Basketry (new basket 03/05)

jaydee67 · Basketry (new basket 03/05)

Rubbish basket, made from rope, plastic strapping and driftwood, all found on the beach:

Basket made to order for holding a flower arrangement to be raffled for the RNLI (recognise your willow Smooth?):

Egg basket made from Shetland-grown willow (a first for me):

wildgarlic

Fantastic - love the top one for the fact that it was made with found materials.

Smooth Hound

me too, there great

jaydee67

brain fart moment - was Smooth's willow in the basket!

khitajrah

very nice!

Esther.R

Looking very good, you beat the redd up to the beaches then?

Julie

Lovely baskets Jaydee. I have a stack of willow that has been seasoning for about five years or more and I must get on and try it out. Might be a good thing to get together with a friend to try....

Smooth Hound

basket making is something i want to try, i have a heap of rods now

IainC

IainC

The baskets look very nice BTW.

Smooth Hound

jaydee67

I have this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Handmade-...oks&qid=1241201836&sr=1-1 which gives clear photos and instructions on preparation of materials and making baskets. I'd love to be able to raid hedgerows as she does in the book to give variety to her baskets.

Julie

You'll have to come over here, Viking style, on a raiding foray

Is it possible to grow a blackberry (you'd probably say bramble) in Shetland? They're hardy critters once established and I have heard of folks using them for basketry. You might even get some fruit if you can shelter it from the blast.

MJ

never known anyone manage brambles up here, was shocked to find they were weeds south. only berries that seem to manage need to be lower than the heather eg bilberries or crow berries

jaydee67

Mum has tried to grow blackberries here with no success. We used to go and pick the fruit by the bucket when we were kids in Cornwall. And yes they can be used for baskets.

Forget-me-Not · Basketry

Wow they're great! I'd love to have a go too, never have. How long does it take to learn?

Beth

jaydee67

Thanks. I did a weekend course - then bought the book to remind me how to do it!

jaydee67

MJ

I found some brambles!!! The methodist kirk in waas, don't remember them from when I was a bairn, but apparently they've been there a while, they look like they need a tidy.

Julie

It must be a bit sheltered there. Are you going to offer to prune them for the Kirk

jaydee67

jaydee67

For when you don't have hedgerows to raid, raid the beach!

Today I made my second rope basket. I am using it as a planter and I'm pleased with it - I think I'm getting the hang of this now. The whole thing is made from beach combings. The base is a bucket lid, the sides and bindings are rope. I have lined it with a rabbit food bag and it's now home to a lavender plant.

... and yes, my fingers are sore and there's a blister where I pulled the bindings tight!

Sassinak

That is fantastic - love it

Smooth Hound

that really is good, i love that, you should get some shells and drill holes in them and tie them on here and there

MJ

Hmm, ever thought about passing your skills on to some Brownies?
They look fantastic, no shortage of rope round here, couple of the girls have family still at the fish.

jaydee67

I've done this type of basket at school:

http://neeps.myfreeforum.org/ftopic4336-0-asc-0.php

You can see the kids' baskets on page 2. The coiled baskets take too long for a brownie session!

MJ

Wow, the first page reminds me of that awful paperweaving gadget the bairn got from santa one year, it caused lots of screams of frustration, but made some pretty things.
The baskets on the end look amazing, young guide beside me is desperate to know how.

jaydee67

I made those newspaper baskets with a mixed P5-7 class. if you want me to come along give me a shout on 01806 588755.

MJ

hey thanks, we meet on tuesdays in waas. I'll speak tae the kirk ladies about the brambles, the minister spends a lot of time in south africa.

Julie

Jaydee, I've dug out my book and cut all the willow to lengths ready to soak for the next couple of days. I have a few questions as I'm new to this, I hope you don't mind?

What do you use to soak your willow in? We have some lengths of drainpipe which we talked about getting a blanking off plate for and using that, what do you think? I am using the bath for now as it is for the shorter lengths - or will it stain the bath?

Does it stain your hands and if so how badly? I have some tough gloves I can wear if I need to.

Can I bother you again if I need to ask more questions????Pleeeze??
Love the rope basket BTW

jaydee67

Course I don't mind.

I soak my willow in a trough hubby made for me with scaffolding boards lined with a tarp. I have used the bath too - careful for scratches! Once the willow is soaked mind and wrap it in a damp cloth.

My hands do get stained a bit, but not for long - I'd rather that than wear gloves, but I don't wear gloves for gardening either!

What are you going to make?

Julie

Just a bog standard basket that may or may not taper - I'll see what it wants to do

I don't see any point in walking before you can run, as they say. I used this same book once before to try out the rudiments using reed grass. It was very fiddly but it worked. As it dried out it shrank and went a bit floppy, but I was expecting that - it burned well.....
I like the trough and tarp idea, might borrow that one if you don't mind. My reservation with the drainpipe idea was that it would only let you do a few at a time. I've got a feeling that once I start, I will want to see it grow and finished, iykwim. I'm a bit like that with my weaving, I'm really going to stop after a few more wefts and several inches of weave later, I'm still at it.
Judging by how quickly you complete your baskets, I guess you might recognise that habit

I had a feeling it might stain because I think you get a black dye from willow bark.
Lastly, in this book there is a short list of suggestions for other plants besides bramble that are useful for rustic baskets. Do you want me to post the list of them in case any grow successfully in Shetland?

jaydee67

Most of my baskets find their own shape too - my next course would need to be how to make baskets the shap I want them to be!

The trough is simple, 3 long lengths nailed together with 2 ends. The tarp is not fixed so I can change the water by pulling it up.

I do tend to get carried away with my crafting - knitting, crochet, baskets all grow with 'just a little bit more'.

I have a book on making hedgerow baskets which covers quite a range of materials, most of which don't grow in this hedge-less landscape! It would be interesting to see if your book has anything different, thanks.

Have fun with your basket and don't forget the photos!

Julie

The willow is soaking

Blackberry...as you know
wild and garden Clematis - cream coloured
Snowberry - silver grey
wild and garden honeysuckle - white, when skinned and dried out
Wild Dogwood - red
White Jasmine - green
Spindleberry - green
Weeping willow - yellow but shrinks badly
Willow - Many varieties, many colours
cultivated dogwood - rich red stems
suckers from: Lilac, Philadelphus, Elm, Lime and Poplar.

I'm excited now...don't want to wait two days............

jaydee67

Two days - you're lucky, my last lot took a week!

Julie

I was going by what the book said with the two days, but I checked the willow this morning and the thicker stems might well take that long. From what you've just told me I think I need to brace myself for a long wait.
We have a tin bath but it leaks. It would be worth lining it with a plastic sheet and then the thicker ends can be left to steep for a week outside, without the inconvenience in the bathroom.
Do you think that when the willow gets a bit more supple it might be possible to bend the tips round so that they could be submerged too?

wildgarlic

I'm looking forward to seeing the photos Julie and reading all about it

Julie

Hahaha....ok, I'm not too proud to show a wobbly looking basket on neeps

Sassinak

I have qute a large thicket of red dogwood if anyone wants any. It desperately needs pruning back fairly drastically. It takes very easily as cuttings if anyone has the space to plant some

wildgarlic

I'd love a small bit for cuttings please Sass - will it wait until we're up for the fishing weekend?

Sassinak

yes it's all still on the bushes and is fairly low down the list of priorities haha

jaydee67

Julie

Is it a suitable plant for dyeing with?
I have an idea germinating in my head for future use. I have a lifetimes supply of (bought) Logwood chippings Madder root and Brazilwood and I thought it might be fun to throw a small basket into the dye vat and see if it came out nicely dyed. The acid dyes I bought from Kemtex are for animal fibres and wouldn't be suitable for plant fibres, but I have a hunch that the technique for natural dyes might work. I'll try it out on some cotton scraps and find out sometime. If it works on them, it should work on stripped willow or cane. Imagine multi coloured baskets for plants, flowerpots, easter eggs, gifts etc.....You can get four different colours from each dyebath with different mordants. the Logwood will give me purple, blue & green alone and the brazilwood and Madder root all sorts of reds and peach thru to russets.

Sassinak

How do I test it to see?

Are you going to the Rosehearty weekend at all. We are not stopping but will probably drive up for a day. I am taking some for WG for cuttings, I could easily take you some to play with
At the moment most of the young growth is just nicely pencil thickness

jaydee67

The beauty of dogwood is that it's bark is red to start with. I'd love to get some sometime to put some variety in my baskets.

Smooth Hound

yes its nice, have you looked at purple osier rods

Julie

I don't think we will be able to get over to the meet Sass, but it will keep won't it.
When I asked about the dogwood for dyeing, I had wool in mind, rather than the baskets. Usually. it is the heartwood that is used with trees but sometimes the bark too. The way I would test it would be to snip or shave a few bits into an old pan and simmer it in a little water. If it is going to yield any sort of a dye, it will turn the water red or whatever. The deeper the colour, the more likelihood of it being a good dye.
I could look in some of my books and see if it is listed anywhere first - save putting you to the trouble......unless you fancy the experiment that is

You could scavenge a scrap of wool from a fence and throw it in with it if you wanted but bear in mind the grease in the wool will inhibit the uptake to some extent. If the wool changed colour with no mordant and 'in the grease', it would be fairly safe to say it was good for dyeing with.

Changing the subject a little....My willow is getting much more supple, the thinner bits are probably ready now but I need the thicker stems for the upsetting and base so I have to wait.