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Crocheting Basket Liners

by on Oct 16, 2008

In my on-going effort to clothe naked baskets everywhere–well, at least in my house–I decided to try crocheting basket liners. If you decide you’d like to make one of these, I’d suggest using yarn that doesn’t snag easily. A sturdy 4ply acrylic works great.
created on: 10/16/08

Since baskets vary considerably, you use the basket itself as a pattern, fitting as you go. To start, you’ll want to make a panel–or a circle, as the case may be–to fit the bottom of the basket. After that, you simply start working around the perimeter of the panel (or circle) increasing at the corners if necessary to fit the shape of the sides of your basket.

created on: 10/16/08

When you get to the top of your basket, you’ll fasten off. Slip your liner in your basket and determine where you’ll want to join your yarn as you take into consideration the basket’s handles and the opening for them. Join the yarn and crochet a section about 1 ½ to 2 inches high. (This will fold over your basket.) For a basket with straight sides, simply crochet as usual, but for a basket with wonky sides, like the long flat one in the example, you’ll have to decrease stitches at the corners to fit  over the edge.

created on: 10/16/08

When you’re done with both ‘fold-overs’, you may want to finish your edges with a slip stitch. I chained about 6 or 7 inches, then joined my fold over, then slip stitched down the top edge to the other end, finishing off with a 6 or 7 inch chain. OR you might want to just chain and slip stitch around the handle opening, which is what I did in the Halloween basket example. created on: 10/16/08

My chains serve as my ties to keep the liner in place. As far as stitches go, well, you can use any you’d like, but I chose single crochet for a very protective and dense liner.

Finally, if you do try crocheting a liner based on this post, don’t get hung up on my instructions. It’s kind of a ‘do as you see fit’ kind of thing, which makes it a really fun project!