Crochet Christmas Basket Ornament Tutorial

I am teaching a beginner’s Crochet 101 (Crocheting 101) class right now at our Community College. Usually whenever I am teaching students during the Christmas season, on the last day of class I give them each a Crochet Yarn Basket Christmas Ornament. (pictured above) It is a pattern that I have had for years and over time I have crocheted many of these to hand out as gifts not only to my students, but many of them to my friends and family members as well.

This is a great gift for people in your life you would like to give a small gift to as well, for example the mail man, newspaper boy, family doctor or Sunday school teacher. Or maybe just to have a few on hand for the friends who always like to surprise you with an unexpected gift.

My tradition started with my own tree in 1989 when I visited a little local yarn store in Chicago. I found this little pattern booklet from Simplicity, “All American Decorations to Knit & Crochet”. This little booklet helped to begin my first experiences with crocheting Christmas Ornaments. Up until this point I never realized how treasured and full of memories one ornament could hold.

For my students I hope that every time they see it – The little basket of yarn will remind them of when they first developed a new love for crocheting. The feeling you get when the crochet hook goes from that awkward thing protruding from your hand to a wonderful tool that helps you create beautiful series of interlocking looped stitches that form a piece of fabric from an ordinary ball of yarn.

I tried to locate the exact pattern that I used on the internet but was unsuccessful. Because of copyright laws I am unable to post the same one I use, however I did fine a similar one. After we crocheted the basket I will tell you how to add the embellishments to make it have the appearance of a small basket of yarn with knitting needles.

The free pattern I found was on (http://www.squidoo.com/howtocrochetachristmasbasketornament). I am going to take you step by step through the basket and hopefully you can have this ready to place on your tree in half a hour.

To crochet this ornament you will need a working knowledge of the slip stitch (Slip Stitch), the chain stitch (The Chain Stitch) and the double crochet (Double Crochet). I have written below the list of material you will need, so as soon as you have everything needed we will get started. The pattern skill level is easy, which means it can be easily crocheted by everyone.

Crochet a Christmas Basket Ornament Tutorial

Materials:
Small amount worsted weight yarn (white or off white would be best)
small amount of three colors of yarn
two toothpicks
two small beads that will slide onto the end of the toothpicks
Size H crochet hook

Size: 1 1/2″ tall without handle

First we are going to start by crocheting the basket.

Rnd 1: Ch 4, join w sl st in 1st ch to form ring, (pictured above)

ch 3, 11 dc in ring,  (pictured above)

join w sl st in top of ch 3 (12 dc).  (pictured above)

Tip: How to close the hole in the center of your crochet circle. This is hard to explain on a post, so I include a video tutorial for this tip. Here is the link: (How to close the hole in a crochet circle)

Rnd 2: Ch 3, 2 dc in next dc,  (pictured above)

*dc in next dc,  (pictured above)

2 dc in next dc, and in each stitch around,  (pictured above)

join as before with a sl st in the first ch 3 (18 dc). (pictured above)

Rnd 3: Ch 3, dc in each dc around, join as before with a sl st in the first ch 3, fasten off (18 dc).  (pictured above)

Now is the time to sew in all the ends.

Now we need to crochet and attach the handle or what some refer to as a hanging loop.

Ch 16, fasten off. Sew ch to sides of basket.   (pictured above)

We are now going to add some personal touches which will fill this basket with yarn and a pair of knitting needles.

Balls of yarn: Wind 3 small balls of yarn in different colors and place into the basket. I personal try to use the primary colors of blue, red and yellow. But you could use any matching color that you have laying around.   (pictured above)

Knitting Needles: Glue beads to one end of the toothpicks. Insert toothpicks into balls of yarn.    (pictured above)

Now go and hang it on the tree and remember this is a great pattern to keep handy for those quick last minute gifts. Hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and wishing you and your family a great Christmas season.

Until next week, keep those hooks flying.