Making baskets at mera
I've started doing baskets every week, as a side class to whatever is going on. I have to go in at 11 next thursday to work on the baskets we started today.
I had two people to work with, Linda and Wendy. We had a good time. I absolutely loved teaching them how to work their bases.
I made a bunch of short pieces to use for other bases. I think I'd like to make up 12 bases like Ankaret said they made her do in France when they were teaching basketry.
We used eight willow pieces, four going through the other four to make the cross beginning of the base. We wrapped them with bulrushes.
Linda got to the part where she put in the stakes and uprighted them. Is that the right word? I don't think so. No, it's upsetting! Okay, so Ankaret helped her to upset the stakes. We worked at using the four new stakes to weave the foot. It didn't really work. I'll have to play with it a bit more to find out how to do that.
Ankaret said she's always put the foot on the basket after she's finished making it! Well that's encouraging! I have many baksts that could cretinaly do with a foot. So many with very crooked bases!
Wendy had to leave at 2:30, but she was quite grateful to be able to learn. We have so much willow at Mera, it's such a good idea to use it to teach ourselves more things about basketry, especially willow basketry.
Ankaret showed how in France they start the twining on the base with the butt ends of two weavers. They run out and you add the thin ones to them and they run out at the big ends. Very interesting way to do it!
She showed us how to do it, but the willow wasn't supple enough to bend well at the beginning.
I made two bases just so I can have a set of bases ready to work with.
It was SO wonderful to do this. I love having my own class. I hope to do it every week that I can, alongside whatever else is being taught.
Except next week I teach salve and the week after I teach birchbark books.
I had two people to work with, Linda and Wendy. We had a good time. I absolutely loved teaching them how to work their bases.
I made a bunch of short pieces to use for other bases. I think I'd like to make up 12 bases like Ankaret said they made her do in France when they were teaching basketry.
We used eight willow pieces, four going through the other four to make the cross beginning of the base. We wrapped them with bulrushes.
Linda got to the part where she put in the stakes and uprighted them. Is that the right word? I don't think so. No, it's upsetting! Okay, so Ankaret helped her to upset the stakes. We worked at using the four new stakes to weave the foot. It didn't really work. I'll have to play with it a bit more to find out how to do that.
Ankaret said she's always put the foot on the basket after she's finished making it! Well that's encouraging! I have many baksts that could cretinaly do with a foot. So many with very crooked bases!
Wendy had to leave at 2:30, but she was quite grateful to be able to learn. We have so much willow at Mera, it's such a good idea to use it to teach ourselves more things about basketry, especially willow basketry.
Ankaret showed how in France they start the twining on the base with the butt ends of two weavers. They run out and you add the thin ones to them and they run out at the big ends. Very interesting way to do it!
She showed us how to do it, but the willow wasn't supple enough to bend well at the beginning.
I made two bases just so I can have a set of bases ready to work with.
It was SO wonderful to do this. I love having my own class. I hope to do it every week that I can, alongside whatever else is being taught.
Except next week I teach salve and the week after I teach birchbark books.