What would you do if Brett Bara, the editor of Crochet Today! sent you eight vibrant colors of Debbie Stoller’s fabulous Stitch Nation Full O’Sheep 100% Peruvian wool and asked for a 12″ diameter, striped tapestry crochet basket somewhat like the coiled baskets below?
These four coiled baskets served as inspiration for the tapestry crocheted basket.
Well, what do you think of my solution?
The carried yarns contribute to the sturdiness of the basket and the hefty looking “coil”.
This basket is not for beginners because it’s quite a challenge to carry seven colors at the same time! How did I keep the yarns from tangling? Well, I placed them next to each other as shown below and let the yarn cross over the others close to the fabric each time I switched colors.
Seven colorful yarns were carried while one was tapestry crocheted.
The tight gauge hides most of the carried yarns, but some of them pop through, especially on the back of the fabric.
Front detail of the Beautiful Basket in July/August Crochet Today!
Back detail of the same tapestry crocheted basket.
I thrive on challenges, so I really enjoyed designing and crocheting this project. If you like a challenge, too, then this basket is for you!
What is the gauge? The stitches in this basket are very small and tight; the gauge is 23 sts and 16 rows = 4”/10cm. Many of my projects are not flat until I steam iron them, though. What happens when you iron the piece (even before it’s finished)?
Can you give some advice. A friend and I keep trying to make this gorgeous basket. But we are doing something wrong. Neither one of us can keep the basket flat until you stop increasing the stitch count. When my friend tried a second time, it stayed flat but was limp. She thinks that the sc are too tall and she worked too loosely. How do you keep the basket flat and work tight enough to give the basket the right firmness?
[…] crocheted the first version (below) with some Stitch Nation Full O’Sheep wool left over from my Beautiful Basket project. The arrows looked great before the bag was felted, but afterwards they lost too much […]
Dear Carol,
I would like to ask some informations about the baskets
that appear in the first and second photos of the post.
It seems that a simple cotton or woolen yarn has been crocheted
around a really thick yarn or a cord.
Thank you for your works,
your interesting blog,
and your art.
Those baskets are not crocheted. Instead, a thick core is wrapped with colorful cord or yarn.
Hi Carol,
The 2010 issue of Crochet Today is no longer available. I am interested in the tapestry crocheted basket pattern.
You came to my house in Goodlettsville and taught a 2 day class several years ago
Unfortunately, they own the copyright, so I can’t send you the pattern. Sometimes old magazines are available on EBAY.