My partner enjoyed the photo shoot this weekend and had me get this too: A pine needle basket I made for him late last year. He puts his evening vitamins in it and takes them all in one gulp.

Normally, when you want to do pine needle basketry, you get the longest pine needles you can, often ordering online from someone in the Southeast US, where the longest needles are common and knowledgable retired ladies clean and prepare them exquisitely, I’m told.

But we got the pine needles off the ground from parks around here because I like salvaging, both aesthetically and financially. I don’t recommend this for a beginner; it took longer than it would have with the standard long needles, and I didn’t clean them as well so I got rather sticky. This tiny basket took somewhere around 5 hours to complete.

If this basket makes you think “Pine needle basketry isn’t especially appealing and is kind of ugly,” try looking up some of the good stuff that actual artisans make. Here’s one artist I like.