I’ve talked about the simple things that inspire me in my designs before. Well this time, believe it or not, it was a simple plastic “trash can” at Walmart that did it. Okay, so maybe it was supposed to be some kind of storage tub, but it could be a trash can. You may have seen it actually. All white with rows of multi-colored hearts. The vibrant colors on the plain white, along with the simple design of the product, just appealed to me and I wondered what it would look like in crochet. I was going to make this another favor bag but as I worked I realized it would make a better basket.

I used two hooks in this pattern, both G hooks: a 4.25mm and a 4.50mm. I switched from the larger hook to the smaller hook after increasing in the round in order to begin the sides. This is because I wanted a very defined outline instead of a gradual change, and the slightly smaller hook would pull the piece in just enough to achieve the look.

The puffs were pure fun. I ended up with 6 colors that I felt really finalized the style but realized I didn’t have room in my earlier design for 6 groups of colors. That meant at least two colors had to go. But I wasn’t happy with any arrangement I tried. So instead, I changed the design to fit in all the colors, hence this basket being a bit larger and taller than my favor bag designs.

After gathering the colors I played with the puffs and found smaller puffs to be the best. Though the average puff may be a 3 half double crochet, I chose a mere 2 half double crochet puff, and it was just right. After a round of puffs I worked a round of white, working the single crochets into the round below the puff round to better single them out.

All in all, the basket was fun to make and I hope you will think so too. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Skill Level:

Finished Size: 5 ½” (14 cm) tall, 15” (38 cm) in circumference

Materials: Medium weight yarn (I used Lily’s Sugar N’Cream) (approximately 60 yards of white, and 5 yards each purple, blue, orange, yellow, green, and pink) Crochet Hooks G (4.25 mm) and G (4.50 mm)

Gauge:
4 sc = 1’’
4 rows = 1’’
Gauge Swatch: 1’’w x 1’’h (2.5 cm x 2.5 cm) ch 5.
Row 1: sc in second ch from hook and in each ch across: 4 sc
Row 2 – 4: ch 1, turn, sc in each sc across: 4 sc
Finish off.

How to Crochet Puff Stitch: Follow the instructions in the link for making a puff stitch, but with only 4 loops on the hook for a 2 hdc puff.

Color Pattern Suggestion
Round 17 in purple
Round 19 in blue
Round 21 in orange
Round 23 in yellow
Round 25 in green
Round 27 in pink

Need help understanding the abbreviations and symbols? Check out the crochet abbreviation chart.

Crochet Pattern: Vibrant Puffs Candy Basket
Round 1: with white and 4.5mm hook, make an adjustable ring, ch 1, 6 sc in ring, sl st in first sc: 6 sc
Round 2: ch 1, 2 sc in each sc around, sl st in first sc: 12 sc
Round 3: ch 1, * 2 sc in next sc, sc in next sc, repeat from * around, sl st in first sc: 18 sc
Round 4: ch 1, * 2 sc in next sc, sc in next 2 sc, repeat from * around, sl st in first sc: 24 sc
Round 5: ch 1, * 2 sc in next sc, sc in next 3 sc, repeat from * around, sl st in first sc: 30 sc
Round 6: ch 1, * 2 sc in next sc, sc in next 4 sc, repeat from * around, sl st in first sc: 36 sc
Round 7: ch 1, * 2 sc in next sc, sc in next 5 sc, repeat from * around, sl st in first sc: 42 sc
Round 8: ch 1, * 2 sc in next sc, sc in next 6 sc, repeat from * around, sl st in first sc: 48 sc
Round 9: ch 1, * 2 sc in next sc, sc in next 7 sc, repeat from * around, sl st in first sc: 54 sc
Round 10: ch 1, * 2 sc in next sc, sc in next 8 sc, repeat from * around, sl st in first sc: 60 sc
Round 11: with 4.25mm hook, ch 1, sc in back loops only in each sc around, sl st in first sc: 60 sc
Round 12 – 16: ch 1, sc in each sc around, sl st in first sc: 60 sc
Round 17: change to purple, ch 2, * skip next sc, puff in next sc, ch 1, repeat from * around, sl st in second ch of beginning ch-2: 30 puffs
Round 18: change to white, ch 1, sc in first sc 2 rows down, * ch 1, sc in next sc 2 rows down (between puffs), repeat from * around, sl st in first sc: 30 sc
Round 19: change color, * ch 2, puff in next ch-1 space, repeat from * around, sl st in second ch of beginning ch-2: 30 puffs
Rounds 20 – 28: repeat Rounds 18 and 19, ending with Round 18, following suggested color pattern noted above
Round 29 – 31: ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st in first sc: 60 sc
Round 32: ch 1, sc in next 11 sc, ch 9, skip next 7 sc, sc in next 23 sc, ch 9, skip next 7 sc, sc in remaining sc, sl st in first sc: 46 sc
Round 33 – 34: ch 1, sc in each sc around, sl st in first sc: 64 sc
Finish off.

What do you think? Do you have any questions or thoughts about the pattern? Leave me a comment below!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 21st, 2023 at 9:51 PM by Amy Yarbrough and is filed under Free Crochet Patterns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.