Easter Basket

Give your sense of humor free rein while refining your felting technique. This fun little bag will steal the show at the egg hunt! Personalize your project with Fimo trinkets made from polymer clay.

Size
Circumference 40" (101.5cm)before felting; 32" (81.5 cm) after felting
Height 14" (35.5 cm) before felting; 7" (18 cm) after felting, excluding Handles

Materials
Lion Brand Landscapes 50% Wool, 50% Acrylic 1 ¾ oz (50m) Ball
5 balls #272 Pastel Meadow (A) or color of your choice

Lion Brand Wool-Ease 80% Acrylic, 20% Wool 3 oz (85g) 197 yd (187m) Ball
1 ball #1 75 Green (B) or color of your choice

• Size 13 (9 mm) knitting needles or size to obtain
Size 13 (9mm) 29" (70cm) circular needle
 
•Crochet hook (for attachingfringe)
•Stitch markers
•Orange polymer clay (such as Fimo or Sculpey)

•Glue gun and glue sticks
•Large-eyed, blunt needle

Gauge
12 stitches + 16 rounds=4" (10 cm) in stockinette stitch (knit every round) with A before felting. Be sure to check your gauge.

Note
Lion Brand Landscapes has an acrylic core wrapped with wool. When it is washed, the wool felts around the acrylic, which gives the finished item an interesting texture and appearance. However, it does not felt exactly like 100% wool and may take longer to felt than pure wool.

Basket
Base
With A, cast on 36 stitches. Work in garter stitch (Knit every row) until piece measures 8" (20.5 cm) from beg.

Sides
With circular needle, knit 36 stitches; pick up and knit 24 stitches along side edge of Base, 36 stitches across cast-on edge, and 24 stitches along 2nd side edge of Base — 120 stitches. P

lace marker for beginning of round. Change to stockinette stitch and work even until piece measures 13 ½” (34.5 cm) from Base. Purl 3 rounds. Bind off.

Handles — Make 2
With A, cast on 4 stitches. Knit 4 rows. With a separate strand of A, cast on 4 stitches onto same needle. Knit 4 rows. Working across all 8 stitches, work in garter stitch until piece measures 8" (20.5 cm) from beginning.

Working on 4 stitches only, knit 4 rows. Bind off these 4 stitches. Join yarn to remaining 4 stitches. Knit 4 rows. Bind off.

Fold Handle in half lengthwise and sew center part of Handle together. Sew Handles to basket by placing 1 section at bottom of handle and sewing to inside of basket, and sewing the other section to outside of basket. Weave in ends.
 
Fringe
Cut 50 strands of A, each 8" (20.5 crn) long. Fold strand in half to form a loop. Insert crochet hook into edge of basket and draw loop through. Draw ends of Fringe through loop and tighten. Place Fringe, evenly spaced, around top edge of basket.

Felting
Felt basket by running through a hot wash cycle with 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of detergent. Pull basket into shape and let air dry. Repeat until stitches are indistinguishable and Basket has reached desired size.

Ties-Make 2
With A, cast on 34 stitches. Bind off. Sew to either side at center of top edge of Basket.

Carrots
Following polymer clay directions, make 9 Carrots. Cut 27 random lengths of B, between 1 1/2" and 3" (3.8 and 7.5 cm), and 9 strands 7" (18 cm) long of B.

 With glue gun, attach yarn to tops of Carrots, making sure each Carrot has a 7" (18 cm) length. Thread each 7" (18 cm} length through to the inside of Basket and knot to secure each Carrot.