Christmas basket

Christmas crafting begins in the summer for me when 

I visit mamma in Norway and this year despite

the coronavirus I managed to squeeze in a quick flying 

visit to see her and of course some knitting...  

I love felting, all types but there is something quite unknown about knitting/felting as to what size your eventual items will be.  Wondering whether the width will marry up correctly to the height.  Mamma always says it depends too on your washing machine, a bit like knowing your own oven, does your oven cook a little quicker or slower than recipes say and so it is with washing machines ... it all adds to the spice I say.

Don't you just love how increases look on dpn

It's so exciting when the pattern begins to emerge

The basket begins to emerge

The stitch definition will be lost when felted

Basket before felting

Dpn decreases for the base of the basket

Could this be a hat? 

Photo to show the size of the basket before felting

Place the knitted basket in the washing machine with a couple of 
towels to aid the friction and rubbing whilst being washed

Once the basket comes out of the washing machine it is imperative to mould it onto something to get the correct shape.  Sometimes it takes a few goes to find the correct mould... 

I definitely was not the correct size or shape for the drying process so I resorted to using a bucket.  Unfortunately, the photos I took have mysteriously disappeared and as I do not own a round bucket and now with lockdown restrictions in place I can not just 'pop' back over to mamma's to take another photo with her bucket, you will have to imagine the next photo...

Imagine a photo here of an upturned purple bucket,  

with the felted basket, wet and dripping with water, tied around and around  

tightly to the bucket to hold the walls as close as possible to the sides of the bucket.

Here is a mock-up of what the
the imagined photo could look like... ;)

A Christmas Felted basket, ready to use

The basket is large, it has a diameter of 25cm and a height of 16cm and is proving perfect for Christmas satsumas and clementines...

Knitted felt basket full of Christmas satsumas,
what could be more appealing?

If you are interested in making this, the pattern is from Garn Studio and can be found here: Felt basket they also have patterns for Spring baskets too.

♥  How are your Christmas preparations coming along?  ♥