Rag Basket Pattern
RAG BASKET PATTERN
I love rag baskets! They are a very fun and practical project. You can make endless ideas for baskets. In this article I explain how to make this basket with a square base in white and grey, very practical for the bathroom, to store your crafts, your magazines, the child's toys, the blankets for the sofa... in short, the uses for rag baskets are endless.
The Base
Round 1.- In grey thread, we knit 3 chains (A) and close them with a slip stitch, to form a circle (B).
We knit a chain in height and make 8 single crochets, inserting the needle into the centre of the hole (C) that we have made (not in the chains). Remember to place the marker in your first stitch. After knitting the 8 stitches, we join with a slip stitch to the first stitch, closing the circle (D).
Round 2.- We make a chain stitch and increase 8 times, that is: 16 stitches. Each increase consists of knitting two stitches in the gap of the same stitch from the previous round. We close the round with a slip stitch to the first stitch.
Round 3 – We make a chain stitch and knit this sequence throughout the round:
1 single crochet, 1 increase. In total we should have 24 stitches at the end of the round. We close with a slip stitch to the first stitch.
Round 4.- We make a chain stitch. In this round we are going to start the square shape. This is done by making 3 stitches together in each corner (in the same space as the stitch from the previous round). We knit:
Corner (3in1), 5 single crochet, Corner (3in1), 5 single crochet, Corner (3in1), 5 single crochet, Corner (3in1), 5 single crochet, we close the round with a slip stitch. (Total 32 stitches).
Round 5.- We make 1 chain stitch and knit:
[Corner (3in1), 7 sc] and we repeat the sequence three more times.
We close with a slip stitch. Total 40 stitches.
Round 6.– We make 1 chain stitch and knit:
[Corner (3in1), 9 sc] and we repeat the sequence three more times.
We close with a slip stitch.
Total 48 points.
Turn
We have now finished our base, so we are not going to increase any further. All our next rounds will have 48 stitches. We are going to make the turn so that the work begins to rise upwards.
Round 7.- We make a chain stitch and knit 48 single crochet stitches, inserting the needle only in the back loop of the stitch from the previous round. We close with a slip stitch, changing the color to White (we close the slip stitch by taking the loop of the new color).
Sides
Round 8.- In white, we make 1 chain stitch and knit 48 single crochet stitches. We close the round with a slip stitch.
Rounds 9, 10, 11 and 12.- We repeat the steps of round 8.
Round 13 – We make 1 chain in height and now we are going to knit in tapestry: we are going to wear the yarn of both colours at the same time. When we knit in one colour, we hide the yarn of the other colour in the back of the stitch. We knit 1 white stitch, 1 grey stitch… and so on for the whole round. To change colour, we close the stitch with the colour of the next one. We close the round with a slip stitch.
Round 14 – We make 1 chain stitch and knit 48 single crochets in tapestry, alternating as in the previous round, but starting with grey: 1 grey stitch, 1 white stitch… We close the round with a slip stitch. I can now cut the white thread.
Round 15.- In grey, we make 1 chain stitch and knit 48 single crochet stitches. We close with a slip stitch.
Round 16.- In grey, we knit 48 slip stitches.
We finish the strands by sewing them between the stitches so that they are not visible.
And now we have our basket ready!