Two New Baskets

My youngest daughter spent the first part of this week very sick with the flu, so I took several sick days to take care of her and take her to the doctor. While she slept or read, I make a couple baskets.

Debbie had asked me to make a basket for the Midwest Archives Council Silent Auction planned for the April meeting in Louisville. I wanted something classy that said Kentucky. I actually had a different basket picked out, but getting the handle with the horse head cut into it was going to be a problem. In the meantime I ordered a new basketry book from Amazon. Hey, I only needed six dollars to get free shipping.

This book included a pattern for the 2000 Anne Coleman Derby Basket. I had seen this one, but had never made it. Everything I needed was in the loft, so I decided this would work for MAC. It was woven on a 5x10 wooden base with a combination of 1/2" ff reed in the back and 1/4" fo reed in the front. It was woven continuously with 3mm cane on the bottom and the folded over lapel and 4mm cane for the over 2, under 2 twill that makes up most of the basket. The lapel was woven back and forth so that it gradually tapered to a rounded front. After cutting and tucking the spokes the front was soaked well and rolled over. This part was easier said than done. Even when finished I wasn't completely happy with the way the weaving bunched up after it was rolled. Before I send it off for the auction I need to find a horse shaped pin to put on the lapel.

The next basket was a simple laundry basket woven with 3/4" ff reed for the stakes and 5/8" reed for the weavers. For the design in the middle rows I picked up a braid that was in the new book and wove that in 1/4" fo reed. In my typical style I tried to jump ahead without reading the directions exactly, so it took several tries to master the braid, but once I figured it out it was very easy to do. To make the handle and rim stronger, I tucked the stakes to the outside and inside and used 5/8 fo with #6 round filler and 1/4" fo lashing. I had some small pieces of leather left over from the top basket and earlier baskets that I used for handles with Chicago screws to secure the ends. This basket has already been delivered to Toni's new house.

Pretty productive for a couple sick days. Fortunately, my kids do stay pretty healthy most of the time.

Basket Weaving Marathon

For some reason this weekend turned into a basketry marathon. Or, more appropriately, a basket finishing marathon. Maybe because I'm trying to get organized or maybe because my daughter made a comment that I never finish anything, I decided to get working on those baskets that were almost finished but just needed a rim.

First was a pie basket that has been awaiting a rim for, yes I am cringing, a year and a half. I don't have a photo of it because it came out blurry. Maybe later.

Next was the basket above that was started about a year ago in a class taught by Anne Coleman. The base is wooden and the dividers that you see are part of the base. It was woven with cane in a continuous under 1, over 1, under 1, over 2 pattern which makes a narrow and a wide diagonal pattern. It is already full of basket making tools and reed, so I guess that makes it a keeper.

Three of these four baskets are new and needed a rim and handles. The fourth was one I carried as a purse for about a year and broke a handle and the rim. I just repaired it, so I could use it again.They were made before the house was built, so that means they've been sitting for over 2 years. Maybe my daughter has a point. Maybe that should have been my resolution. "Do not start a new project until all others are finished." But I had an excuse with these baskets, really, I did. All the handles were hand shaped from heavy reed and were a pain to do. Now that the baskets are finished, I'm thinking I should have used a thinner reed for the rim. The tops are really stiff.

The pattern for these baskets came from Lyn Siler's, The Ultimate Basket Book because I wanted to weave something more challenging than I was getting in the classes offered on campus. They were that, but the final result was worth it. The peach one was woven with colored stakes and the pink with colored weavers which reverses the pattern. Woven in all natural makes the design more subtle. You have to stand away from it to really see it.

And last, but not least was this one. I had the reed cut for this basket, but had never made it. It is small, but was tricky to get the shaping right. The pattern was by Patti Hawkins, but I made it in 1/4' reed rather than 11/64, so it is about twice as large as the pattern. Notice the rim is complete. It isn't the standard rim, but uses only one piece of 3/8" flat oval with the stakes folded over on the outside and lashed as you go. Tedious but the entire basket was done start to finish in one sitting.

By the way, cable ties are God's gift to basket makers.

Keeneland Green

Keeneland Green
Originally uploaded by tormash9

For some reason I get stuck on rims. I have about 10 baskets at home that have been completed except for the rim. There should be a term for it, since I know others who have done the same thing. Rimophobia, maybe. And a co-worker asked me to finish the rim on her basket. Little did she know.

But over the break I was determined to beat this brick wall and at least get the rim on Carol's basket. While I was at it I also finished this one that I made about a year ago. This is an Anne Coleman pattern called Keeneland Green. The design in the center can vary and for this basket I chose a diamond pattern. Last year for Christmas I gave a basket woven in this pattern with an arrow in the center to my nephew's wife Ashli. This one I think I'll keep as a wastebasket in the living room.

Christmas basket weaving

Over the Christmas break I remade this basket. Yes, I took it completely apart and put it back together again. I filled it too heavy and when it was picked up one side pulled out from the wooden base and the handle pulled loose from the stakes. Yikes, back to the drawing board. I adapted this pattern from a huge tote bag I made in a class and put it on a wooden base rather than a woven base. Obviously the stakes weren't close enough together to hold everything securely.

This is a large basket with a wooden base 11 1/2" by 18". The stakes alternate between 1/2" brown and 5/8" natural. They were glued into the slot this time around. Three rows of twining with #2 round reed secure the bottom and weaving is done with 1/4" flat oval, 1/2" flat flat natural and 1/2" flat flat brown.

The handle was woven into the basket and the rim is 5/8" half round lashed with 5mm cane. I may have to make another one to keep since my girls have been wanting laundry baskets. This one goes to Minnie.

Thanksgiving Day Basket

For some reason I seem to spend some part of every Thanksgiving break making a basket. The girls are always with their dad and it is so quiet that I feel the need to keep busy so I don't go nuts from the quiet.

This year I decided to do something a little different. For starters I actually made the base for this basket out of some scrap cedar left over from building my house. Since I haven't posted anything else about that building project I'll jump ahead and say that the staircase to the loft and the wall around it are finished in red cedar. I love the smell and the rustic look. But back to the basket. I finally found a router bit that will cut a 1/16" slot in a piece of wood which is exactly what is needed for a basket base. It's called, amazingly enough, a 'slot cutter.'

I started with a small scrap, about 2 1/2 by 4 inches to make a business card basket. An odd number of 1/4" flat oval stakes are woven in a continuous over two, under two pattern giving it a diagonal look. A 3/8" flat oval rim finished it off lashed with fine cane.

Now for the critique.

• The corners of the base should have been rounded. That would have allowed for a stake in each corner and made the weaving more even.


• The dark brown stakes really don't match the reddish purple of the base. So experiment with other stake colors.


• It is way too large because I'm not used to making a basket that small. In fact this is the smallest basket I've ever made. You could stack two lifetimes of business cards and still not fill it.

Any other critiques?

I usually give away most of the baskets I make, and then I never even remember what they look like. As I was reading some knitting blogs where knitters use their blogs to journal their knitting projects I thought that might be a great place to keep up with the baskets I make. I looked for basketry blogs, but couldn't find any.