat from * around, join to first hdc

Round 4: Ch 2, *2hdc, hdc in next 2 st, repeat from * around, join to first hdc

Round 5: Ch 2, *2hdc, hdc in next 3 st, repeat from * around, join to first hdc

Round 6: Ch 2, *2hdc, hdc in next 4 st, repeat from * around, join to first hdc

Round 7: Ch 2, hdc in each st around, join to first hdc

Round 8: Ch 2, *2hdc, hdc in next 5 st, repeat from * around, join to first hdc

Round 9: Ch 2, hdc in each st around, join to first hdc

Round 10: Ch 2, *2hdc, hdc in next 6 st, repeat from * around, join to first hdc

Round 11: Ch 2, hdc in each st around, join to first hdc

Round 12: Ch 2, *2hdc, hdc in next 7 st, repeat from * around, join to first hdc

Round 13: Ch 2, hdc in each st around, join to first hdc

Round 14: Ch 2, *2hdc, hdc in next 8 st, repeat from * around, join to first hdc

Round 15: Ch 2, hdc in back loops only in each st around, join to first hdc

Round 16-29: Ch 2, hdc in each st around, join to first hdc

Change to white yarn, holding two strands together

Round 30-35: Ch 2, hdc in each st around, join to first hdc

Round 36: Ch 2, *hdc into next 55 st, ch 3, sk 3, hdc into next 14 st, ch 3, sk 3, repeat from *, join to first hdc

Round 37: Ch 2, hdc into each stitch around, making 3 hdc into previous ch 3 spaces, join to first hdc

Round 38:Ch 2, hdc in each st around, join to first hdc

Round 39: Ch 1, crab stitch all the way around, join to first st

Fasten off

Attach rope handles by taking a piece of rope and inserting them in the holes on the top of the basket. Knot the rope on the inside of the basket.

Stiffen basket. Sew on word/name (optional).

There are several methods to stiffening fabric. I will have a tutorial on exactly how I stiffened this basket!

We hope you had a pawesome time making your basket!

If you are making it for later, PIN it to your boards or save it to your Ravelry for safe keeping!