By Ghexia (www.lagriffedeghexia.com)
Story of the creation
As I made lots of crochet clothes and accessories that had to be washed by hand, I needed a place to store them, different from the traditional laundry bin, until they were washed. In addition, I was looking for a useful project to empty my large stock of acrylic skeins, a material that I don't use much anymore. So I had the idea of this large laundry basket for what needs to be washed by hand.
Most of the skeins I used came from Zeeman (Royal quality), Aldi (Complesso quality) or had no labels left. The main colour, here off-white, is an Élysée Laine quality. All these acrylic yarns are size 3.5 - 4mm but as I wanted a quick project, I doubled the yarn and used 5mm and 6mm crochet hooks.
With this project, I wanted to try new things : a new way of inserting the crochet hook in the stitches, the realization of small stripes and the embroidered band in single crochet knit like.
I wish you a good crochet time !
Useful informations
- This pattern is written in US terms.
- The basket is about 43cm (16.92") height on 37cm (14.56") wide. It will depend on how you crochet and if you add or remove rounds.
- This pattern can be worked in the spiral or in joined rounds, it's up to you. (To learn how to finish a project in a spiral, go here.)
- The instructions of the magic circle are written with the technique of the perfect circle, in order to have a better look. For more details on the perfect circle, go on Ahooka’s blog.
- I used 5 colors :
- The main color which is for me off-white : A (10 skeins)
- A green forest : B (2 skeins)
- A grey : C (2 skeins)
- An apple green : D (2 skeins)
- An other grey : E (2 skeins)
- To make this basket, you will have to know how to single crochet knit like and how to cross stitch on this fabric. If you don't know how, go take a look at this tutorial !
- To have less ends to weave in, I recommend you to not cut the main color thread (A) and to bring it up to the top once you have finished the two rounds of colors B, C, D or E.
- Feel free to tick the small next to the rows when you have finished them !
Add to your Ravelry queue : 
Instructions
The basket
With the 6mm (J) crochet hook and color A :
1- Magic circle 6sc
2- *1inc* (12)
3- *1sc, 1inc* (18)
4- 1sc, 1inc, *2sc, 1inc*, 1sc (24)
5- *3sc, 1inc* (30)
6- 2sc, 1inc, *4sc, 1inc*, 2sc (36)
7- *5sc, 1inc* (42)
8- 3sc, 1inc, *6sc, 1inc*, 3sc (48)
9- *7sc, 1inc* (54)
10- 4sc, 1inc, *8sc, 1inc*, 4sc (60)
11- *9sc, 1inc* (66)
12- 5sc, 1inc, *10sc, 1inc*, 5sc (72)
13- *11sc, 1inc* (78)
14- 6sc, 1inc, *12sc, 1inc*, 6sc (84)
15- *13sc, 1inc* (90)
16- 7sc, 1inc, *14sc, 1inc*, 7sc (96)
17- *15sc, 1inc* (102)
18- 8sc, 1inc, *16sc, 1inc*, 8sc (108)
19- *17sc, 1inc* (114)
20- 9sc, 1inc, * 18sc, 1inc*, 9sc (120)
21- *19sc, 1inc* (126)
22- 10sc, 1inc, *20sc, 1inc*, 10sc (132)
23- *21sc, 1inc* (138)
24- 11sc, 1inc, *22sc, 1inc*, 11sc (144)
With the 5mm (H) crochet hook :
25- *1sc* in the back loop only (144)
26- *1sc* in the two loops (144)
27- *1sc* (144)
28- *1sc* (144)
29- *1sc* (144)
30- *1sc* (144)
Change to color B :
31- *1sc* in the previous round (144)
32- *1sc* (144)
Change to color A :
33- *1sc* in the previous round (144)
34- *1sc* (144)
35- *1sc* (144)
Change to color C :
36- *1sc* in the previous round (144)
37- *1sc* (144)
Change to color A :
38- *1sc* in the previous round (144)
39- *1sc* (144)
40- *1sc* (144)
Change to color D :
41- *1sc* in the previous round (144)
42- *1sc* (144)
Change to color A :
43- *1sc* in the previous round (144)
44- *1sc* (144)
45- *1sc* (144)
Change to color E :
46- *1sc* in the previous round (144)
47- *1sc* (144)
Change to color A :
48- *1sc* in the previous round (144)
49- *1sc* (144)
50- *1sc* (144)
From round 31 to round 50 = 1 group of 4 colors.
Repeat the explications from round 31 to round 50 to have a total of 3 groups.
WARNING : For the third group, don't repeat rounds 49 and 50.
So :
From round 51 to round 70 : second group of 4 colors.
From round 71 to round 88 : third group of 4 colors.
With the 6mm (J) crochet hook and color A :
89- *1sc* (144)
90- *1sc knit like* (144)
91- *1sc knit like* (144)
92- *1sc knit like* (144)
93- *1sc knit like* (144)
94- *1sc knit like* (144)
95- *1sc knit like* (144)
With the 5mm (H) crochet hook and color B, make the handles :
96- *1sc* in the previous round (144)
97- *1sc* (144)
98- *1sc* (144)
99- 26sc, ch20, skip 20sc, 52sc, ch20, skip 20sc, 26sc (144)
100- 26sc, 20sc around the ch20, 52sc, 20sc around the ch20, 26sc (144)
101- *1sc* (144)
102- *1sc* (144)
With the 5mm (H) crochet hook and color A, make the border :
103- *1sc* in the previous round (144)
f/o
The embroidery
To finish, we are going to make the embroidery on the sc knit like rounds.
My basket is made for hand wash laundry, that’s why I wrote "Hand Washing" on it, but it’s up to you to write what you want.
However you wish to write "Hand Washing" too, here is the diagram and the instructions :
With two strands of the color of your choice, begin with the "H" letter from "Hand" at the 45th stitch from the beginning of the 3rd round of color A and to the right.
Here, I chose to use B color.
Well done, you have finished !
If you have any questions or problems about the pattern, or if you want to send me a small picture of your finished project so that I can add it with pleasure to the gallery of this post, contact me via the comments, the contact form or at this e-mail address (specifying in the subject the name of the pattern) :
If you have any questions or problems about the pattern, or if you want to send me a small picture of your finished project so that I can add it with pleasure to the gallery of this post, contact me at this e-mail addresse (specifying in the subject the name of the pattern) :
contact@lagriffedeghexia.com
If you share your work on Instagram, don't forget to tag me with @Ghexia, #DesignedByGhexia and #handwashingbasket_LGDG. Also consider adding your realisation to your Ravelry projects, it will please me ! 🙂
Skill level
Completion time
Materials needed
- A 5mm (H) crochet hook
- A 6mm (J) crochet hook
- Eighteen acrylic skeins of size 3.5 - 4 (that we will double) or of size 5 (that we will not double) — 5 colors of your choice
- A yarn needle to weave in ends and to cross stitch
- A pair of scissors
- A stitch marker
Abbreviations
- st(s) : stitch(es)
- sc : single crochet
- slst : slip stitch
- ch : chain
- inc : increase
- f/o : fasten off
Gauge swatch
(Optional) In single crochet : 12 stitches on 16 rows for a square of 10cm side.
Copyright
A design by Ghexia (Gaëlle Martinage) - © La Griffe de Ghexia - All rights reserved. This pattern is for personal use only. The tutorial can not be (in whole or in part) reproduced, resold and modified. The translation and the publication (online or printed) are NOT allowed without my permission, except for strictly personal use. However, you can sell the finished products if they are handmade by you and as long as I am credited (e.g. : “This product was handmade by ........ from a pattern of Ghexia / www.lagriffedeghexia.com”). If you share your finished creation, don't forget to credit me as the designer. You can also, if you wish, specify the link of the pattern. Thanks ! ♥
Eco-friendly printing : print the tutorial by only keeping the necessary informations and written explanations. No images = less pages = thank you for the planet ! 🌍