How to plant,  grow, and prepare willow for basketry. Willow is one of the easiest plants to grow from cuttings. In fact, some gardeners suggest putting small pieces of fresh willow in a container with water for a week or so and then using the water to stimulate other cuttings to develop roots. Although willow likes moisture, it will grow almost anywhere as long as it has sunshine and light. If you want to grow willow for making baskets there are many varieties to choose between, both in terms of size and colour. These are available now in Canada, although we are not allowed to import w ..read more

There can be few shrubs and trees that could be more useful than willow  For centuries, willow has been grown and harvested in most European countries. For this reason, the next couple of issues will celebrate the many uses for willow. These will include medicinal uses, and use in building, biomass, fencing, basketry, and even cricket bats.  Willow’s genus or botanical family name is SALIX. There are hundreds of different varieties of willow. The trees can grow up to 35 feet or more, the shrubs are more plentiful, and they can grow in the Arctic as very tiny shrubs, but generally, th ..read more

Size: Height 22 inches width at the top 18 inches Clothes basket This is a large willow clothes basket that I made with Joe Hogan several years ago. He called it a belly basket!  The lid is interesting as it is a round flat piece complete with a handle, and fits Into the shaped top. Everybody needs somewhere to put their dirty washing and a basket is a perfect place. Really epic. I know you want to do that. Size 7“ x 4“ x 4“ Toilet roll basket This little basket is a great way to store a spare roll of toilet paper in your bathroom. The basket is made with the plating technique and it ..read more

The Spoon Basket This basket hangs close to my stove in the kitchen. I use it constantly for the wooden spoon and other big spoons. It can be made with round feed or as in this case fine willow.  Starting with a 2/2 base, and  2 fine weavers, quickly turn up the basket and make it as wide around as you would like. The garlic basket (and the "Burkina Weave") This garlic basket was given to me by Lene Rasmussen. She has kindly sent me a description  and  the story behind the basket: ”It is a spiral weave and this particular type of weave is now widely known as the "Burkina ..read more

As we begin 2024, the question I ask myself is “Do we still need baskets?”. Will they become obsolete like corsets and coal scuttles and fountain pens? For that reason, I decided to look around my house and museum and feature a few baskets that I think we shall always enjoy and use. So in this Threads, we will look at sewing baskets. To the left, is an indigenous birch bark, sewing basket with lining. This basket was given to the Museum, having been found at the reuse in McDonald’s Corners. The birchbark is very strong, and yet it has been carefully cut out using pinking shares. The base and ..read more

Random handles This is the most original way to make a handle because you do not make a handle, you have to find the handle. The random basket is formed in the shape of a ball. When the ball is quite well formed, it is placed on the table and moved around until the basket can be recognized, and the handle can be chosen. The weavers are pulled apart until the basket and the handle can be seen. A long weaver is then wrapped around the handle from both directions and continued around the rim. It is magical and quite unlike any other basketry technique because it is such an integral part of the o ..read more

The image of a basket, in most people's minds, is a woven container with a handle. It is also a very useful object, used for carrying small things and for packing and harvesting fruits and vegetables. However, without a good handle or method of carrying, it does not serve its purpose very well.  For that reason, the next few Threads will review and discuss the many different and ingenious ways handles can be made. Willow Basket Obviously, the material used to construct the basket reflects the type of handle. Strong sturdy materials like willow provide strong, sturdy handles. But baskets m ..read more

One of the pleasures of living in a small village is being part of the community. Coming up on November 18 we are celebrating Christmas in McDonald’s Corners. As well as a Christmas sale at MERA and caroling at the general store, the Basketry Museum is inviting people to come and make a Christmas craft.  What to do? A grapevine wreath is pretty easy with grapevine and a few pinecones and red berries, but not exactly original.  Then I thought about making a mobile with stars made from willow rods. I have tried making willow stars before without success. This time I looked up how to ..read more

The witch’s broomstick conjures up a picture of a witch, with a pointed hat, flying through the clouds. Broomsticks have been associated with women since the beginning of time. They were originally called besons (def: a broom, one made of a bundle of twigs tied to a handle) and more lately called broomsticks. This is because the shrub broom was used to make them. There have been hallucinogenic properties connected to women and broomsticks, and in the United States, witchcraft and witch hunts were well known. In modern times, witches and broomsticks have become a symbol of Halloween. So ..read more

Random weave is a very interesting name for a technique, and because of this, I looked up the word random in the dictionary. One of the definitions was ‘without a conscious method or understanding’. I find this particularly interesting as this technique comes from Japan, where most of the basketry work is very exact and perfect  In the traditional basketry work in Europe and England, the technique of making baskets is very regulated very exact, and certainly not random. That being said, a random weave is the most perfect technique for using the long long vines on the grapevine. This plant ..read more