workbasket

[ wurk-bas-kit, -bah-skit ]

/ ˈwɜrkˌbæs kɪt, -ˌbɑ skɪt /

a basket used to hold needlework paraphernalia.

Origin of workbasket

First recorded in 1735–45; work + basket

It is very important to neatness, comfort, and success in sewing, that a lady's workbasket should be properly fitted up.

A Treatise on Domestic Economy |Catherine Esther Beecher
But she kept her nerve and her wits and looked at him and shut her mouth and put up her work in her workbasket.

The Torch and Other Tales |Eden Phillpotts
His mother gave him her workbasket to rummage, hoping to keep him quiet till dinner was ready, and returned to her housekeeping.

Little Men |Louisa May Alcott
"I have a letter somewhere," looking in the machine drawer and finding the letter in the bottom of the workbasket.

The Awakening and Selected Short Stories |Kate Chopin

Her workbasket was beside her, the bright knitting-needles in the unfinished sock.

The Rustler of Wind River |G. W. Ogden