A tisket, a tasket...

....an easy knitted basket!

I got the hankering to whip out the knittin' sticks last week and this is what I came up with...
It's super easy and it's also reversable.

Plus, you get to do some felting!

This will be going to my nephews as their easter basket, it kind of looks like a kid's hat with chinstrap before you felt it.


You'll need:
Some wool yarn, brownish in color. I used two strands of wool/alpaca held together, and it made a very nice and dense basket after just minimal felting.

Some needles in gauge with your yarn ( I used 10's)

A yarn needle to weave your ends in.

CAST ON: 44 stitches, always slip the first stitch and count as a 'knit' stitch for a cleaner edge. work k3 p1 ribbing for 6 inches (or about 4/3rds as high as you want your finished basket to be). To decrease for the bottom, k1, k2tog, p1 across width. On return, k2tog, k1 across width, then finish by k2tog on final pass. Break yarn with a 12 inch tail, and send through remaining stitches to gather bottom. Stitch up sides of basket and weave yarn tail into basket.

HANDLE: With a new piece of yarn, anchor 5 stitches in the side of the basket (i don't know if this is even a legit knitting technique, but it's basically like picking up stitches) and knit an icord for about 12 inches. Attach to the other side of the basket and bury end of yarn.

Now the fun part....FELTING! My favorite method is still to throw it in the washing machine on the HOTTEST cycle, and check on it after the first go-round in the spin cycle. I usually end up doing sweaters for longer than knitted items, they tend to shrink pretty quick. Be sure to use soap and also to include towels or other items to help agitate the fibers.

I tried to felt it in the sink and it just got bigger and bigger so my parents relented and let me use their washing machine (they are concerned about wool fibers floating around the house) so it shrunk down to a nice size. You can also place a small bowl inside as it dries to help it keep its shape.

That's it! Any other kintters out there, if you make one of these little guys let me know! Post your own photos, ok?