Two Pine-Needle Baskets

Day 257: Pine-needle basketry is not easy on the fingers, so it's been slow going. I have yet to make the lids for these two (or at least for the taller one). They are both 3.5" in diameter and are worked in fern stitch (aka V stitch or wing stitch) except for wheat stitch on the base. Fern stitch is simply wheat stitch with a second diagonal stitch travelling the opposite direction. It's been twenty years or more since I did any pine-needle work, and my hands are not as strong as they used to be, but almost every day I put on a row or two. In between sessions, I wrap the pine needles in a damp towel and put them in the fridge to keep them supple.