Christmas is approaching and I wanted to show my gratitude to all of you, for taking the time to read my posts, buy my little baskets and all of your kind messages and comments.

I thought it would be nice to give you a gift that you can pass on, to friends and loved ones. So I have made this tutorial, which will help you to take a tree cone, that you can gather on your own walks and cradle it, in a coil basket.

You could use any yarn or twine for this tutorial, or plant fibres, if you have any to hand. I am using flax upholstery twine for my core material and flax (linen) yarn and hemp yarns for the wrapping fibre. The linen and hemp yarns work up in a very similar way and give a very clean look. Wool will work up a bit fluffier, but will do the job just as well and you might prefer the extra texture.

Or perhaps, like us, you’re finding it hard to make ends meet this Christmas. Just use whatever you can find around the house. Charity shops often have balls and cones of yarn for sale that others have had left over, from their own projects. You will be creating something to be cherished and not only that, but it will be a unique and sustainable gift.

I have given two options for cradling a cone, as they are all very different. The first has a short video tutorial and works for a cone that still has some twig attached. The second is a photo tutorial, which cradles the length of the cone.

I would advise choosing cones that haven’t opened up too much, as it will make them much easier to handle. The baskets have to be worked quite tightly and very open cones might be prone to breaking, during this process.

My cones were collected from the ground, around the foot of a giant sequoia, at The House of Dun in Angus, Scotland.

Let’s get started then.

If you think the orange basket would suit your cone best, watch this short video. If you would prefer to follow along with the yellow basket, keep scrolling down. That said, I would suggest looking at both, as many of the steps are the same and I find that somethings are easier to follow in video, but a step by step break down, can help with the details.

For the yellow basket, I chose a cone that is more elongated. For anything that is longer than it is wide, you will need to use a different way of starting to a traditional circular basket.

The first two steps are exactly the same however, and are for any coil basket that I make.

Stagger the ends of your core fibres, (here I am using 3 strands of flax twine), cut a workable length of wrapping fibre and wrap a short section.

For something small, like this cone I only wrap approx. 0.5cm. This will vary on what materials you are using, but basically, you need to be able to comfortably bend the wrapped section round, like a horseshoe.

I always hold a short section of the wrapping thread, in the opposite direction to the core fibres and wrap away from me.

Once you have bent the wrapped section, you will need to begin wrapping right around both ends of your core fibres, so that all of the core is now being covered. Take your time and wrap neatly, it will make a big difference to your finished basket.

Keep measuring against your cone (by placing your wrapped section along the centre of the cone, as shown in the photo below), and stop when there is roughly the same width of exposed cone, on every side of your wrapped section.

Now you need to bend your work again, so you should wrap a few more times – just enough, so that you can comfortably make a U-turn.

To go back the other way and create a neat, barely visible join, I use a different wrapping technique, a figure eight.

You will want to thread a blunt ended needle, like a tapestry needle onto your yarn for this. Go for a size that is just big enough for you to get your yarn through the eye.

Begin by passing the wrapping yarn under the section of core that you already wrapped. Come right the way around and then pass the yarn under the un-wrapped core.

Wrap 2 or 3 times around the unwrapped core and then make another figure eight. 

Continue in this way, until you reach the little loop that you made, when you started.

 *A little note here, because at some point your wrapping thread is going to run out.

When you only have about 2.5cm of wrapping thread left, cut yourself a new one.

You will join it into your work by placing one end (again approx. 2.5cm), in with the core and then wrapping the old length around a couple of times. Then take the working length of the new piece of yarn and start wrapping and joining with that.

This will secure both the end of the original length and the beginning of the new length. Simple isn’t it?!

I should also mention that although there are occasions when I vary the amount of core material to help achieve a particular form, for a simple make like this one, you will want to keep the same amount of core.

I started with 3 strands of flax twine, so of course, when I first bent the core to make the loop, I ended up with six strands of core.

Keep an eye on your core as you work, if some runs out, replace it. It’s simple to do – just place the new lengths with the existing core, right up against the wrapped section and then continue wrapping.

Now, back to where we were – we had reached the loop that we made initially.

As you wrap this time, use your needle to pass through the loop, under the unwrapped core and then continue wrapping the core 2 or three times, before passing through the loop again. Continue in this way until you have worked around the loop.

The number of times that you wrap between joining to the previous round, is really up to you, and will vary throughout your basket. There are a couple of things to consider though; if the joining stitches are far apart (more than 1cm), your basket won’t be as strong and it will be harder to control the shape; keeping your joining stitches regularly spaced, will create a much neater appearance.

Now you are ready to work back along the other side, so this time when you are ready to make a joining stitch, pass the needle through that barely visible seam. Watch out for the joining stitches that you made in that round – try to fit this round’s stitches in between.

With those initial rounds complete, you are just going to keep coiling until you get to the last round, but here are some tips to help you on your way.

It looks nice if your joining stitches are in the middle of two, from the previous round. The thing to note here is that your stitches are going to get a little further apart, with each round that you complete. Because of this, you will need to fit two stitches into that space, when it starts to feel like the gap is getting too big. Do this for one round and then return to one stitch in between two from the previous round.

Unlike the orange cone in the video, a large section of the work for this one, is done without the cone in place. You will need to stop every round or two, to check size, and push your basket into the right shape (because tree cones tend to taper). To do this well, you need to have a really good look at your cone, hold it, place it on a flat surface, look for identifying marks etc, until you feel confident that you can put your work back in the same place each time. That loop from the beginning, will help you to know which way round your work is.

Just as finding natures little gifts is all about taking the time to notice what is around you, making a bespoke basket for your tiny treasures is about looking in even greater detail and really getting to know your object and your materials.

You could use something other than a cone for this tutorial, but go for an easy shape. More irregular shapes and uneven surfaces need a bit more consideration and I am hoping to put a course together in the new year, to go more in depth about shaping and adjusting for all kinds of found objects, sharing all the helpful little tips that I’ve learned along the way.

That said, with some patience and determination and using your problem solving skills, you could achieve this by yourself. Never be afraid to try – what’s the worst that could happen? You have to start over, but with lessons learned. 

You will need to get a good, tight fit on the little basket, for it to hold your cone snugly, locking it in place.

To do this, once your work starts to look like a little dish, you will need to hold your cone in place while you work. This is the most difficult part of the process, because for 2, 3 or even more rounds, the cone is going to want to move around all over the place and you will wish that you had several pairs of hands!

Just remember to be patient with yourself and with your work.

You might not have several pairs of hands, but you can make the most of other body parts, to help you keep everything together.

I always find video tutorials really tricky, because I work over a table, to make it easier for you to see what’s going on. But this isn’t how I normally work at all and it feels really un-natural. I generally work this portion of a cocoon basket, with my work resting on my knee (pulled up close) or resting against my body. The smaller it is, the closer to my head it tends to get!

It might not be great for your posture, but it will really help to get a well fitting basket.

And as soon as that cone will stay where you want it, without being held firmly in place, you can relax again.

When you are happy with your basket you will need to prepare to finish.

You want the basket to lock the cone in, but not cover up more of the cone than you need to. After all, we want to be able to admire that natural beauty, adding a little of our own work, but not taking too much away.

When you think that you’re just about there, take a few moments to sit back and look at your work. Hold it and turn it over, look at it from all angles. Use your instincts. Where looks like a good place to end?

With your finishing point selected, you will need to stagger your core fibres to get a neat finish.

There are no hard and fast rules here, but if each fibre ends at a slightly different point your coil will graduate to the finish, instead of having a weird step at the end.

As you get to the last 1cm of unwrapped core, you will need to work one joining stitch after another, with no wraps in between. Keep those stitches really close together.

When all of the core is covered, pass the needle under the last section of stitches and pull through, to secure the end. I find it helpful to put my thumb over the stitches as I pull it through and pull TIGHT. It just gives a neater finish.

Now you can cut your yarn end, as close to your work as you dare. I use a small pair of needlework snips, shown above to get really good close cut.

So hopefully at this point you are holding your own little cocooned cone. I hope that you have found my explanations clear and easy to follow, but most of all that you have enjoyed making it!

There will be more information about any upcoming courses in the New Year. I am still considering the best way to do it, to keep them as accessible as possible, given the time involved in filming and editing.

I hope to get more free tutorials on my blog next year too, but if you would like to help me keep Five in the Nest going, you can now find a Support Me section in the main menu. It will take you to my Buy me a Coffee account. I promise that any contributions won’t actually be spent on coffee (I drink quite enough of that already!), but they will help me to support my family, whilst carrying on coiling and sharing my love for making.

My best wishes to you all as we approach the end of another year. I hope that you find yourselves surrounded by love and the beauty of nature. xx