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Reversible Tapestry Crochet
Beaded Hat/Basket
Designed by Carol Ventura

Note: Traditional beaded items are usually crocheted with one thread, and all of the beads from a charted design are carefully loaded onto a single thread in the order that they will be needed. The beauty of tapestry crocheting with beads is that each thread can be loaded with one bead color and only the color that is needed at the time is crocheted to form a pattern while the other threads are carried. The colored threads also contribute to the design. This method offers fantastic design potential, since the motif does not have to be pre-planned. The bead falls to the back of the stitch.

The hat/basket begins on the bottom, then spirals upwards. The motif is fourteen stitches wide, so the total number of stitches in the base is a multiple of fourteen. For a smaller hat/basket, begin the sides at any even row. It is your choice to have the beads on the outside or inside of this dazzling hat/basket.

Gauge:
8 stitches equals 1 inch
8 rows equals 1 inch

Size:
23 1/2” circumference (7 1/2” diameter) by 5” high

Materials:

Steel crochet hook size 1 (2.75 mm) or the size that will give an acceptable gauge
Two ounces of Burgundy, and 1 ounce each of Brilliant Blue, Crystal Cove, and Berry Pie smooth Dragon Tail 4/2 100% cotton yarn from Earth Guild (33 Haywood Street, Asheville, NC 28801, 800-327-8448)
Four 35g boxes of Amber (12-4433SB), three 35g boxes each of Clear (12-4436SB) and Rainbow Root Beer (12-4493SB), and two 35g boxes of Emerald Green (12-4451SB) #8 beads and four 1570 TL heavy beading needles from Fire Mountain Gems and Beads (One Fire Mountain Way, Grants Pass, OR 97526-2373, 800-355-2137)
Stitch counter

Instructions:

Round 1: Load four boxes of amber beads onto the burgundy thread with a beading needle. (You may choose to load just one box, then load another box on the thread when the beads run out. Begin to carry the newly loaded thread for a few stitches, then switch threads and carry the tail to avoid a knot). Push the beads down, leaving a yard-long piece without beads on the thread. Make a slip knot with the burgundy thread, then chain 4 stitches. Join the ends together to form a ring by working a slip stitch into the first chain stitch. Single crochet 7 beaded stitches into the ring while carrying the tail-end. (To crochet a beaded stitch, insert the hook, slide a bead down next to the crochet hook and project, then continue crocheting the stitch, capturing the bead, which will fall to the back of the stitch.)

(Editor's Note: For more detailed tapestry crochet tutorials, visit http://iweb.tntech.edu/cventura/rightstitches.html or http://iweb.tntech.edu/cventura/leftstitches.html.)

The basket should have a total of 7 beaded stitches when you finish this round. This basket is worked as a spiral, not in concentric rings, so it is difficult to tell where each round ends. To keep track of where each round ends, slip a stitch counter into the top of the last stitch of the round. You will remove the stitch counter from the last stitch as you come to it again and slip it into the new last stitch at the end of each round.

Round 2: Increase in every stitch to 14 beaded stitches.

Round 3: Load three boxes of clear beads onto the brilliant blue thread with a beading needle (or load one box, as explained in Round 1). Push the beads down, leaving a yard-long piece without beads on the thread. Cut the tail-end piece of burgundy and start to carry the blue thread. Increase in every second stitch to 21 beaded stitches.

Round 4: Increase in every third stitch to 28 beaded stitches.

Round 5: Increase in every fourth stitch. The spiral should have 35 beaded stitches when you finish this round.

Round 6: Increase in every fifth stitch. The spiral should have 42 beaded stitches when you finish this round.

Round 7: Increase in every sixth stitch.

Round 8: Increase in every seventh stitch.

Round 9: Increase in every eighth stitch.

Round 10: Increase in every ninth stitch.

Round 11: Increase in every tenth stitch.

Round 12: Increase in every eleventh stitch.

Round 13: Increase in every twelfth stitch.

Round 14: Increase in every thirteenth stitch.

Round 15: Increase in every fourteenth stitch.

Round 16: Increase in every fifteenth stitch.

Round 17: Increase in every sixteenth stitch.

Round 18: Increase in every seventeenth stitch.

Round 19: Increase in every eighteenth stitch.

Round 20: Increase in every nineteenth stitch.

Round 21: Increase in every twentieth stitch.

Round 22: Increase in every twenty-first stitch.

Round 23: Increase in every twenty-second stitch.

Round 24: Increase in every twenty-third stitch.

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