Texture · Intermediate
Basketweave stitch
Basketweave stitch is double crochet (UK treble) worked round the posts of the row below: a block of four front post stitches, then a block of four back post stitches, across the row. After four rows the blocks swap, and the fabric looks woven from wide strips.
How to work it
Front post: the hook goes in from the front
Yarn over. Put the hook in from the front, pass it behind the post of the next stitch, and bring it out at the front again. Finish as a double crochet. The stitch stands forward. The pictures leave the yarn over out, so that the path of the hook is plain.
Back post: the hook goes in from the back
Yarn over. Take the hook to the back of the work, put it in from the back, pass it across the front of the post of the next stitch, and take it to the back again. Finish as a double crochet. The stitch sinks back.
Four of one, four of the other
Work four front post stitches, then four back post stitches, and repeat across the row. That is one row of blocks.
The stitch pattern, row by row
- Multiple
- Chain a multiple of 8 (24 or more).
- Starting chain
- The rows here are written for a chain of 24, which is 3 times the multiple of 8.
- The ch 3 at the start of a row counts as a dc. The last stitch of the next row is worked into the top of it.
- Row 1 is the right side.
- Foundation. Ch 24.
- Row 1 (RS). Dc in 4th ch from hook (skipped chs count as dc) and in each ch across (22 dc).
- Row 2. Ch 3 (counts as dc), turn; [FPdc around next 4 sts, BPdc around next 4 sts] 2 times, FPdc around next 4 sts, dc in top of turning ch (2 dc, 12 FPdc, 8 BPdc).
- Row 3. Ch 3 (counts as dc), turn; BPdc around next 4 sts, [FPdc around next 4 sts, BPdc around next 4 sts] 2 times, dc in top of turning ch (2 dc, 12 BPdc, 8 FPdc).
- Row 4. Ch 3 (counts as dc), turn; [FPdc around next 4 sts, BPdc around next 4 sts] 2 times, FPdc around next 4 sts, dc in top of turning ch (2 dc, 12 FPdc, 8 BPdc).
- Row 5. Ch 3 (counts as dc), turn; BPdc around next 4 sts, [FPdc around next 4 sts, BPdc around next 4 sts] 2 times, dc in top of turning ch (2 dc, 12 BPdc, 8 FPdc).
- Row 6. Ch 3 (counts as dc), turn; [BPdc around next 4 sts, FPdc around next 4 sts] 2 times, BPdc around next 4 sts, dc in top of turning ch (2 dc, 12 BPdc, 8 FPdc).
- Row 7. Ch 3 (counts as dc), turn; FPdc around next 4 sts, [BPdc around next 4 sts, FPdc around next 4 sts] 2 times, dc in top of turning ch (2 dc, 12 FPdc, 8 BPdc).
- Row 8. Ch 3 (counts as dc), turn; [BPdc around next 4 sts, FPdc around next 4 sts] 2 times, BPdc around next 4 sts, dc in top of turning ch (2 dc, 12 BPdc, 8 FPdc).
- Row 9. Ch 3 (counts as dc), turn; FPdc around next 4 sts, [BPdc around next 4 sts, FPdc around next 4 sts] 2 times, dc in top of turning ch (2 dc, 12 FPdc, 8 BPdc).
Repeat rows 2 to 9 for the pattern.
What each symbol meansHow to read a chart
Abbreviations in these rows
- ch
- chain stitch
- dc
- double crochet (UK treble)
- FPdc
- front post double crochet (UK front post treble)
- BPdc
- back post double crochet (UK back post treble)
- RS
- right side
- st
- stitch
At a glance
- Used for
- thick, warm blankets; scarves; practice at front post and back post stitches
- Multiple
- The chain is a multiple of 8 (24 or more).
- Row repeat
- Rows 2 to 9.
- Made of
- Front post double crochet (FPdc) and back post double crochet (BPdc), with a plain double crochet at each edge
- Size of a block
- Four stitches wide and four rows tall in these rows
- Start and end of a row
- A row begins with chain 3, which counts as a double crochet, and ends with a plain double crochet in the top of the turning chain of the row below.
The name does not fix the size of the block. These rows make blocks four stitches wide and four rows tall. Other published basket weave rows keep the four stitches but swap the blocks after two rows.
The fabric is thick and dense, because every stitch but the edge stitches is a post stitch. The name is written both as basketweave and as basket weave.
Only the first row, of plain double crochet, is worked into the tops of stitches. After that the tops are left alone and every stitch goes round a post, except the one plain double crochet at each end of the row.
Tips
- A row counter, or a marker in the first row of each set of four, saves counting back to see when to swap.
When it goes wrong
- My blocks drift sideways.
- Count four post stitches in every block. The chain 3 at the start of a row and the plain double crochet at its end are edge stitches and belong to no block.
- I swapped the blocks a row too soon.
- Look at the block under the hook before each row. If it has fewer than four rows of the same kind, keep it as it is: front post round stitches that stand toward you, back post round stitches that lie away.
Left-handed
The pictures show the hook held in the right hand. For the left hand, read each picture as its mirror image.
Questions
- What is the multiple for basket weave stitch?
- For these rows the chain is a multiple of 8. Other published rows add 4, 5 or 7 chains for their own edge stitches, so use the multiple that comes with the rows you follow.
- What stitches do I need to know?
- Double crochet, front post double crochet and back post double crochet. Both post stitches are a double crochet worked round a post: one from the front, one from the back.
- Does every block have to be four rows tall?
- No. Four rows is what these rows use. Published versions that swap after two rows make shorter blocks; the stitches are the same.