Grapevine bark: too much effort for too little return.

Today I finished stripping the bark off the remaining grapevine branches I had in soak. While I filled a large container with the bark, in reality very little of it was usable for weaving. Over 90% of the strips I removed were too short to use. There were only enough longer lengths to weave the body of a rib basket made from 8" diameter oak hoops. So the total output from days of labour was enough for a very small basket of  5" oak hoops and a slightly larger one at 8".

I will revisit this idea of using bark in the spring when I prepare the white willow by stripping it of its bark. Perhaps I will find that the percentage of useful weaving strips will be larger.

I did coat the two baskets with varnish today. My memory says that the Vancouver basket of willow weavers was similarly varnished. The two baskets are now drying. Hopefully they will be dry tomorrow when I head for the Exhibition and Sale of the Ottawa Valley Weavers and Spinners Guild.
That sale is at the Glebe Community Centre in Ottawa, from 4 00 to 8 00 pm on Friday, 10 00 am to 5 00 pm on Saturday, and from 10 00 am to 4 00 pm on Sunday.

Preparing the grapevine: second stage.

 Today I began to strip the bark from the grapevine that has been in soak for a few days. It is a laborious and time-consuming activity. I use my finger nails to separate the loose outer bark from the branches, while bending and twisting each branch.

 This is the result of 90 minutes of work. I hope to weave with the thinner branches as I make a rib basket. However, that will have to wait a few more days since this quantity of stripped grapevine will not be enough. My back aches!

When I was in Vancouver, B.C., a few years ago, I visited a First Nations craft store. There I was intrigued by a small basket where I could not readily identify the weaving material used. It turned out it was woven with willow bark. Here you can see the stripped grapevine bark. I will keep the longer strips and see if I too can weave with bark.

Preparing grapevine: first step

I have all the grapevine branches I cut down earlier in soak. This enables me to remove the loose outer bark much more easily.

In previous years, I only kept the long, thick branches which I used as hoops for rib baskets. This year, in a moment of inspiration, or madness, I also kept the long, thin branches. I hope to be able to use them as weavers. Stay posted to see how successful this inspiration works.

Given the weather forecast for the next seven days or so, I will be unlikely to be able to get to this grapevine to remove the bark for many days. I prefer to do this job sitting in sunshine on the deck. Today's hot weather is not likely to return for a while.