Crochet Coaster Holder Pattern: A Simple Basket for Your Set

A coaster holder is a very short basket: a flat circle a little wider than your coasters, with a low wall around it. If you can crochet a flat single crochet circle, you already know most of the pattern. The wall is what happens when you simply stop increasing.

This pattern is written in US crochet terms and is worked in a continuous spiral, so you will need a stitch marker.

How the Basket Is Built

There are three parts. The base is a flat circle that grows by six stitches in every round. One round worked in the back loops only makes a crisp fold where the base meets the wall. After that, every round has the same number of stitches as the one before, and with no increases the fabric has nowhere to go but up.

What You Need

• Worsted weight (#4) cotton yarn, one color
• US G-6 (4 mm) hook for a single strand, or US H-8 (5 mm) if you hold the yarn double
• Stitch marker
• Yarn needle and scissors
• One finished coaster from your set and a tape measure

A basket takes noticeably more yarn than a coaster, and about twice as much again if you hold the yarn double. To be sure you have enough, weigh the base when it is finished: the walls described here contain about twice as many stitches as a 48-stitch base, so expect them to take roughly twice the base’s weight again.

Making the Fabric Stiff Enough

A coaster can be soft. A basket wall has to stand up, so the fabric needs to be denser than usual. You have two options.

• Go down a hook size. A single strand of worsted cotton with a 4 mm hook makes tight, firm single crochet. The article on hook size for coasters explains how hook size changes density.
• Hold the yarn double. Work with two strands held together as one, using a 5 mm hook. The fabric is thicker and stiffer, and each round is wider, so you will need fewer base rounds.

Either way, the stitch counts below stay the same. Only the number of base rounds changes, and you decide that by measuring.

Abbreviations

• ch: chain
• sl st: slip stitch
• sc: single crochet
• st(s): stitch(es)
• BLO: back loop only

The Base

Do not join the rounds. Place the marker in the first stitch of each round and move it up as you go. This is the same circle as the single crochet round coaster, just taken a little wider.

1. Rnd 1: Make a magic ring and work 6 sc in it. Pull the tail to close. (6 sc)
2. Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around. (12 sc)
3. Rnd 3: [2 sc in the next st, sc in the next st] 6 times. (18 sc)
4. Rnd 4: [2 sc in the next st, sc in each of the next 2 sts] 6 times. (24 sc)
5. Rnd 5: [2 sc in the next st, sc in each of the next 3 sts] 6 times. (30 sc)
6. Rnd 6: [2 sc in the next st, sc in each of the next 4 sts] 6 times. (36 sc)
7. Rnd 7: [2 sc in the next st, sc in each of the next 5 sts] 6 times. (42 sc)
8. Rnd 8: [2 sc in the next st, sc in each of the next 6 sts] 6 times. (48 sc)

Now lay your coaster on the base. You are aiming for a base about 0.5 in (1.3 cm) wider than the coaster, which leaves a small gap all around so the coasters lift out easily. For a coaster of about 4.25 in (11 cm), that means a base of about 4.75 in (12 cm). Gauge varies, so trust the tape measure rather than the round number.

If the base is still too small, keep going with the same logic, one more plain stitch between increases in each round:

9. Rnd 9 (only if needed): [2 sc in the next st, sc in each of the next 7 sts] 6 times. (54 sc)
10. Rnd 10 (only if needed): [2 sc in the next st, sc in each of the next 8 sts] 6 times. (60 sc)

If the base is already wide enough after Rnd 6 or Rnd 7, which is likely with doubled yarn, stop there. Write down your final stitch count. Every round from here on has exactly that number.

Turning the Corner

The next round is worked in the back loop only: insert your hook under just the loop farthest from you instead of under both loops. The unused front loops form a ridge around the outside, and the fabric folds sharply along it.

1. Turning round: Working in BLO, sc in each st around. (48 sc, or your final base count)

The Walls

Go back to working under both loops.

1. Wall rounds: Sc in each st around, with no increases. (48 sc, or your final base count)

Repeat the wall round until the wall measures about 1.5 in (4 cm) from the turning ridge. With firm single crochet that is often somewhere around seven to nine rounds, but measure rather than count. A stack of six coasters should sit at or just below the rim; stack yours beside the basket to check, and add or remove rounds to suit. Count a round now and then. The total must not change, and a wall that starts to lean inward or flare usually means a stitch has been lost or added.

Finishing the Rim

A spiral ends with a small step. To smooth it, slip stitch in each of the next 2 stitches after your last single crochet, then cut the yarn, leaving a tail of about 6 in (15 cm), and pull it through. For an even cleaner rim, close with the needle join described in finishing crochet coasters. Weave both tails in on the inside, where the coasters will hide them.

Press the base flat with your hands and pinch the fold along the ridge to sharpen the corner. If the wall is still floppy, the fabric is too loose for a basket: redo it with a smaller hook or doubled yarn rather than expecting blocking to stiffen it.

Adjusting the Fit

• Square coasters: measure the coaster corner to corner and make the round base about 0.5 in (1.3 cm) wider than that diagonal.
• Contrast rim: work the final wall round in a second color from your matching coaster set.