Easter Basket

 I am really excited about how this turned out. I found this pattern for a little Easter basket. I used two strands instead of three (using Red Heart Super Saver yarn -- cafe and buff), and a K hook (6.50 mm).

The patterns for the lamb egg cozy and duck egg cozy were a little tricky since the pattern made them too big for the plastic eggs that I had. So I just had to keep checking after every round to see if it was time to stop increasing, or time to start decreasing.

For the lamb I used Red Heart Super Saver in buff for the face and ears. I used a boucle yarn that I've had for a long time, so I don't know what the brand is. I used Red Heart Super Saver in light raspberry for the nose detail. For the duck I used Bernat Softee Baby Yarn in lemon, and Red Heart Super Saver in carrot. Both patterns called for beaded eyes, but I don't want Bekka choking on them, so I made some little eyes out of yarn instead. For the duck, I made one single crochet in a magic ring and tied it off. Then I tied the two loose ends together, which bunched it into a circle. For the sheep, I tied two knots right next to each other, and stitched it on. I'm not sure, I keep thinking the sheep eyes make it look sad. I might change it. Anyway, you can do it however you like. The cozies are really cool because the egg pops in and out, so you can still fill it (I plan on filling them with Gerber puffs and yogurt melts for Bekka).

Now the bunny was the hardest, by far. I found this pattern, but wanted to make some changes. So here is my pattern, loosely based on the Lion Brand one. I used Caron Simply Soft in chocolate for the bunny, Red Heart Super Saver in light raspberry for the bow, Bernat Baby Fingering Weight in pink for the nose, and DMC Pewter Gray (#317) for the eyes and whiskers.

BODY (stuff as you go)
Round 1: Make 5 sc in a magic ring (5sc)
Round 2: 2sc in each (10sc)
Round 3: [sc in next st, 2sc in next] 5 times (15sc)
Round 4: [sc in next 2 st, 2 sc in next] 5 times (20sc)
Round 5: [sc in next 3 st, 2 sc in next] 5 times (25sc)
Rounds 6-8: sc in each (25sc)
Round 9: [sc in next 4 st, 2 sc in next] 5 times (30sc)
Round 10: sc in each (30sc)
Round 11: [sc in next, sc2tog] 5 times (20sc)
Round 12: [sc2tog] 5 times (10sc)
Round 13: 2sc in each (20sc)
Round 14: [sc in next 3 st, 2 sc in next] 5 times (25sc)
Round 15: [sc in next 4 st, 2 sc in next] 5 times (30sc)
Rounds 16-20: sc in each (30sc)
Round 21: [sc in next 5 st, 2 sc in next] 5 times (35sc)
Rounds 22-26: sc in each (35sc)
Round 27: in back loops only [sc in next 5 st, sc2tog] 5 times (30sc)
Round 28: in both loops [sc in next 4 st, sc2tog] 5 times (25sc)
Round 29: [sc in next 3 st, sc2tog] 5 times (20sc)
Round 30: [sc in next 2 st, sc2tog] 5 times (15sc)
Round 31: [sc in next, sc2tog] 5 times (10sc)
Round 32: [sc2tog] 5 times (5sc)
Cut a long tail and stitch through 5sc; pull tight and fasten off.

ARMS (make 2)
Round 1: Make 5sc in magic ring (5sc)
Round 2: 2sc in each (10sc)
Rounds 3-10: sc in each (10sc)
Fasten off

LEGS (make 2)

Round 1: Make 5sc in magic ring (5sc)
Round 2: 2sc in each (10sc)
Rounds 3-5: sc in each (10sc)
Fasten off

EARS (make 2)
Round 1: Make 4sc in magic ring (4sc)
Round 2: [sc in next st, 2sc in next] twice (6sc)
Round 3: [sc in next 2 st, 2sc in next] twice (8sc)
Round 4: [sc in next 3 st, 2 sc in next] twice (10sc)
Rounds 5-11: sc in each (10sc)
Round 12: [sc2tog] 5 times (5sc)
Fasten off


TAIL
Round 1: Make 5sc in magic ring (5sc)
Round 2: 2sc in each (10sc)
Rounds 3-4: sc in each (10sc)
Stuff lightly
Round 5: [sc2tog] 5 times (5sc)
Fasten off

RIBBON
ch 21 (or until chain reaches around neck)
Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch across; fasten off (20sc)

BOW
ch 7
Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch across (6sc)
Rows 2-3: ch1, turn; sc in each (6sc)
Fasten off

NOSE
ch 5
Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook and each ch across (4sc)
Row 2: ch1, turn; sc in same st, sc2tog, sc in last st (3st)
Row 3: ch1, turn; sc2tog starting in same st, sc in last st (2st)
Row 4: ch1, turn; sc2tog starting in same st (1st)
Round 5: ch1; starting in same st, sc around triangle; fasten off

EYES
make 5sc in magic ring; fasten off

Assembly:
Stitch ears to top of head. Stuff arms, legs, and tail, and stitch to body. Wrap ribbon around neck and join ends. Wrap yarn around center of bow 3-4 times and tie tightly; stitch bow to bunny over ribbon. Stitch eyes and nose onto face. Create whiskers using straight stitch. (**Note: Refer to original pattern to see other options for face detail.)