I didn’t have enough off-white (M-140 Aran) to complete this. So I used other colorways of the same yarn to complete it because I’m in stash reduction mode. That “un-Moseses” the basket, but Evelyn will probably like it more that way anyway!

Sides: Placing stitch markers every 18 stitches helps keep the pattern on track. I decided that, instead of knitting 2 sides and sewing them together (as the pattern calls for), I would knit the sides as one piece. I made the first side following the pattern (by knitting two repeats of the 18 round repeat). Then I alternated knit and purl rounds for 6 rounds (K, P, K, P, K, P) to create 3 garter ridges as a turning round. Then I worked two pattern repeats to create the inner basket side.

On side repeat #3, I knit round 2 twice (to keep the basket pattern intact).

I folded the piece at the center garter stitch round and then sewed the cast-on edge to the the bind off edge to create the sides. I wanted to minimize the sewing up a bit.

My sides, including the extra mid-line garter rows, took 270 grams of yarn (about 456 yards).

Base: The 2 bottoms took 120 grams (209 yards) to complete.

Handles: The pattern directs to make one and, at first, I thought it a typo and that I’d need 2. But the pattern is correct as written. You knit a 55 inch strip of double cable, sew the edges lengthwise, sew the cast-on and bind-off edges to each other, and center the basket on the oval shape created and sew in place. The handles strip used 80 grams (136 yards).

The basket sides are floppy. I figured they would be and considered using some plastic needlepoint canvas or plastic poster board between the two pieces of knitting to stiffen the basket. But then I thought that maybe a bit of floppiness will be kind of endearing and actually enhance the cuddle factor for any basket inhabitant.

I am giving this pattern 5 stars, despite the floppy issue. There is a lot of detail in these directions and (except for one very minor and very obvious issue at the end of the base section) they are spot-on accurate! The only modification I made, except for making the sides all as one piece, was that I didn’t sew a running stitch through the two pieces of the sides (inner and outer) at the half-way point of the sides as part of the finishing. I tried that and didn’t like the effect.

That very minor error is at Rows 101-103 of the base. I cast off the number of stitches indicated. That meant that the number of knit stitches in the major run of knits is 11 (not 12) in row 101. It’s 7 (not 8) in row 102. And it’s 7 (not 8) in row 103. (You could also decrease the cast off by one in each row and then knit the remainder as the pattern states.)