Soft baskets...

Last week, I wrote that I was making a crocheted basket, and I was wondering how difficult these might be for me to make - having some arthritis in some fingers.  While I did need to give my hands breaks and stretches more often than normal, I didn't suffer later for some of the manhandling required while wrangling multiple strands of yarn together and pulling it hard through the stitches below.  In fact, after I finished my first one:

...having plenty of this yarn left over, I felt compelled to start a second basket.  This time I crocheted handles into the last two rounds:

While these probably aren't practical for holding really heavy stuff, they certainly could carry pretty much anything. It's just that large, heavy items would tend to pull the soft side out of shape, and they might not look so great after a while. 

Into the larger one I put our collection of "medical equipment" that have become common use items.  Things like blood pressure cuffs, an oxygen meter, and a digital thermometer.  

We don't use the thermometer or oxygen meter very often, but this is a handy (and kind of hidden) way to store these items together so they're easy to pull out when someone wants to check their vitals.  Curious...  are we the only ones who've made a party game out of passing the blood pressure cuff and oxygen meter around the table after dinner and some laughs over a table game?   Or are we the only ones who have this much fun?

Or, maybe that's just what happens when you keep these things in the dining room.  

I love that this stuff now has an attractive container - where they can be kept handy, but hidden from view:

Now I am looking around the house wondering where else might I tuck more of these cute baskets, and what colors would work where.   The real fun of making one of these is combining colors and watching those colors change as the basket grows.  

And there is great satisfaction in knowing I'm using up a bunch of yarn that previously had no obvious use.  I'm pretty pumped about these baskets on several counts.  Be on the lookout for more to show up here eventually!

I provided a link to the video I followed in my last post, but here it is again in case it's helpful:  Artisan Market Basket crochet tutorial from Crochet Southwest Spirit. Great for craft fairs! (youtube.com)