Knit a Basket to Use Up Some Stash

Baskets are a perennial trend in home decor, but especially this time of year when we’re all trying to get a little more organized.

With this pattern for a geometric basket from purl3agony, you can use up some of your yarn stash to make a place to store other things (maybe tiny balls of yarn?).

It uses two different kinds of yarn in her version, but you could always make stripes to use up odd balls if you want. A plastic bowl in the bottom gives it stability, and you could work the same kind of project in different sizes to suit different needs and cover different sized containers.

The base is worked in one piece from the center out, then the sides are picked up and worked in the round, which makes it easy to adjust the size.

Do you have any knit baskets? What do you use them for? I have a giant crocheted basket that’s more like a bag because the sides are floppy that’s always full of some kind of kid stuff. It’s great!

[Photo via purl3agony.]

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Not too long ago I was seeing a crochet pattern for a glasses holder shaped like a bear all over the Internet. It was super cute, and also useful as a place to put your glasses on your bedside table instead of just throwing them somewhere random.

This project stewed in my brain for a little while and I decided I needed to make a knit version, but I didn’t want to make a bear. If you know anything about me you might know that I’m a cat person, so of course my version had to be a cat.

The base is just a basic little basic worked from the center out to the desired size, then up the sides as long as you want them. Knit some ears and add embellishments to make it whatever kind of animal you want.

The way I figured out to work the base from the center out was to use a crochet cast on, which gives you an easier way to pick up stitches from the back of the cast on than if you worked a more traditional cast on for a knitting project. It’s kind of fun to do things in a different way from time to time.

This little project is adorable if I do say so myself, and even as a plain little basket not made into an animal it’s a cute way to keep your glasses or other little things in one place. I’m tempted to make one for my desk to hold pens or even little little scissors and sewing needles that are always on my desk but somehow always seem to get lost on my desk.

If you need a little holder for your glasses on your table, check out the pattern at Our Daily Craft.

[Photo: Our Daily Craft]

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