Crocheting and Stabilizing

Hi, how do I make something I crochet myself more sturdy? For example, when I crochet a little basket, how do I make sure it keeps its shape and stays sturdy? What’s the trick to this? When I just crochet something like that, it ends up soft and can’t be used as a basket.

There are special crochet stitches for this that make the crocheted piece very sturdy. I’ve already used this technique to crochet storage baskets and bowls out of thicker pot holder yarn and textile yarn, and they’re very stable.
Here is a pattern for egg cups using these stitches:
https://www.crazypatterns.net/de/items/621/eierwaermer-blatt-haekelanleitung-pattern-haekeln-orimono

Do you think it’ll turn out that sturdy? I’m very skeptical. Are there any other tricks?

Like I said, I only crochet storage baskets and small baskets using these stitches now. But if you’re still skeptical, there’s only one thing to do: give it a try ;-)
 

The egg cups are nice :)
You still have this sentence in the pattern: “The pattern will be sent as an e-book (PDF file).”
You might want to delete that—otherwise, someone who bought the pattern will be sitting there desperately waiting for an email with a PDF instead of just downloading it. We’ve had this happen several times before—people have gotten confused.
Do the egg cups actually hold their shape even when washed? I could imagine that an egg cup like this might occasionally get a drop or two of egg yolk on it. And it’s pretty hard to get that out when washing by hand.

Good luck with the sale :)

Thanks for the tip about the email :-)

Of course the egg cups stay sturdy. They’re crocheted from potholder yarn, and that doesn’t lose its shape when washed either. So you can safely put them in the washing machine.

When I crochet baskets, I use a crochet hook that’s two to three sizes smaller than what the yarn calls for.
For example, for my gift basket (https://www.crazypatterns.net/de/items/1041/haekelanleitung-geschenkkorb-valentinstag) , I used Ribbon XL, which is normally worked with a size 10 crochet hook. I crocheted the basket with a No. 8 hook and the handle with a No. 7 hook.
I like to reinforce the edges by crocheting a row of single crochet stitches, inserting the hook one round lower—that is, not into the stitches of the previous round but into those of the round before that.
For basket handles, I also like to crochet over wire. There’s thick craft wire (for wire jewelry, etc.) that’s very sturdy yet still malleable, and it comes in various colors. I place it parallel to the crochet work as I go and then crochet the single crochets over it.
It works great!
Best regards,
Karin

Hello, charming lady,
you can stabilize your creations with metal wire. Take a look at Natalija’s heart baskets—everything is explained in the pattern.
Best regards, flyowl.
Pattern for 5 crocheted “Heart” baskets

Doesn’t the metal wire eventually stick out again if it breaks or something?
Or is the wire flexible enough to hold up just fine?

So I use aluminum wire—it’s 0.2 mm thick and very flexible. It won’t break. This wire is used, for example, for making jewelry, where it is twisted and wound.
At the beginning and end, I bend the ends over a little and hook this loop into the first/last stitch so it stays in place. That way, it doesn’t slip out anywhere.

Hey,
check out Natalija’s latest projects. She’s clearly totally into the wire trend :-) Well, at least two patterns—the baskets and the crowns (I don’t have them yet, but they’re probably crocheted with wire too). Is there something special about that? Is that a general trend right now?
Best, owl

If this is still relevant: You can reinforce items made with single crochet stitches not only with metal wire but also with cord.
Delicate items are stiffened with sugar water or potato starch water.

Unfortunately, the downside of sugar water is that you have to redo the whole process every time you wash it. I remember this from a neighbor from my early childhood—her crocheted items were always left to dry over some kind of mold on the kitchen table :-) And we kids eventually figured out that she was using sugar water and secretly licked the little baskets and bowls. We were still pretty young back then :-)

Funny story. :)

lol

Oh, that was actually a kind neighbor—she was quite elderly and would look after us whenever my mom asked her to. And when she noticed that the baskets always had these weird saggy spots, she didn’t say a word—she just put some candies inside them :-)

Great woman :-) Honestly :-)

On a related note: I recently crocheted some baskets without using any cord or wire; instead, I used thicker yarn with a smaller crochet hook, which made the piece very tight and the baskets very sturdy.

I use “Deko Steif” — I had it from crafting.