Knit a Cornucopia!

Create a unique piece for your Holiday table by knitting this Cornucopia basket.

The cornucopia is a common symbol of a harvest festival. A horn-shaped container, filled with abundance of the season's harvest. (It is also known as the 'horn of plenty'). The traditional cornucopia was a curved goat's horn filled to brim with fruits and grains. According to Greek legend, Amaltheia (a goat) broke one of her horns and offered it to the Greek God Zeus as a sign of reverence. As a sign of gratitude, Zeus later set the goat's image in the sky also known as constellation Capricorn.

With that inspiring anecdote, let's get started!

Step 1: What You'll Need and How Many Stitches

Items to gather

~ 2 single-pointed knitting needles, US size 3 or 4/UK size 11 or 10/metric size 3.25 or 3.5, minimum 10" in length

- preferably aluminum as opposed to bamboo, due to the tendency of the former to have a sharper point

~ 4" embroidery hoop, just the inner hoop

~ 4 ply yarn, worsted weight, 4-5 stitches per inch,a yarn that calls for a 7, 8 or 9 US size needle is best. Any thinner and final piece will be too small. Acrylic is easiest as it has a nice flexibility and good slip for knitting quickly. Basket colors range from very light to dark umber, to combinations thereof, so find some baskets you love as inspiration for your yarn color choices.

~ ~ Options here are 4-ply dual-colored cotton(as pictured in first photo), single, texture color of 4-ply yarn(a caramel like the one in video would be lovely), or even 2 4-ply yarns of different colors combined for a textured effect - a dark grey and burnt umber brown would look fantastic together!(pictured above) Whatever you use, a total of 8-10 WPI is ideal. Here is how you can figure WPI:

https://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/11/determining-y...

Cast on stitches

We are knitting a Basketweave stitch to mimic a basket.(Why not?!) This particular pattern has a certain formula for creating the best results on one side. It is not intuitive, and so requires your full attention, for the most part(so save the "Life of Pi" movie for that mindless scarf you're working on). The pattern is eight rows, which creates two alternating rows of weave. The number of stitches to cast on is a multiple of 8, plus 3.

~ For this sized Cornucopia, cast on 43 stitches(8 x 5 + 3), medium to loose tension.

Medium Skill Level

~ You should have a fair amount of knitting experience, but not necessarily a vast knowledge of technical skill as this project requires just a handful of stitch types: Knit(K), Purl(P), Knitting tog(K2Tog,K3Tog), Casting on and off.

I found that when double-checking the pattern for accuracy as I knit another Cornucopia, that using the cursor as a stitch placement tool was very useful.

Total time for creating Cornucopia

The first one may take up to four hours, the second basket as few as 3 hours.

Step 2: Start Knitting!

This step represents the first four rows, or half the pattern. The second half is similar but has some changes that make the pattern extra realistic.

Row 1: Knit all stitches of the first row.

Row 2: K4, P3,*K5,P3. Repeat from * to the end of the row, end with K4.

Row 3: P4,K3,*P5,K3. Repeat from * to the end of the row, end with P4.

Row 4: K4, P3,*K5,P3. Repeat from * to the end of row, end with K4.

Step 3: Second Half of Eight-row Pattern

The difference in the second half of this pattern is that you Knit or Purl the first 3 stitches, not 4(as in the first half)

Row 5: Knit across.

Row 6: P3,* K5, P3. Repeat from * to the end of the row.

Row 7: K3,* P5, K3. Repeat from * to the end of the row.

Row 8: P3,*K5,P3. Repeat from * to the end of the row.

And that's the Formula!

Each set of 8 rows should take between 20-35 minutes, depending on your knitting speed.

(The last photo shows the wrong, or back side -sorry! The rest of the Instructable should be consistent with showing the right, or front side of work.)

Step 4: Continue Knitting Your Basketweave Pattern

The first photo shows the right side of what your first 8 rows should look like.

Create 3 more sets of the 8-row pattern.

Second, third and fourth photos represent the 2nd/3rd/4th 8-row patterns created.

Isn't it pretty?! Looks just like a basket!!

Step 5: Start Decreasing Stitches

The bulbous part of the Cornucopia is sufficient, so the narrowing begins here:

You will be decreasing the number of stitches in this row by 16(a multiple of 8).

(The 1st photo is an example of knitting stitches together... knitting 3 tog can be tedious, so be careful to contain all loops correctly - this is where the sharp point of the needle can help)

K4, K3Tog, K1,K3Tog, K1, K3Tog, K1, K3Tog, K5, K3Tog, K1, K3Tog, K1, K3Tog, K1, K3Tog, K4

The 2nd photo shows the work after this row is completed, 16 stitches fewer. (You should now have 27 stitches on the needle)

Next Row:

K4, P2, K2, P2, K2, P3, K2, P2, K2, P2, K4

Take notice of the middle Purl of 3

The 3rd photo corresponds to this completed row.

(It was so lovely knitting by the window with the Warm Sun pouring inside, oblivious of the Blistering-cold Wind outside!)

Next Row After:

P4, K2, P2, K2, P2, K3, P2, K2, P2, K2, P4

Why did the Thanksgiving basket get in trouble at school?

It was caught Cornu... copying!

Sorry! ... : D

Oh yes, 4th photo shows completed row.

Next Row after that:

K4, P2, K2, P2, K2, P3, K2, P2, K2, P2, K4

Step 6: Decrease Again

We need to narrow The Horn further, so this time we decrease by 8 stitches.

K2Tog, K2Tog, K2, K2Tog, K2, K2Tog, K3, K2Tog, K2, K2Tog, K2, K2Tog, K2Tog

Notice the middle Knit of 3. : )

P2, K2, P1, K2, P1, K3, P1, K2, P1, K2, P2

K2, P2, K1, P2, K1, P3, K1, P2, K1, P2, K2

P2, K2, P1, K2, P1, K3, P1, K2, P1, K2, P2

Looks like the beginnings of a Cute Cat Hat... "Here Kitty..." (Smart cat disappears from room.)

Step 7: Some More Decreasing

: D

Yay! This means we are almost done.

K2Tog, K2Tog, K1, K2Tog, K1, K3Tog, K1, K2Tog, K1, K2Tog, K2Tog

Notice the middle K3Tog.

You should now have 11 stitches on needle.

Time for a knitting joke, story...?

Darn, there's no good yarns to be found. I searched the webs... Wait, what I just wrote was kinda funny!

Right? : )

K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1

P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1

K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1

Decrease again

K2Tog, K2Tog, K3, K2Tog, K2Tog

Knit Row. (You should have 7 stitches on needle)

K2Tog, K3, K2Tog

K2Tog, K1, K2Tog

Now you should have 3 stitches on your needle.

Cut yarn feed so that you have 70".

Purl off 3 stitches

Step 8: Sew Shape Into Cornucopia

1. Thread a yarn needle.

2. With right sides together and horizontal weave stripes lined up, sew edges together.

3. When you reach the bottom, tie it to yarn tail.

4. Bury an inch or so of short yarn tail into work and cut off.

Step 9: Wrap and Sew Around Hoop

1. Turn cornucopia right-side out.

2. Stretch bottom around hoop.

3. Start sewing "brim" and "hat" together, catching just a loop or two each. This should join them completely, hiding the embroidery hoop.

4. Almost finished with sewing.

5. Bury yarn tail into inside or cornucopia, trimming excess.

Step 10: Create Knobs for Legs

We want 2 "legs" for the bottom of the basket to rest on.

1. Bring yarn up through cornucopia, midway between brim and tip of horn, 2 squares to the right of seam.

2. Start sewing a bump, loosely, with a series of loops, building up the nub. Coming up through the center, down around the perimeter of the circle, about 1/2" in diameter. Up to twenty passes, or loops, should give a nicely defined leg.

3. Create second one on left side of seam, 2 squares over for symmetry. (You can feed the needle through loops and tug gently, to pull them out a bit for fullness). Bury an inch of yarn into work a trim off excess.

4. Functioning legs for your basket!

Step 11: Gather Items to Fill Cornucopia

~ Go for a Nature Walk and gather up a variety of textures.

~ If you'd like to fill with edibles, Nuts, grapes, kumquats, etc. are all good options.

~ For full-on craft, fill with a variety of textile "Harvest".

These make great gifts for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

I gave one to my Mom for Thanksgiving, made one for myself for table decor, and a third to give away as a Christmas present.