Crochet Easter Basket Tutorial

I do love Easter, I guess I always associate this time of year with my April birthday and my mum's birthday too and general happy times.  And of course now that I am married to a March man and have a March daughter there is even more reason to celebrate!





We always have an Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday, usually in my mum's garden (which is about ten times the size of our own!)  This year I wanted to make some cute little baskets for the girls to use to store their eggs in (the little ones that is, there's no way these baskets are going to hold the abundance of packaging that comes with the bigger eggs!)  At the same time I have been trying to think of projects to use up my leftover yarn - the result is a pattern which uses only a small amount of yarn and is very quick and easy to make! Enjoy!





Crochet Easter Egg Basket


You need:

• Chunky wool (I used left from the Li'l Monkey blanket)


• 6mm crochet hook


• Large yarn needle

Round 1 - Make a magic ring...





...Ch3 (counts as 1 dc) and make 11 more dcs into the ring (12 dc)

Round 2 - Ch3 (counts as 1 dc) – 1 dc in same dc, then 2 dcs in each dc around (24dc). Join with sl st in top of 3ch.

Round 3 - Ch3 (counts as dc), *2 dc in next dc, 1 dc in next dc, repeat from * around (36dc).  Join with sl st in top of 3ch.







You should now have a nice flat circle.

Round 4 - Ch3 (counts as dc), 1 dc in next dc and in each dc around (36), join with sl st in top of ch3. 

Round 5 - Repeat Rnd4 (If you want to change colour for this round, as I have done, just tie in your new colour as close to your work as possible before making the Ch3 at the beginning of the round)

Round 6 - Ch1 (does not count as sc), sc in same st, 1 sc in next 4, sc2tog,* 1sc in next 5, sc2tog, repeat from *around, sc in last st.

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sc2tog

 

Join with sl st in first sc. (31)

Round 7 - Ch1 and turn, sl st in each sc around finishing with sl st in beginning ch1, fasten off (this row helps the top edge sit nicely I find)

One cute little basket! You can leave it like this, or add a handle like I have for the grey one...

Handle:

(Leave a long tail for sewing)

Ch3, turn, 1 sc in 2^nd ch from hook and in next ch.

Ch1 and turn, sc in each sc across (2sc).  Repeat until you have the desired length of handle, fasten off leaving long tail for sewing.

Sew onto side of basket by sewing ends of handle into the tops of the sc row.

Voila!  Cute little chunky baskets ready for your easter egg hunt!  You could of course just display them prettily somewhere to hold jewellery or your keys or loose change. 


Have fun with this and do be sure to let me know how you get on, I would love to hear how you get on with my patterns and tutorials, feedback is incredibly useful!

Happy Easter!

6 weeks

Today our new arrival is six weeks old.

Today also marks six weeks of exclusive breastfeeding.  Yup.  Six weeks.  This blog isn't about breastfeeding, or even babies really..except for mine obviously, it being my blog..but it is worth mentioning because these last six weeks have been some of the hardest of my life.  I never thought I would reach four weeks at one point, let alone six.  But with a lot of advice and encouragement from my friends on Twitter and from my fellow bloggers (Gretchen I am pointing at you!) I have made it to my initial six-week target.  Now I am aiming for eight weeks and then...well, then we'll see.  The main thing is I am feeling more positive about it.  Now if I could just get some sleep things would really be looking up :)

I intend to review progress on the Big Happy blanket at the end of each month as we move through the year but I thought this little milestone would be a good time to have a look at how it's going so far...

Not bad, eh?

Ten and a half rows, six colours...

Looking rather sunny and happy and, of course, big!

I have very little time to work on it, but I try to squeeze it in where I can.  It cheers me to see the rows building up.  Lillia chooses the next colour if she is about when I get to the end of a row, she is excited about all of us snuggling up underneath it when it is finished.  So am I, I just keep picturing it months from now, finished, and a happy Future Me.

Little bags

You know what it's like - you're dashing out to the shops, hubby's doing the childcare, you've got two hours, tops, just for you.  You don't need the bag you use for family days out - massive, slightly worn, stuffed with wipes, snacks, tissues, spare clothes.  You don't need your work bag - slightly less massive, stuffed with tissues, ipod, book, travelcard and, if you're like me, snacks.  You need a bag just big enough for your keys, your mobile and your purse...ok, and a snack.

So I made one...

It has a pink bunny as a nod to the season - a bit springy and easter themed (ok, I'm a bit late for easter!)  I really like this bag, it is made from a cut of old wool fabric, lined with organic cotton and appliqued with recycled felt and, as planned, it is perfct for carrying those little essentials.  So I made some more...

And there's more to come too!  Not quite sure what I am going to do with them.  I was planning on opening an online shop and maybe selling a few things, but I am just not convinced that I would be able to dedicate the time, and I'd be too nervous that my handywork wouldn't be good enough and I'd have a ton of annoyed customers!  So for now I continue to sew for pleasure, and keep giving my friends and family bags, dolls and purses :)

xx

Getting ready for Easter...

I bought these colourful egg decorations in John Lewis.  I really loved the cheerful colour combinations.  especially the orange, green, yellow and blue above.

Lillia and I have been having fun hanging them around the house, brightening up the place.

Aren't they wonderfully spring-like?  Makes me smile just looking at them.  Eggs are traditionally used as a symbol of fertility and rebirth - new beginnings.  I like that :)

A week of creations

The power cable went on our laptop rendering it…well…powerless. This was, however, rather fortuitous as it forced me to stop gawping at the internet and get on with some proper creative time. We got the new cable yesterday so I am now reunited with blogger, my photos and the full excitement of t’internet once more, so here I am ready to share some of the products of my days away from the world wide web.

I have been having a lot of fun with felt...

I've been making some easter/spring-time themed items...

And basically have a lot of fun cracking on with making things...

I have also had time to make a start on a "manly" sewing project for hubby's birthday, I felt it was time he got something out of the hours I spend fussing about with fabrics...

I am rather excited about this particular project, but I can't reveal too much in case he checks in here and the surprise gets blown.  I just hope I can get this finished successfully and on time as it is a new technique to me, it requires lots of sewing in straight lines, which isn't my strong point!

I have also managed this week to tackle my first ever zip, very exciting!  I was rather pleased actually, I made a little zippered purse for Lillia...

On the outside I used a french quilting fabric that I picked up in Uzes last year, I love this fabric and I only have a small amount so I was happy to use it on something that will get played with every day.  For the lining I used organic cotton gingham from Gossypium...

I can't tell you how much I love this fabric, the colour is just lovely and it is so soft :)

I am hoping to able to get some good shots of finished things and more works in progress tomorrow when I have the time and the light.  All will be revealed soon enough!