Heyyyyy!!!!!
Ohhhh man.. The last few weeks have been so wonderfully insane. From traveling to Ohio to get to see Ohio for the first time and then coming straight home to move into our new home.. Phew! My family has thoroughly enjoyed our new space and are working slowly but surely to really make it *our* little nest. We have A LOT of plans to really customize it to something we that feels like “us”, but in the meantime we are just loving every little bit of it!!
I feel like moving into a new home at the beginning of spring is quite a perfect time because not only are things starting to bloom, the sun is shining.. but also because spring cleaning and that sunshine-inspired motivation is heavy in control and I’m ALL about it.
So, for this month’s fun DIY project I made with help from my friends at JOANN Stores, I decided to switch things up a bit but in a good way. Life has been busy, down time has been far and few between, but I knew I wanted to do something fun and pretty for our new home.
While I was roaming through the aisles at my local JOANN store, I came across this darling basket that was just screaming for some love and attention. As soon as I saw this basket, I knew I needed to bring it home and make it a little more personalized. I also knew I didn’t want to do something that caused any type of frustration, just an easy project that allowed me to use up some yarn I had on hand as well as something that added texture and beauty to the space.
I don’t know about you, but surface slip stitching is something I find a lot of joy and satisfaction in. The repetitive motion is so pleasing and makes for a quick project!! Follow along below for how I customized this store-bought basket!
Let’s get started!
This is a personal blog. All editorial content and projects are intellectual property of Jessica Carey, designer of The Hook Nook. This post was sponsored by JOANN Stores but all ideas and opinions are my own.
DIY SURFACE SLIP STITCH BASKET
MATERIALS:
- Medium Square Metal Wire Basket (find it here)
- One skein of preferred yarn (I used Sugar N Cream cotton)
- Size J/6mm crochet hook, or suggested hook size for preferred yarn selection
KEY:
Sl St - slip stitch
NOTES:
While working in the rounds on my basket, I noticed sometimes the rounds were not lined up and even had differing number of rounds on each side of the basket. In those cases, I did my best to line it up as much as I could, but did have to do two rounds of surface slip stitches in one round of “squares”. Thought it isn’t perfect, it shouldn’t be. Nothing is perfect and being able to let go of perfection does more for us than we really understand.
Let yourself create the best version of basket you can make, even if it’s not exactly what you anticipated it to be. The best decisions and details come from having to be flexible and willing to look at new perspectives. ;)
Also, sometimes the holes were not large enough for my hook to fit inside of to grab the yarn to create the surface slip stitch. In those cases, I simply skipped over that square and worked into the next one. Yes, this created “long” stitches, but, again, unique beauty comes from stepping outside the lines. Mine is full of things that are not “perfect”, but that’s what makes it special and handmade, not run through a factory and just like Susie Q’s next door. Unique is GOOD.
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Attach yarn to hook with slip knot.
- Starting at the bottom corner of the basket, Sl St to next corner.
- Insert hook into each open “square” of the basket and surface slip stitch around entire bottom of basket, working on each of the four sides.
- Once you have reached your starting point, simply insert your hook into the next available space which would be on the round above the one we just worked. Continue Sl St around.
- Continue surface Sl St all the way to the top, working in rounds.
- Finish off, weave in ends.
I hope you love this project as much as I have and I can’t wait to see your customized baskets!!! Which basket will you choose? How will you embellish it to really make it unique and a visual representation of YOU?! I want to know!
Share your progress online and use hashtags #handmadewithjoann and #thehooknookers so share with our communities! Be sure to follow along with me on Instagram and sign up for my newsletter to see more fun inspiration and stay in the loop with what’s to come! Thank you to my friends at JOANN Stores for helping me create such a fun project!
Want to check out more beautiful, modern crochet and knit patterns and projects? Check out ALL of our blog posts featuring patterns, projects and more designed and shared by some of the community's best designers and dreamers here on THNLife Blog!
xo,
Jessica
