The Willow Pond Rope Basket is a beginner friendly modern crochet design that has the look and function of a jute rope basket except, it’s all crochet! It is named after a tiny spring melt pond framed with pines, wildflowers, and a breathtaking view of Mt. Sneffels, in the San Juan Mountains of SW Colorado! It’s one of my favorite spots to pull over and snap a few photos when I venture up that way!

The Willow Pond basket is as versatile and practical as is it beautiful and quick to work up! You can easily complete it in a weekend. Keep it neutral like I did and use it as a planter cover, a project basket, or to display towels in the bathroom! Or… combine some pastels for a sweet little nursery basket to hold fresh diapers, plush toys, or a few rolled up receiving blankets. Make several and give them as gifts! The possibilities are endless!

Construction Notes
If you decide to make a yarn substitution for the tape yarn in this project, you will need to do so with care. The Lion Brand Yarns, Rewind Tape Yarn is a very unique yarn in that is strong and has an almost felt like feel, but it is also thin and lightweight. For this project, holding 2 strands of the tape yarn together for the color A rows results in reasonably good structure in the sides of the basket. A single strand of T-shirt yarn or even a super bulky weight (6 wt.) yarn may work well, but you would need to test it out and see. Any yarn substitutions may also significantly affect the amount of yarn you will need to complete the basket.

If you would like to modify the size of your basket, it is easy to do! Decide what diameter you want to make, and follow the directions provided to add or subtract rounds in the increase section of the pattern until you reach your target diameter. After you reach that diameter, simply resume the pattern at the start of the next section. Keep in mind, if you increase the size of your basket too much, it may lose some of its ability to hold its shape because of the added weight, and it will consume more yarn. Also, if you want to add handles at the top, you will need to do a little math, accounting for the modified stitch count, to ensure the handles will be spaced out evenly across from each other along the top of the rim.

Dimensions
Diameter x Height to rim x Height to top of handle
10 x 8.5 x 10 inch
25.4 x 21.6 x 25.4 cm

Materials
Shown in Lion Brand Yarns
Rewind Tape Yarn (2 skeins - worked with 2 strands held together), Color: Willow
24/7 Cotton (1 skein), Color: Ecru

Amount:
Approximate in yd/m/oz/g
Rewind Tape: 311/284/5.0/142
24/7 Cotton: 153/140/2.9/82

Crochet Hook: H8 - 5.00mm
Yarn Needle (to weave in ends)
Stitch markers
Scissors

©Copyright 2021 Corri Schmidt. Reproduction of this pattern is prohibited. You may sell items made from this pattern. Please credit “Alpenglow Basin Fiber Arts” on the tag, or a link in your item description to https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/alpenglow-basin-.... Please tag social media posts with @alpenglowbasin and #alpenglowbasin. Thank you!