The Lotus Crown Basket is a small oval storage basket that looks like a flower opening up. A cream oval base sits under a double ring of soft pink fan petals. A zigzag band of sage-green leaves wraps the bottom, and two green arch handles rise from the short ends.
The colors are light pink, cream, and sage green. It looks fresh on a vanity or nursery shelf, and it’s the right size for rolled washcloths, cotton pads, or small yarn cakes.
This pattern uses US crochet terms. The finished basket is about 8 in (20.3 cm) long, 5.5 in (14.0 cm) wide, and 4 in (10.2 cm) tall at the inner petal tips. It’s about 6 in (15.2 cm) tall at the top of the handles.
The basket is built in modules. You crochet the base and a short cream wall as one piece, in rounds. Then you make 10 fan petals, 10 leaves, and 2 handles. Five inner petals are sewn to the top of the wall, and five outer petals go on the outside, offset by half a petal. Next come the leaves and handles. A cream bumper border finishes the bottom edge.
Finished Size and Construction
- Finished size: 8 in × 5.5 in × 4 in (20.3 × 14.0 × 10.2 cm); 6 in (15.2 cm) at the handles
- Skill level: Intermediate
- Terminology: US
- Yarn weight: Worsted (#4) cotton
- Hook: 4.0 mm (G-6)
- Number of pieces: 23 (1 base with wall, 10 petals, 10 leaves, 2 handles)
- Layout: 5 inner petals on the wall top, 5 outer petals offset by 9 stitches, 10 leaves in pairs, 1 handle per short end
- Piece size: petal 4.5 in × 2.75 in (11.4 × 7.0 cm); leaf 2.75 in × 1.5 in (7.0 × 3.8 cm); handle 9.5 in (24.1 cm) long
- Size before border: base 7.75 in × 5.25 in (19.7 × 13.3 cm); wall 1 in (2.5 cm) tall, 90 stitches around
- Border depth: 2 rounds, a rolled ridge about 0.5 in (1.3 cm) deep
Materials
Use a smooth, firm worsted cotton or cotton blend. Cotton holds its shape and shows the fan texture clearly. Avoid fuzzy or very stretchy yarn, because it makes the petals droop.
- Cream (base, wall, border): 40 g, about 70 m
- Light pink (petals): 40 g, about 70 m
- Sage green (leaves, handles): 25 g, about 45 m
Tools: 4.0 mm (G-6) hook, tapestry needle, 6 locking stitch markers, rust-proof pins, spray bottle, tape measure, and scissors.
These quantities include a margin of roughly 15% for swatching and sewing tails.
Abbreviations (US Terms)
- ch – chain
- sl st – slip stitch
- sc – single crochet
- hdc – half double crochet
- dc – double crochet
- tr – treble crochet
- BLO – back loop only
- FL – front loop
- st(s) – stitch(es)
- sp – space
- rep – repeat
Special stitch – reverse sc (crab stitch): Work from left to right (if you’re right-handed). Insert the hook into the next stitch to the right and pull up a loop. Then yarn over and pull through both loops on the hook.
Gauge and Checkpoints
Gauge: 16 sc × 18 rounds = 4 in (10.2 cm), in sc worked in the round.
Make one petal first. After Row 4 it should measure 4 in (10.2 cm) across the bottom. After the edging it should measure 4.5 in (11.4 cm), with exactly 18 sc on the bottom edge to match 18 wall stitches.
Checkpoints:
– Base after Rnd 6: about 5 in × 2.75 in (12.7 × 7.0 cm)
– Base after Rnd 12: 7.75 in × 5.25 in (19.7 × 13.3 cm)
– Wall after Rnd 17: 1 in (2.5 cm) tall
– Petal after edging: 4.5 in × 2.75 in (11.4 × 7.0 cm)
If your pieces come out too big, go down 0.5 mm in hook size. If they’re too small, go up 0.5 mm. Never change the stitch counts, because all the joining depends on 90 = 5 × 18.
Base and Wall (Cream, Make 1)
Work in continuous rounds. Mark the first stitch of each round and move the marker up as you go.
Rnd 1: Ch 12. Work 3 sc in the 2nd ch from hook, sc in the next 9 ch, and 3 sc in the last ch. Rotate the work and, along the underside of the chain, sc in the next 9 ch. (24 sts: two 3-st ends and two 9-st straights)
Rnd 2: [2 sc in each of next 3 sts, sc in next 9 sts] twice. (30 sts)
Rnd 3: [(Sc in next st, 2 sc in next st) 3 times, sc in next 9 sts] twice. (36 sts)
Rnds 4–12: On Rnd n, work [(sc in next n−2 sts, 2 sc in next st) 3 times, sc in next 9 sts] twice.
Stitch counts: Rnd 4: 42; Rnd 5: 48; Rnd 6: 54; Rnd 7: 60; Rnd 8: 66; Rnd 9: 72; Rnd 10: 78; Rnd 11: 84; Rnd 12: 90.
In Rnd 12, each end section has 36 sts and each straight side has 9 (36 + 9 + 36 + 9 = 90). The base should lie flat.
Rnd 13 (turning round): Sc in the BLO of each st around. (90 sts) This leaves the front loops of Rnd 12 free for the border.
Rnds 14–17: Sc in each st around. (90 sts)
Sl st in the next st and fasten off. The wall should be 1 in (2.5 cm) tall.
Fan Petals (Pink, Make 10)
Each petal is a half circle worked in rows from the bottom center. This gives you concentric fan arcs and a straight bottom edge. The edging adds the pointed tip.
Row 1: Ch 4 (counts as dc), 6 dc in the 4th ch from hook. Turn. (7 dc)
Row 2: Ch 3 (counts as dc), dc in the first st, then 2 dc in each st across, including the top of the turning ch. Turn. (14 dc)
Row 3 (eyelet arc): Ch 4 (counts as dc and ch 1). *Dc in next st, ch 1; rep from * to the last st, then dc in the top of the turning ch. Turn. (14 dc, 13 ch-1 sps)
Row 4: Ch 3 (counts as dc), 2 dc in each ch-1 sp across, dc in the 3rd ch of the turning ch. Turn. (1 + 26 + 1 = 28 dc)
Checkpoint: the bottom edge measures 4 in (10.2 cm).
Row 5 (edging): Ch 1. Sc in the first 12 sts, hdc in the next st, dc in the next st, ch 2, dc in the next st, hdc in the next st, then sc in the last 12 sts. (28 sts plus ch-2 tip)
Don’t turn. Keep going along the straight bottom edge: work 2 sc into each row end (8 sc), 2 sc around the center of Row 1, then 2 sc into each row end on the other side (8 sc). Sl st to the first sc of Row 5. (18 sc on the bottom edge)
Fasten off. On 5 of the petals, leave an 18 in (45.7 cm) tail; these will be the inner petals. Finished petal: 4.5 in × 2.75 in (11.4 × 7.0 cm).
Leaves (Green, Make 10)
The foundation chain becomes the center vein, and the stitches on either side form small V-shaped ribs.
Rnd 1: Ch 10. Sc in the 2nd ch from hook, hdc in the next ch, dc in the next 2 ch, tr in the next 2 ch, dc in the next ch, hdc in the next ch, then (sc, ch 2, sc) in the last ch for the tip. Rotate the work and continue along the underside of the chain: hdc in the next ch, dc in the next ch, tr in the next 2 ch, dc in the next 2 ch, hdc in the next ch, sc in the last ch. Sl st to the first sc. (18 sts plus ch-2 tip)
Fasten off and leave a 12 in (30.5 cm) tail. Each leaf measures 2.75 in × 1.5 in (7.0 × 3.8 cm).
Handles (Green, Make 2)
Row 1: Ch 39, sc in the 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across. Turn. (38 sc)
Rows 2–5: Ch 1, sc in each st across. Turn. (38 sc)
Fold the strip in half lengthwise and sl st the long edges together to make a rounded cord. Fasten off and leave a 12 in (30.5 cm) tail. Each handle is 9.5 in (24.1 cm) long and about 0.5 in (1.3 cm) thick.
Make All Pieces
- Cream: 1 base with wall (90 sts)
- Pink: 10 petals (5 inner, 5 outer), each with 18 bottom sts
- Green: 10 leaves, 2 handles
Wall layout. Read it around the 90 sts of Rnd 17, starting at st 1, the beginning of short end A:
Wall sts: 1-9 | 10-27 | 28-45 | 46-63 | 64-81 | 82-90
Inner: I5 | I1 | I2 | I3 | I4 | I5
(I1 centered on end A; I3/I4 seam on end B)
Wall sts: 1-18 | 19-36 | 37-54 | 55-72 | 73-90
Outer: O1 | O2 | O3 | O4 | O5
(O1/O2 seam on end A; O4 centered on end B)
Leaves: 2 per outer seam x 5 seams = 10
Joining
Method: Whipstitch with the matching tail, one stitch to one stitch. Pull each stitch snug, but not tight enough to pucker.
Inner petals: Place markers on Rnd 17 at sts 10, 28, 46, 64, and 82. Hold petal I1 inside the wall with its right side facing in. Whipstitch its 18 bottom sc to sts 10–27, going through both loops of each wall stitch. Repeat with I2 through I5. I5 wraps across the start of the round. Tack the touching bottom corners of each pair of petals together with 2 stitches.
Count: 5 petals × 18 sts = 90 sts, which matches Rnd 17 exactly. No stitches are added at the seams.
Outer petals: Set each outer petal against the outside of the wall with its right side facing out and its bottom edge along Rnd 14. Whipstitch its 18 bottom sc to the outer surface of 18 Rnd 14 sts, following the grid (5 × 18 = 90). Each outer petal covers one V gap between the inner petals, and the inner tips peek out above.
Leaves: At each of the 5 outer seams, pin 2 leaves in a V. Their bases should meet at the seam on Rnd 13, with the tips leaning outward over the petals. Sew only around the base half of each leaf.
Handles: Center one handle inside each short end, with its ends 4 in (10.2 cm) apart. Overlap each end 0.75 in (1.9 cm) onto the inner petals, just above the wall, and sew it down on all four sides.
Size checkpoint: The basket should measure 8 in × 5.5 in (20.3 × 14.0 cm) across the outer petals and 4 in (10.2 cm) tall at the inner tips.
Border
Border gauge: Same as the base, 16 sc per 4 in (10.2 cm). The border is worked into the 90 free front loops of Rnd 12.
Rnd 1: Join cream in the FL of st 1 of Rnd 12, at the start of end A. Sc in each FL around: 36 on end A, 9 on the first straight side, 36 on end B, and 9 on the second straight side. Sl st to the first sc. (90 sts)
Rnd 2: Ch 1, then work reverse sc in each st around: 36 + 9 + 36 + 9. Sl st to the first st and fasten off. (90 sts)
Why the math works: The border uses the base’s own 90 stitches, keeping 36 per end and 9 per straight side. Since it adds no stitches and drops none, it can’t ruffle or pull in. The crab stitch rolls into a firm ridge that also keeps the basket from sliding.
Final Blocking
- Weave in all ends along the seams, each in its matching color.
- Mist the petals and leaves until they’re damp, not wet.
- Stuff the basket firmly with a folded towel so the wall stands straight.
- Shape each petal into a smooth arch and pinch the tip into a point.
- Press the leaves flat against the outer petals, pinning the tips if needed.
- Shape the handles into even arches that rise about 2 in (5.1 cm) above the inner tips.
- Let everything dry for about 24 hours before you take out the towel.
Final Quality-Control Checklist
- Base is flat, 7.75 in × 5.25 in (19.7 × 13.3 cm), with 90 sts
- Wall is 5 rounds and 1 in (2.5 cm) tall
- Each petal has 18 bottom sc and measures 4.5 in (11.4 cm)
- Inner petals fill all 90 sts of Rnd 17, with no gaps or doubled stitches
- Outer petals are centered over the inner seams
- 10 leaves sit in 5 even V pairs
- Handles match and are centered on the short ends
- Border rolls evenly, with no ripples
Troubleshooting
- Base cups up: Your increases are too tight. Go up a hook size.
- Base ruffles: You have an extra increase somewhere. Recount each round.
- Petal is wider than 4.5 in (11.4 cm): Go down a hook size, but keep the 18-st bottom edge.
- Petal edge waves: Work Row 5 a little tighter.
- Inner petals don’t line up with the round: Recount Rnd 17. It has to be 90.
- Handles flop: Sew down all four sides of each handle end.
- Leaves curl: Mist them again and pin them flat until dry.
Care
Hand wash in cool water with mild soap. Reshape the basket around a towel and let it dry flat.
Final Notes
Everything in this basket depends on one number: 90. The base grows to 90 stitches at 7.75 in × 5.25 in (19.7 × 13.3 cm). The wall keeps those 90 stitches for 1 in (2.5 cm). Five inner petals of 18 stitches cover the wall top, five outer petals of 18 cover Rnd 14, and the border goes back into the same 90 stitches. If your gauge and your first petal hit their checkpoints, the basket will come together cleanly.
Happy crocheting!