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The first exposure I had to this crochet stitch was in a goodwill in west Texas last summer. There was an afghan that had seen better days but the pattern was absolutely mesmerizing. I looked at it from a distance because my Mimmie informed me that if I didn’t want to take bed bugs home I wouldn’t be jacking with anything made of fabric. I asked her what kind of a stitch it was and she told me a “a nasty one”.
Since I was playing chauffer to Momma and Mimmie I didn’t have an opportunity to really think about it too much, but on the many, many hours of drive back to Oklahoma I Googled on my phone with a fierce determination to find out how to replicate what I had seen. Although I now know it is a basket weave I had no idea what to call it. Isn’t it so much fun to search for something you have no clue the name of? Love it! (not really)
So I found a pic in image search and I spent 7+ hours trying to duplicate what I saw on my phone’s screen. It was rather frustrating but in the end, I made it work. When I got a good deal going Momma said, it looks like a basket weave! I was then able to find a proper tutorial and learned that I wasn’t doing it that way, but since it worked out for me, I’m sharing it here!
This stitch looks best when it is kind of loose, which isn’t easy for a tight hooker like me. I’m most comfortable working a G but I bump it up to an H so that my stitches are naturally a bit looser than normal. I’d definitely recommend working with a hook or two bigger than your usual.
If you look at the pattern in a pic above you can see that it looks like squares of four stitches alternating vertically and kind of horizontally. That makes each set have 8 stitches.
So chain in multiples of 8 + one more chain. Double crochet in the fourth chain from the hook (the first three act as our first double) and continue down the length of your chain. Before moving on, double check that you do have a multiple of 8 double crochets.
Chain twice to act as our first double crochet (our next row of stitches will be shorter than normal, you’ll see why only 2 instead of the normal 3 as you start working)
When working this stitch we are going to be going in front of and behind the posts of the double crochets we just knocked out. The arrows above are pointing to the post on one of those doubles.
I’m having a hard time finding good words for how to do what you need to here, but see the pic above? You’re basically pushing the hook behind the post of the second double crochet of the previous row. From this point you’re going to make a double crochet as usual.
Continue to double crochet behind the post for the next two stitches. Remember how the pattern is in fours? The first double crochet acts as the first in this set and the three you just made complete this section. See how it looks like you’ve extended the four crochets beneath? Pretty cool, huh?
Now we’re going to do the next four in front of the post. To get there you’ll push your hook through the backside of your piece and to the right of the next post (will be the fifth double crochet).
Take your hook and move it in front of the post and back out through the backside. Double crochet from this position. Continue on the next three posts for a total of four stitches this way.
This is definitely harder to get the hang of going in front like this, but just keep at it. The results of working the stitch this way are neat horizontal lines running across these four stitches.
It’s harder to recognize the pattern at this point, but the next two rows will fix that up.
Continue alternating behind the post for four.
And in front of the post for four. Repeating until you reach the end.
When you get to the end chain three times to act as the first double on the next row.
Double crochet to the end, turn and chain twice.
This row you’re going to work in front of the post for three (the two chains act as the first).
And behind the post for the next four.
Continue until you get to the end, chain three times, double crochet to the end. You’ll alternate so that you work behind the post first and then continue with the pattern.
What do you think? I’m absolutely in love with this pattern! I have a project to share with you using it next week, so be sure to come back and check that out. Hoping your weekend plans are spectacular!
