Dog Crochet Basket

A while back when I made the crocheted owl basket and small cat basket I sent a picture to the fam and Macey made the comment that if I made the cat one in black it would look like her dog Nahla - so I did. And it does hahaha. I added a bit of fringe at the ears this time to make it resemble a yorkie, isn't it cute? It's much bigger than it looks, it's about 10" wide and tall. 

I combined the pattern for the owl basket found at bhg.com, and the cat basket pattern found at woolstreeet.ca to come up with this dog basket. 

Crochet Owl Basket

True story:

I was crocheting in the car and Dave asked what I was making, I said an owl basket. 

Dave: why?

Me: why? Uh, 'cause - hello, owl basket! Why wouldn't I? Duh. 

I'm not going to reprint the instructions, you can find them on bhg.com or click here. For the record, the headline reads "this easy crochet owl basket is the perfect project for beginners" and I beg to differ. I've been crocheting for years and had to google a couple of things - I've never heard of a picot stitch and even after googling not sure I did it correctly but the owl looks cute so am not going to overthink it. I also didn't know how to hdc dec (half double crochet decrease) or what a 'double treble' stitch is, thank goodness for google and youtube hahaha. I could not figure out the instructions for the left eye so I just made 2 right eyes and turned it so it was placed like the sample picture/instructions. 

Isn't it cute?! 

Here's the directions in case the link doesn't work:

Step 1: Crochet the Basket 

The basket is worked in a spiral, so joining rounds is not necessary. Mark the beginning of each round.

Rnd 1: With 2 strands of yarn held together, chain or ch 3 (2 chs counts as half double crochet or hdc), hdc 7 times in beg ch (8 hdc).

Rnd 2: Hdc-inc in each stitch or st (16 hdc).

Rnd 3: *Hdc-inc, hdc in next st; rep from * 7 more times (24 hdc).

Rnd 4: *Hdc-inc, hdc in next 2 sts; rep from * 7 more times (32 hdc).

Rnd 5: *Hdc-inc, hdc in next 3 sts; rep from * 7 more times (40 hdc).

Rnd 6: *Hdc-inc, hdc in next 4 sts; rep from * 7 more times (48 hdc).

Rnd 7: *Hdc-inc, hdc in next 5 sts; rep from * 7 more times (56 hdc).

Rnd 8: * Hdc-inc, hdc in next 6 sts; rep from * 7 more times (64 hdc).

Rnds 9-17: Hdc in each st around (64 hdc).

Rnd 18: *Hdc-dec, hdc in next 6 sts; rep from * 7 more times (56 hdc).

Rnd 19: *Hdc-dec, hdc in next 5 sts; rep from * 7 more times (48 hdc).

Rnd 20: *Hdc-inc, hdc in next 5 sts; rep from * 7 more times (56 hdc).

Rnds 21-26: Hdc in each st around (56 hdc).

Single crochet or Sc in next st, slip stitch or sl st in next st to finish off. Fasten off, and weave in ends.

Buy It: Plastic Crochet Hook Set ($12, Michaels)

Step 2: Make the Eyes 

Each eye is worked in a spiral, so joining rounds is not necessary. Mark the beginning of each round.

First Eye

Rnd 1: With 2 strands of yarn held together, ch 2 sc 6 times in beg ch (6 sc).

Rnd 2: *Sc 2 times in each st; rep from * 5 more times (12 sc).

Rnd 3: *Double crochet or dc 2 times in each st; rep from * 11 more times (24 sc).

Rnd 4: *Dc 2 times in next st, dc; rep from * 5 more times, treble crochet or tr, dtr, picot; fasten off.

Second Eye

Rnds 1-3: Rep First Eye instructions.

End 4: Picot, dtr, tr, *dc, dc 2 times in next st; rep from * 5 more times, hdc, sc, sl st to finish off eye; fasten off and weave in ends.

Step 3: Add Eyes to Basket 

Position the right eye on the basket at the point of the last st. Using two strands of yarn and a tapestry needle, tack down the center of the eye; using the center hole as a guide, bring the needle up through the center and then back down in the first round of stitches. Continue until the center is secure.

Using two strands of yarn and the outside stitches of the eye, tack down the eye securely, leaving the picot stitches unsewn. Weave in all ends. Repeat with the left eye.

Buy It: Large-Eye Blunt End Needles-6/Pkg ($7, Walmart)

Step 4: Add the Beak 

Using two strands of yarn and long straight stitches, embroider a beak between the bottoms of the eyes. Once you've mastered the technique, you can modify the basket to make it as big or tall as you desire by adding or subtracting stitches. The finished design makes a heartfelt DIY gift or keep it for yourself and use it to stash office accessories or crafts supplies.

Road Trip - day 5 (and a crocheted basket)

Last leg of our trip - St Louis to East Lansing. Thankfully we had great weather other than the extreme heat for the first part, but the a/c held on so all good. In fact I think this is the first trip that everything went smoothly with the rv! Yes.

Not a whole lot happening or to look at today, so thought I'd share a few miscellaneous pics with you about living in the rv:

I have tried everything I can think of to get a wire basket to stick on the wall to hold our fruit and veggies but the whole thing keeps crashing down. So this morning I got the idea to make a lightweight hanging basket out of the leftover polypropylene twine I found in the hardware section of the dollar store (I made a dish scrubby out of the rest of it) and hang it from a suction cup on a less slippery wall - so far it's working. I couldn't find a pattern for what I was seeing in my mind so I based it on this pattern but mine doesn't have rings in it for support (I can only use things that are already in the rv!) and I only made one handle. It turned out cute!

For some reason it is Sarges routine to sit on the picnic table at our campsite - I don't know how or when it started but that's his place now...

We use the campground facilities instead of our teeny shower in the rv, it's taken me a few trips but I'm figuring out the easiest way to get all my stuff to the shower. The bathroom and showers aren't always the cleanest so I don't want to set anything down if I can help it - some places have a small ledge by the sink but many don't, there are always hooks tho so I take advantage of them. I carry everything in a cute lightweight nylon tote bag - hanging toiletry bag, a waterproof bag holds everything that can get wet in the shower (after showering I can put everything wet back in the bag and not get everything else wet), change of clothes, and the extra set of rv keys. I sewed little loops on all of our towels so they can hang up without touching anything else. This system is working pretty good.

I made a pretty dreamcatcher and have put up a couple pictures to personalize the space.

"on an adventure we will go"

not a great pic and the wind is blowing it, but it turned out so pretty!

Turned around to check on Sarge and Lucy and this is what I see - he is as close to her as possible and they are both staring at me. They're good travelers but I'm getting the impression that they'd like to be home already!

Thanks for reading my travel log - will get back to my usual posts now :)