Basket 20: egg basket

 Basket 20: egg basket with pegged  handle and  2-behind-4 border; Old French willow and 9-bark

Egg baskets are my current favorite kind of basket to make. They are just so darling and remind me of when I used to keep chickens. For this basket, I used 9-bark rods, which have a peeled bark that gives a rustic appearance, for the waling. I also pegged the handle, which is when you split one of the rods and force in a dowel to prevent it from slipping out. Very pleased with this basket. 

This basket can carry more than a dozen eggs and the deep concavity of the base holds eggs to prevent them from knocking into each other and breaking. 

I did it again -- didn't prepare enough wavers for the base so I added gaps where the uprights meet the base. Functional but not the right way to do it. 

The walls came out nice and tight thanks to my whomper and the 9-bark waling looks great in contrast to the Old French willow. At left center, you can just make out the peg that holds the handle in place.

The basket looks great from any angle and that twisted handle always makes me smile.