Wanda's basket: continued

Cane in soak: To work the cane it must be wet. I soak it in my wash tub for a few seconds to a few minutes depending on its thickness. The rocks and half-housebrick are some of the high tech tools of basket-making.

Four through five: for Wanda's basket I started by threading four 10" cane lengths through five 10" lengths. (I use an awl or bodkin to split the cane.)


Why this number? The designs I will use on the basket sides need a total number of side stakes that are divisible by two, three and four. The nine starting pieces have 18 ends. When I add two side stakes per end, the total number is 36.

Weaving the base: I weave three rounds with two weavers around the cross. I then begin to separate the stakes, separating the fours into two sections, and the fives into two, one and two as shown. After three more rounds I separate every stake.

Adding the side stakes: When the base reached 10" in diameter, I added two side stakes on each side of the initial stakes. I then wove with three weavers to create a different pattern until the base measured 12" in diameter.

Creating the "Upsett": Using needle nose pliers, I crushed each side cane as close to the edge of the base as possible. This enables me to create the "upsett" without breaking the cane. With the handy housebrick as a weight, I bent the side canes until they were close to verticle and tied them together. I could then begin to weave the sides.

(To be continued.)