Underwater Basket Weaving

I come from a family of junkers, which is great, because they help fuel my addiction. My mom passed along this magazine rack to me, and although I didn't care for it as-is, I decided to keep it for a future project.

It looks a lot like many teak vintage racks that sell for $45-$200 online, but this one appears to be a knock-off of sorts. It's not teak wood, the wood is a little rough, it has fewer rungs which makes it easy for things to slip through, and on the bottom it says "Max 06-07." Kinda seems like something a kid did as a high school wood shop project.

I sought out to upcycle this guy so that I could maybe fit it into the decor in my home. I thought it would be a great size and shape to put our music books in next to the piano, but I wasn't excited about all those exposed rungs and being able to see the potential mess inside the basket. So I decided to create a faux wicker basket using yarn.

I purchased $13 worth of yarn, and along with some yarn I already own, I designed out a rough color pattern and started weaving. I tied the yarn to a rung and then wound the yarn around each rung in a counter clockwise motion so that the rung was completely hidden behind the yarn. I went around the entire basket two or three times, weaving loosely, and then went back and tightened each row so that there was no give.

When I achieved the thickness I wanted, I tied off the yarn and went on to the next color, starting on the next rung. I also added a simple two-lined pattern with teal yarn to the off-white areas, which adds a little more interest.

This wasn't a difficult project at all, but it did take some time. I spent about 4.5-5 hours weaving, which I did off-and-on in small segments over the past weekend. I never learned to crochet or knit, but I had so much fun with this experience I really think I could get into basket weaving. Too bad I didn't take that in college.