This crochet basket is shaped like a crown. It has a solid round base, a short band of firm single crochet, and then an open round of tall posts topped by eight peaked fans. Each point ends in a small picot. The basket hangs from a wooden ring on two narrow straps and is sized to hold one standard toilet paper roll. It also works for hand towels, yarn balls, or small plants in a nursery.
The sample is made in one soft butter-yellow cotton. Cotton gives the fans clear stitch definition and helps the crown points stand up. Any light or pastel color will show the open stitches well.
The pattern uses US crochet terms. The finished basket is 5.75 in (14.6 cm) across and 4.5 in (11.4 cm) tall to the crown tips. Hung up, the whole piece measures about 12.5 in (31.8 cm) from the bottom of the basket to the top of the ring.
How it’s built: you crochet the base in joined rounds, then keep going up into the wall without fastening off. Next you work three crown rounds on top. Separately, you make two straps, then fold them over a wooden ring and sew them to opposite sides of the basket.
Finished Size and Construction
- Finished size: 5.75 in (14.6 cm) wide × 4.5 in (11.4 cm) tall to the tips
- Skill level: Intermediate
- Terminology: US crochet terms
- Yarn weight: Worsted (#4) cotton
- Hook: 5.0 mm (H-8)
- Number of pieces: 1 basket body + 2 straps + 1 wooden ring
- Layout: Straps attached on opposite sides of the basket, meeting at the ring above it
- Base size: 5.5 in (14.0 cm) across
- Size before the crown: 5.75 in (14.6 cm) wide × 1.5 in (3.8 cm) of solid wall
- Crown depth: 3 in (7.6 cm), from the top of the solid wall to the picot tips
Materials
Yarn: Use a smooth worsted-weight cotton or cotton blend. Pure acrylic works, but the fans will be softer and may lean outward. Avoid fuzzy yarns, because they blur the open posts.
- Butter yellow: 75 g / about 130 m (142 yd)
Quantities include a margin of about 25% for your gauge swatch and for differences in tension.
Tools:
– 5.0 mm (H-8) crochet hook
– Wooden ring, 2.5 in (6.4 cm) outside diameter
– Tapestry needle
– 2 locking stitch markers
– Scissors
– Measuring tape
– Spray bottle and pins for blocking
Abbreviations (US Terms)
- ch – chain
- sl st – slip stitch
- sc – single crochet
- hdc – half double crochet
- dc – double crochet
- tr – treble crochet
- dtr – double treble crochet (yarn over 3 times, insert hook, pull up a loop, then [yarn over, pull through 2 loops] 4 times)
- BLO – back loop only
- inc – 2 sc in the same stitch
- sp – space
- st(s) – stitch(es)
Special stitch – Picot: ch 3, then sl st in the 3rd ch from the hook.
Gauge and Checkpoints
Gauge: 14 sc and 15 rounds = 4 in (10.2 cm) in single crochet worked in the round.
Before you start the basket, make the base (Rounds 1–10). It works as your gauge swatch. Check it at these points:
- After Round 5: 2.75 in (7.0 cm) across
- After Round 10: 5.5 in (14.0 cm) across, lying flat
- After Round 16: the solid wall is 1.5 in (3.8 cm) tall
- After Round 17: 3 in (7.6 cm) tall at the valleys
- After Round 19: 4.5 in (11.4 cm) tall at the tips
If your base is too big (more than 5.75 in / 14.6 cm), switch to a 4.5 mm (US 7) hook. If it’s too small (under 5.25 in / 13.3 cm), switch to a 5.5 mm (I-9) hook. A toilet roll is about 4.5 in (11.4 cm) wide, so the basket needs at least 5.25 in (13.3 cm) of inside width.
Basket Body
Base
Work in joined rounds. At the end of each round, sl st to the first sc. Start each round with ch 1, which does not count as a stitch. Place a marker in the first stitch of each round.
Round 1: Make a magic ring and work 6 sc into it. Join. (6 sts)
Round 2: Inc in each st around. Join. (12 sts)
Round 3: [Sc in next st, inc] 6 times. Join. (18 sts)
Round 4: [Sc in next 2 sts, inc] 6 times. Join. (24 sts)
Round 5: [Sc in next 3 sts, inc] 6 times. Join. (30 sts)
Checkpoint: 2.75 in (7.0 cm) across.
Round 6: [Sc in next 4 sts, inc] 6 times. Join. (36 sts)
Round 7: [Sc in next 5 sts, inc] 6 times. Join. (42 sts)
Round 8: [Sc in next 6 sts, inc] 6 times. Join. (48 sts)
Round 9: [Sc in next 7 sts, inc] 6 times. Join. (54 sts)
Round 10: [Sc in next 8 sts, inc] 6 times. Join. (60 sts)
Checkpoint: 5.5 in (14.0 cm) across. The base should lie flat. If it ripples, your increases are too tight. If it cups, your stitches are too loose for this hook.
Wall
Round 11 (conversion round): Ch 1. Working in the BLO: [sc in next 14 sts, inc in next st] 4 times. Join.
Count: 60 sts worked one into each stitch + 4 extra = 64 sts.
Working into the back loop leaves a ridge that turns the edge of the base upward. The 4 extra stitches give the 64 stitches the crown needs and make the wall flare very slightly.
Rounds 12–16: Ch 1, sc in each st around. Join. (64 sts)
Checkpoint: the wall stands up straight and measures 1.5 in (3.8 cm) from the base ridge. It measures 5.75 in (14.6 cm) across and about 18.3 in (46.5 cm) around.
Don’t fasten off. The crown continues from this point (see the Crown Edge section below).
Straps (make 2)
Row 1: Ch 36. Sc in the 2nd ch from the hook and in each ch across. (35 sts)
Rows 2–3: Ch 1, turn, sc in each st across. (35 sts)
Surface finish: With the right side facing you, work surface slip stitches along the middle row from one end to the other. This gives the strap a braided-looking center ridge, as in the sample.
Fasten off and leave a 12 in (30.5 cm) tail.
Checkpoint: each strap is 10 in (25.4 cm) long and 0.8 in (2.0 cm) wide.
Make All Pieces
You need these parts, all in butter yellow:
- 1 basket body (base, wall and crown)
- 2 straps, 35 sts × 3 rows each
- 1 wooden ring, 2.5 in (6.4 cm)
Assembly layout, seen from the front:
( RING )
/ \
strap A strap B
/ \
[Fan 1] ... [Fan 5] <- opposite sides
|________BASKET_______|
Fans are numbered 1 to 8 going around the basket. Strap A attaches behind Fan 1 and Strap B behind Fan 5. They sit 4 fans apart, so they’re exactly opposite each other.
Crown Edge
This works like the border of the piece. Work it straight onto the 64 stitches of Round 16.
Crown gauge: One dtr round stands 1.5 in (3.8 cm) tall. One fan stands about 1 in (2.5 cm), and the final edging with picots adds 0.5 in (1.3 cm). Together that makes 3 in (7.6 cm) of crown.
Round 17 (post round): Ch 5 (counts as the first dtr), ch 1, skip next st. Dtr in next st, ch 1, skip next st. Repeat from * 30 more times. Join to the top of the beginning ch-5.
Count: 32 dtr and 32 ch-1 spaces.
Each dtr uses 2 stitches of the wall: the one it sits in and the one skipped under its ch-1. That’s why 64 ÷ 2 = 32 posts.
Checkpoint: 3 in (7.6 cm) tall from the base ridge to the top of the posts. The posts should stand straight. If they lean, check that each dtr goes into the stitch right after a skipped stitch.
Round 18 (fan round): Divide the round into 8 repeats of 4 posts each and call the posts A, B, C and D.
Ch 1, sc in the same st (post A). Skip next ch-1 sp, post B and next ch-1 sp; 9 tr in post C; skip next ch-1 sp, post D and next ch-1 sp; sc in next dtr (the next post A). Repeat from * 6 more times. On the last repeat, end after the 9 tr. Skip the last space, post and space, then join to the first sc.
Count: 8 sc + (8 × 9 tr) = 80 sts.
The sc on post A forms the low valley between points. The fan grows out of post C. Posts B and D are skipped, so they stay visible as free-standing legs under each fan. That’s the open look in the photo.
Round 19 (point edging): Sl st in the sc. Then on the 9 tr of the fan: sc in 1st tr, hdc in 2nd tr, dc in 3rd tr, dc in 4th tr, (dc, picot, dc) in 5th tr, dc in 6th tr, dc in 7th tr, hdc in 8th tr, sc in 9th tr. Repeat from * 7 more times. Join to the first sl st and fasten off.
Count: 8 × 11 sts = 88 sts plus 8 picots.
The stitches get taller toward the middle of each fan (sc, then hdc, then dc). Working 2 dc into the center tr adds height and width there. Together these shape each fan into a pointed arch, and the picot forms the small tip.
Why the math works: 64 wall stitches ÷ 2 = 32 posts. 32 posts ÷ 4 = 8 repeats. Each repeat becomes 1 sc + 9 tr = 10 sts, so 8 × 10 = 80. On Round 19, each repeat is 1 sl st + 10 sts, including the 2 dc in the center tr, so 8 × 11 = 88. Because nothing is added or lost between repeats, all 8 points come out the same size.
Joining
Method: Whipstitch with the strap tails.
Ring end: Fold 1 in (2.5 cm) of one end of a strap over the wooden ring, with the wrong side inside. Using a separate yarn length, whipstitch through both layers across all 3 rows. Pull the stitches firm but not tight, so the strap can still slide slightly on the ring. Repeat with the second strap, then push the two straps together on the ring.
Basket end: Turn the basket inside out, or just reach inside it. Lay the free end of Strap A on the inside of the wall behind Fan 1, centered on post C. The top of the strap should line up with the base of the fan, and the strap should overlap 1.5 in (3.8 cm) downward.
- Whipstitch both long edges of the strap to post C. Wrap each stitch around the dtr.
- Sew the bottom 3 sts of the strap into Round 16 and Round 15 of the solid wall.
- Each stitch goes into one strap stitch and one basket stitch, with no skipping. This keeps the strap flat.
Attach Strap B behind Fan 5 in the same way.
Tension: Sew firmly enough that the strap doesn’t move, but don’t pull the dtr post toward the strap. If the fan above it starts to tilt, loosen the stitches.
Checkpoint: each strap has 7.5 in (19.1 cm) hanging free. Hold the basket up by the ring and check that it hangs level. The total hanging height is about 12.5 in (31.8 cm).
Final Blocking
- Weave in all the ends along the solid wall or inside the stitches of the fans.
- Stuff the basket firmly with a towel or a 5.5 in (14.0 cm) wide container so the wall stays round.
- Spray the whole crown until it’s damp, but not soaked.
- Pull each fan up gently. Pin each picot tip to the stuffing so all 8 tips stand 4.5 in (11.4 cm) above the base.
- Straighten each pair of free posts (B and D) so they run straight up and down.
- Lay the straps flat, spray them lightly, and stretch them to 10 in (25.4 cm) if they’re short.
- Let everything dry completely, usually for 24 hours, before removing the pins and stuffing.
Final Quality-Control Checklist
- Base lies flat and measures 5.5 in (14.0 cm)
- BLO ridge forms a clean, even edge where the base meets the wall
- Wall is 64 sts and 1.5 in (3.8 cm) tall
- 32 posts, evenly spaced, all straight up and down
- 8 fans, each with 9 tr and 2 free posts underneath
- 8 picot tips at the same height of 4.5 in (11.4 cm)
- Straps are attached exactly opposite each other, behind Fans 1 and 5
- Basket hangs level from the ring
- No loose ends showing on the outside
Troubleshooting
Base curls up like a bowl: You’re crocheting too tightly at the increases. Go up one hook size for the base only.
Base ripples: You’ve added too many stitches or your tension is too loose. Count each round again; Round 10 must have 60 sts.
Wall flares out too much: Make sure Round 11 is in the BLO and adds only 4 stitches. Tighten your tension on Rounds 12–16.
Wrong number of posts: You probably missed a skip. Count 32 dtr before starting Round 18.
Fans flop forward: Use cotton instead of acrylic, block with firm stuffing, or replace the dc stitches in Round 19 with hdc.
Points are uneven: Check that each fan sits on post C and each valley sc on post A.
Basket tilts when hanging: The straps are different lengths or attached at different heights. Move one strap so both hang 7.5 in (19.1 cm) free.
Care
Hand wash in cool water, press out the water in a towel, and dry the basket flat with the crown reshaped and stuffed. Don’t put it in the dryer.
Final Notes
Here is how the measurements build on each other: a 60-stitch base 5.5 in (14.0 cm) across becomes a 64-stitch wall 5.75 in (14.6 cm) wide. That wall carries 32 posts, which become 8 fans, and the edging finishes the crown tips at 4.5 in (11.4 cm). The two 10 in (25.4 cm) straps then hang the basket at about 12.5 in (31.8 cm) overall. If each checkpoint matches, the next stage will come out right, and the basket will hold a standard roll with room to spare.
Happy crocheting!