Playing Around With My PEEPS!

Easter and PEEPS!  They seem to go hand in hand.  I mean, check out the seasonal aisles in the grocery and drug stores.  Personally, I never liked peeps.  I mean not to eat them.  They just don't float my flavor boat.  How about you?

Yesterday afternoon, about the time I should have been thinking about dinner, I remembered a pattern I'd saved for crocheted Peeps and right then and there - I had to make some.  Into the bin of cotton I went, hunting a few pastels.  Four colors of Lily Sugar and Cream and a size G hook (4mm) would do the trick.

I used this pattern HERE.  It's from a blog I follow, Whiskers and Wool.  I'd pinned this one and knew just where to find it.  The pattern is a pdf file that can be saved and printed.  The instructions were easy to follow.    I liked that the peeps were stuffed, but not too round.

Four peeps... white, purple, yellow and teal.  That would do the trick.  I lined them up, stood them up, placed them in a circle, yes, they would do quite nicely.  Off to make dinner.

I was uninspired to cook, a basket came to mind.  I'd seen a little crocheted basket on someone's blog yesterday - the empty plastic cake icing container that I'd saved and run through the dishwasher was now clean and I swear it BEGGED me to make it into a basket.  I informed said little container that I would do so, but dinner had to come first.

For the most part I winged the basket.  I created a circle the same diameter of the bottom of my icing container, then I stopped increasing stitches and the basket turned and started to have sides- so it goes with most baskets.

Here is a flat circle pattern.  or try this one instead.

The base is all in single crochet, but as I rounded the sides, I threw in a few random rows of hdc and dc.  When the sides were tall enough to sit just above the container, I joined my last row with a slip stitch and then chained enough chains to make a basket handle.  To the handle chains, I added a few more rows of sc until it was a bit thicker.  I attached the handle at both ends as I went, slipstitching it to the sides of the basket.

For the final touch, I added an edging.  sc, ch3, sk 1 st, sc - I simply repeated around the top edge, slipstitching my way across the handle when I got there.

I used a varigated cotton and the same hook for the basket as for the peeps.  Miraculously, when I went to find some basket yarn, the skein I chose had ALL the same colors as my peeps - clearly it was meant to be.

This cute little package will be quickly bundled up for the post today - and sent of to my super cute neice and nephew.  As vegans, who eat only organic and gluten free and who DONT consume artificial coloring or corn syrup or genetically modified foodstuffs, I'm sure they will get a lot more pleasure out of my crochet peeps then they would the eating variety.

So, quick, go play with some peeps.  These little cuties makeup quickly and are just begging to be part of your Easter decor and fun.