Learn to Crochet - Basket Weave Stitch Video Tutorial

Hooray! Finally a new stitch to add to the Library of Video Tutorials! This one is the Crocheted Basket Weave Stitch which I have used many times for projects that needed to be warm and cozy. This afghan, made with Red Heart worsted weight yarn in Ranch Red, is my most recent project using this stitch, and it turned out to be so thick and warm and cozy, the perfect project to work on during the cold winter months here in New England!

Here are a few pictures of the sample I worked in the video, just to give you an idea of what the stitch looks like.


This is one side...


...and this is the other side. As you can see, there really is no right or wrong side to this pattern which is one of the reasons I like it so much.


And just look at the thickness in the finished fabric. It's almost like getting a double layer of crocheted coziness in one stitch!


Another thing I like about this stitch, for any project but especially for baby blankets, is that it does not produce holes in the fabric. The stitches are worked pretty tightly together just because of the nature of the basket weave pattern and working each double crochet around the post instead of into the top of the stitch.

Take a look at this video and you'll see what I mean...




If you are looking for an easy stitch to make a baby blanket or full size afghan, this is a good one to try because once you have established the pattern in the first few rows, there is nothing really to think about. It's all double crochet!

Give it a try in a solid color, or a pretty variegated, in worsted weight or sport or even baby yarn. Any way you work it up will turn out warm and cozy!

Happy Stitching!

Click here to return to HookedOnNeedles.com

Basketweave Knit Stitch Pattern on Lollipop Oddball Blanket

The design I decided to knit on the Lollipop Oddball Blanket is sort of a loose basketweave design using just alternating groups of knit and purl stitches on the right side, and all purl stitches on the wrong side.

I think this pattern would be a suitable substitution for stockinette stitch in patterns such as a sweater or scarf, a full size afghan or baby blanket, or any other place where you want to add a little texture to an otherwise plain knit fabric. It does not pull in the stitches on the sides, nor does it draw them in from the top and bottom like some stitch patterns tend to do. You would still want to check your gauge if you are planning to use it for something that requires fitting, such as a piece of clothing. But for a scarf or blanket, that would not be necessary.

Take a look and see what you think...


I sort of made this up as I went along, and I really like how it turned out. There are dozens of basketweave patterns for knitting out there and I'm sure any one of them would look great in a blanket like this. But I just didn't feel like searching for a pattern so this is what came out of my needles! I'll share the written pattern for it below.


Here you can see the other five panels of this oddball blanket, each in a different color and stitch of the knitter's choice. That is what makes it an oddball!

I'll be crocheting a border in yellow around this Lollipop blanket before mailing it back to the person who will deliver it to the hospital for some sweet little new baby to enjoy. You can be sure that I'll share the border with you too, as soon as it is finished!

Here's the pattern for my version of a loose basketweave knit design...

Loose Basketweave Knit Pattern
Mary Grace McNamara of www.HookedOnNeedles.com

NOTE: This pattern is worked over a multiple of 8 stitches plus 8. The blanket pictured also has several rows of garter stitch at the bottom and top, and 4 knit stitches at the beginning and end of each row to make a garter stitch border, but I did not include those stitches in this pattern. You can begin and end your rows any way you like.

Using yarn of your choice and needles appropriately sized for the yarn, cast on a multiple of 8 stitches, plus 8 additional stitches.

Row 1: Knit

Row 2 and every wrong side row: Purl

Row 3: Knit

Rows 5 and 7: K2, (P4, K4) across the row until there are 6 stitches left, P4, K2

Row 9: Knit

Rows 11 and 13: K6, (P4, K4) across the row until there are 2 stitches left, K2

Repeat rows 3 through 13 until your piece is as big as you want it. Finish by working 1 row Purl, 1 row Knit, 1 row Purl, 1 row Knit, 1 row Purl. Bind off.

Happy Stitching!

Click here to return to HookedOnNeedles.com

Crocheted Buttercream Basketweave Dishcloth

Here's another crocheted cotton dishcloth which I made mostly while waiting to pick up my son from school the other day. Don't you love having little take-along projects to work on during those inevitable waiting periods of life? These are perfect!


This cloth was crocheted using Lily Sugar 'n Cream worsted weight cotton purchased from my local Michael's store. The color is called Butter Cream Ombre and I just love it! I used the Basket Weave Stitch, which is the same stitch I used in making the Crocheted Basket Weave Afghan for an old friend of mine last fall.


The texture of this stitch is just perfect for a face or dish cloth, and these colors are so soft and subtle that they would look good just about anywhere. They are certainly a lot more subtle than the colors in the Fiesta cloth I showed you yesterday!

This stitch does use a lot of yarn though, so this cloth, measuring about 11 inches square, took about 1 1/2 balls of cotton to make, so approximately 3 ounces.

I am in the process of figuring out if I can use the duck, the shamrock, and the mystery pattern Tunisian Crochet cloth charts with regular knitting and still have the designs come out in the right proportion. I will let you know what I discover. I also have a few other cloth designs to share with you shortly. Can you tell I'm having boatloads of fun with cotton lately?

Happy Stitching!

Click here to return to HookedOnNeedles.com

Knitted Basketweave Stitch - Easy and Reversible

The Forest Greens baby blanket for the Northeast Oddball Baby Blanket group is finished and ready to be sent off for delivery. I was the last knitter on this blanket so today I thought I would share with you the stitch I used on it. It looks like a basketweave design and here it is...



These blankets are knit with 110 stitches, give or take a few. The first and last 3 rows and the first and last 3 stitches on every row are knit to create a garter stitch border around the whole piece. Each knitter works about a 4 inch section and then mails it to the next knitter until six sections have been completed. Then a border is crocheted around the outside of the whole thing to finish it off.

So this is a corner of the section I knitted on this blanket, called Forest Greens because it is worked in each knitter's choice of shades of greens. This was a very easy design to knit, simply alternating between knit and purl stitches across the rows, and then switching after 5 or 6 rows. An entire blanket could easily be knit this way creating a unique and reversible design.

Here's the pattern:

Cast on desired number of stitches and knit 3 rows for garter stitch border, or continue working on an established piece.

Knit 3. *Knit 10 (or any number), purl 10 (or any number)*. Continue from * to * across until 3 stitches remain. Knit 3.

Knit 3. Knit or purl stitches as they face you across the row until 3 stitches remain. Knit 3.

Continue knitting or purling stitches as they face you, working first and last 3 stitches of each row in knit, until you have worked the number of rows desired for the first section of blocks.

**To change over to the next section of blocks, knit 3. Purl the knit stitches and knit the purl stitches as they face you across the row until 3 stitches remain. Knit 3.

Continue knitting or purling stitches as they face you, working first and last 3 stitches of each row in knit, until you have worked the number of rows desired for the second section of blocks.**

Continue from ** to ** until the blanket is the desired size. Knit 3 rows for garter stitch border. Bind off.

For a larger afghan, I would suggest knitting the first and last 8 or 10 rows, and knitting the same number of stitches at the beginning of each row, for a more substantial garter stitch border. Then divide the remaining number of stitches into the desired size and use that number for the rows and stitches of each block.

This pattern would work up very quickly on large needles using bulky or chunky weight yarn and would definitely make a cozy afghan for a cold winter day. What a wonderful gift for yourself or some other lucky person.

This basketweave knit design is similar to what I used on my friend Jane's baby blanket many years ago, except that I did not make that one reversible. I did knit and purl stitches on the front to make the design, then I purled across every wrong side row. I much prefer a design that is reversible though, so this current basketweave pattern would be my choice from now on. Live and learn!

I also crocheted the border on Forest Greens, so if you like how the border looks in the above picture, stay tuned for that pattern later this week.

Happy Stitching!

Click here to return to HookedOnNeedles.com

Diagonal Knit Basketweave Baby Blanket

Not long after I learned how to knit, a good friend of mine announced the wonderful news that she was expecting her first child. I was excited for lots of reasons, not the least of which was that it would be a great excuse to go out and buy more yarn! My friend has always had a thing for purple and as I recall, I allowed her to pick out the yarn I would use. She chose a soft variegated worsted weight in purple of course, along with pink, yellow and white. So Baby!

I was feeling adventurous so I skipped over the looking-through-patterns part of the creative process, and jumped right into knitting. I had in mind what I wanted to do, so I just starting doing it! Consequently, I have no pattern to share with you, but here are a few pictures and my best guess as to what I did.

I know I started at the point by casting on 3 and knitting the first 6 or 8 rows increasing one stitch at the beginning of each, using the yarn over increase method which forms that neat little rope looking edge. Then I started working stockinette stitch in the middle, keeping the first and last 4 or 5 stitches of each row in garter stitch to form the border. After about 10 rows, I started adding stockinette to the sides and switched the middle to garter stitch creating a basketweave look on the front. I am pretty sure I used stitch markers to indicate where the sections changed because I would be knitting every row on the front, but on the back where I could not see the change in stitches I would be knitting the garter stitch sections and purling the stockinette sections. Using stitch markers for something like this is the only smart way to do it!


Here is a close-up of the corner where you can see how the garter stitch edge nicely frames the basketweave in the middle.


And here's an edge of the blanket where you can see that the stockinette sections along the sides sort of look like steps going up the sides.


This is the back of the blanket, which is nice enough, but doesn't really look as interesting as the front. Since making this blanket, I have altered how I do basketweave in knitting so that the front and the back both look like basketweave. I do this by using reverse stockinette stitch instead of garter stitch in the basketweave area of the design to make it reversible.

So once I got to the point where the width of the blanket was what I wanted, I simply started decreasing one stitch at the beginning of each row while keeping the basketweave pattern as established until I had only 3 stitches left on my needle. I bound off those 3 stitches and after weaving in the tail, the blanket was complete.

The decrease method I used on this blanket is something I am not at all sure about. I don't think I just did a Knit 2 Together decrease because that would not have continued the nice rope-like border design on the edge. I may have done something like this: K2tog, YO, K2tog. This would have left a little bit of a hole inside the edge and made the second half of the blanket edging look similar to the first half. But I cannot be sure. It was quite a long time ago you know!

Anyway, I don't usually knit baby blankets but my friend asked for a knitted one so I put away my crochet hooks and got out the knitting needles. I thought that blanket was so pretty and soft and cuddly and I really liked the basketweave design with the garter stitch border worked on the diagonal. Another nice thing about working a blanket on the diagonal is that you can knit until you have used up half of your yarn and then start to decrease to use up the other half and you should not run short.

If you have an idea for a project, just go for it and see how it comes out. You'll learn lots of good lessons along the way!

Don't forget to enter my fall giveaway by October 14th for a chance to win a very nice pincushion bag and other fall goodies. Good luck!

Happy Stitching!

Click here to return to HookedOnNeedles.com

Crocheted Basketweave Afghan Finished

Early in the spring, I started crocheting an afghan which I had hoped to finish before the warm weather arrived. That was not to be though, and it sat there all through the warm summer months, only getting a few minutes attention now and then when the evening temperatures dropped enough to make it tolerable to have all that coziness sitting on my lap. Finally the cool weather returned here to beautiful New England and just the other night I finished the afghan. Hip hip hooray!

This afghan is crocheted entirely in Basketweave Stitch with a simple single crochet border around the edge to finish it off.

Here are a few pictures of it before I wrapped it up to send off to my old friend out in Kansas City, Missouri:

Here you can see what an interesting design and texture the Basketweave stitch gives to the afghan. It is entirely double crochet, stitched around the post from the front three times and then from the back three times, which gives it the Basketweave effect, so it was easy to crochet. I like projects where, once I have the pattern established, I don't have to look at the instructions. This is that type of pattern.

I also insist on using a stitch for an afghan that is the same on the front and the back. The Basketweave Stitch in crochet is reversible so the front and back are the same.


Here you can see the very simple Single Crochet border that I put around this afghan. This gives the border a nicely finished look and also provides an easy way to catch in all those loose ends on the edge from where the new skeins were added on. The process of adding a new skein is described in my article on how to change colors, but adding a new skein of the same color uses the same method. By doing this border and crocheting over the loose ends at the same time, I only had the final tail of yarn to weave in when I was finished. That's my kind of finish work!


And here it is, crocheted with love and ready to be wrapped up and mailed to an old friend.

In making this afghan, I used eight 7-ounce skeins of Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Ranch Red.

I have already started working on an afghan, using Red Heart Easy Tweed in Pistachio green, which will be a wedding gift to my niece who is getting married in November. I have chosen a new stitch called Close Scallops that I really like and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you in a video tutorial very soon.

Don't forget to enter my fall giveaway by October 14th for a chance to win a very nice pincushion bag and other fall goodies. Good luck!

Happy Stitching!

Click here to return to HookedOnNeedles.com