Designed to be quick to work up and beginner-friendly, this double-stranded bulky crochet basket is great for storage and decoration. A strand of fishing line held with two strands of yarn invisibly gives the basket extra strength and stiffness, and jute twine handles, edging, and a monkey fist knob for the lid give it a functional, rustic flare. The finished basket has a rectangular bottom which is 5” x 12” (12.7 cm x 30.5 cm), which tapers to a 10.5”’x4.5” (26.7 cm x 11.4 cm) oval and has a depth of 6” (15 cm). The lid has an oval top of 11.5”x 5.5” (29.2 cm x 14 cm) and 3” sides (7.6 cm).

Materials

• Super bulky yarn – the demo uses Lush Alpaca from Loops and Threads in Dark Green (approx. 5.5 balls, 473 yds (432 m ))
• Size 8.00 & 9.00 mm hooks
• 8lb monofilament fishing line (240 yds (216 m)).
• Size #30 jute twine - (50 yds (45 m))
• One small marble/round object of your desired knob size for monkey knot interior. A lightweight option is to ball up tinfoil to your desired size. I balled up tinfoil until I had a sphere of approx. ½“ diameter (1.3 cm), for an overall knot of 1” diameter (2.5 cm).

Stitches & Notes
US crochet terms.

• Single crochet
• Back loop only single crochet
• Single crochet 3 together
• Half double crochet
• Slip stitch
• Chain

Gauge depends on the desired basket stiffness – tight stitches will result in a stiff basket. For gauge, the Foundation row – row 2 of the bottom should have a length of 9.5” (24.1 cm) and a width of 2” (5 cm).