Felted Knitting Basket

This pliable 10-inch-tall knitting basket was made from a felted Aran sweater.
Need a primer on felting before you begin?
Get the Basics on Felting
Prepare the Sweater

Step 1

Begin by felting an old sweater. Then, prepare the sweater: Cut off the sleeves of felted sweater with scissors. Cut sleeves at seams to open them up. Cut the sweater body at shoulder seams to open up the neck. With a sweater comb, remove any pills from sweater.
Sew the Basket Tube

Step 2

Sew the shoulder ends of the two sleeves together with a zigzag stitch; do not overlap the pieces. (We used red for visibility, but thread should match sweater.) Sew armholes on sweater body closed, so you are left with a tube.
Complete the Basket

Step 3

Measure the circumference of the sweater's body at the waistband. (Measure from side seam to side seam and double the number.) Use the dimension to create an oval paper template. Center the template on the stitched sleeves; cut out. Pin the waistband end of the tube to the base. Machine-stitch with a 1/2-inch seam allowance. Fold the top edge over into the basket, and secure it to the base with a whipstitch. Steam-iron the finished basket to refine its shape.

Step 1