Basket Essentials: Rib Basket Weaving E-Book

Lora S. Irish

• Herausgeber: Fox Chapel Publishing
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Seitenzahl: 177

Beschreibung

Go beyond just following the steps and learn the methods to traditional basket weaving, from measuring and adding spokes and forming God's Eye knots to weaving twill and twining patterns. With step-by-step instructions and photography for 3 rib basket projects, followed by 12 additional designs to accomplish independently, you'll acquire all the proper techniques you need to become a successful basket-weaver. Author Lora Irish is a talented and successful artist of many trades and has been making baskets for 15 years. She has also written several woodcarving, pyrography, and craft pattern books.

Leseprobe

BASKET ESSENTIALS

RIB BASKET WEAVING

BASKET ESSENTIALS

RIB BASKET WEAVING

Techniques and Projects for DIY Woven Reed Baskets

Lora S. Irish

© 2020 by Lora S. Irish and Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc., 903 Square Street, Mount Joy, PA 17552.

Basket Essentials: Rib Basket Weaving is an original work, first published in 2020 by Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holders.

Print ISBN 978-1-4971-0014-5

eISBN 978-1-6076-5715-6

Library of Congress Control Number:2020930321

To learn more about the other great books from Fox Chapel Publishing, or to find a retailer near you, call toll-free 800-457-9112 or visit us at www.FoxChapelPublishing.com.

We are always looking for talented authors. To submit an idea, please send a brief inquiry to [email protected].

Because working with reeds and other materials inherently includes the risk of injury and damage, this book cannot guarantee that creating the projects in this book is safe for everyone. For this reason, this book is sold without warranties or guarantees of any kind, expressed or implied, and the publisher and the author disclaim any liability for any injuries, losses, or damages caused in any way by the content of this book or the reader’s use of the tools needed to complete the projects presented here. The publisher and the author urge all readers to thoroughly review each project and to understand the use of all tools before beginning any project.

Dedication

For Ayleen, Gretchen, Paul, Katie, and especially Colleen—my manuscript editors—who over the years have teased, pulled, dragged, harangued, weaseled, yanked, squeezed, extracted, wrestled, and even guilted me into getting that one more answer, one more definition, one more measurement, or one more step. The very things that make Fox Chapel books such a delight! I thank each one of you!

Acknowledgments

I wish to extend my deepest thanks to Tiffany Hill, Colleen Dorsey, and Wendy Reynolds for their excellent work in the creation, development, and refinement of this manuscript. As an author, it is a wonderful experience to be working with such a well-skilled team.

Contents

What Is a Rib Basket?

CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED

A Note on the Imprecision of Basket Making

Essential Basket-Making Terms

Tools

Weaving Materials

Dyes and Colors

Finishes, Repairs, and Care

CHAPTER 2: TECHNIQUES

Common Rib Basket Shapes and Basket Names

Making Ears, Eyes, and Knots

Making a Wrapped Handle

Spokes

Weaving Patterns

Short Rows

CHAPTER 3: STEP-BY-STEP BASKETS

Half God’s Eye Hip Basket

God’s Eye Melon Basket with Decorative Spoke

Wheel-Ear High Shoulder Melon Basket

CHAPTER 4: ADDITIONAL BASKETS

Apple

Cantaloupe

Gooseberry

Grape

Honeydew

Oregano

Raspberry

Rosemary

Spearmint

Spring Onion

Thyme

Winter Melon

About the Author

What Is a Rib Basket?

Basket names can seem so confusing. Creel, angling, and shopping baskets are named for their uses and main purposes. Egg baskets, stair baskets, and hearth baskets refer to their specific shapes. Rattan, wicker, and reed baskets are named for the materials with which they are woven. And coiled, twined, woven, and plaited baskets refer to the weaving techniques used to create them.

Rib baskets, named for the technique that makes the main basket structure or framework, are created using a rim hoop that can be either one joined piece of wood or something made from entwined branches and vines that creates the circular opening structure of the basket. Many rib baskets also use a hoop that is centered at a 90-degree angle to the rim hoop and that is used as the spine of and handle for the basket.

From the two center points of the rim hoop or the intersection of the rim hoop and handle hoop, new spokes are added to the basket sides in a half-wheel spoke arrangement. An ear pattern is woven to lock the hoops to the spokes, working from the rim hoop down and out. Once the hoops and spokes are locked, you can use a variety of weaving patterns and weaving materials to fill in the sides of your basket. As the basket grows, you can add more spokes, further defining the basket’s final shape.

Throughout this comprehensive guide to rib baskets, you’ll learn everything you need to know; we will explore the rim hoops that you can use, how to add handle hoops, how to weave your locking ear patterns, how to add and anchor your spokes, how the length of the spokes defines the final shape of the basket, and more.

As you work your first baskets, remember that basketry is a very organic art form that uses natural materials that vary in thickness, width, and moisture content. Even with the most careful measurements, precise cutting, and expert weaving skills, no two baskets are ever identical. So, relax, have fun, and let’s learn the art behind rib baskets together.

CHAPTER 1

GETTING STARTED

A Note on the Imprecision of Basket Making

The art of basketry—whether rib, woven reed, or willow—is not an exacting craft. It is a back-porch, natural-materials, intuitive art form that has been passed down from one generation to the next. Basket shapes, sizes, uses, materials, terminology, and weaving patterns can change dramatically from one region of the world to the next. Seldom does even the most experienced basket maker create two identically sized designs, and often you will discover that your basket can be classified under several different names or categories of shape (more on this on page).

Unlike knitting, where a rigid set of stitches must be made to create a specific pattern, or woodworking, where exact measurements must be made to ensure a tight, accurate fit between pieces, in basketry, basket makers must be ready to adjust and alter their work with each new step to compensate for changes in how deeply a spoke can be inserted, the tension of a weave, the natural weaving abilities of a material, the dampness of the weaving material, and the weaving pattern being used.

As an example, you will discover that the reed size charts on page give approximate sizes only. Reed is a key material in basket making, but the actual size or measurement of a reed can vary because of several factors:

Was the reed originally cut to imperial (US) or metric measurements? What might have been cut to a ⅜" width using imperial measurements will measure 9.525mm in metric. If it was cut using metric measurements, it may have originally measured 9.5mm, which would be equivalent to 0.374016 inches—not a natural number to someone using the US system. Because these conversion measurements are far too exacting to be of any real use to the basket maker, you will discover that a ⅜" reed will be noted as approximately 9.5mm—rounded up or down to the nearest size.

Was the reed originally cut by the manufacturer slightly damp or bone dry? If the reed was cut damp to a 2mm size, it may only measure 1.75mm after it loses its natural moisture content, yet it may measure 2.25mm after it has been soaked in water in preparation for use.

Has the reed been stored in an open-air environment where it can absorb humidity, or has it been stored in a closed, dry bag? Reed absorbs the moisture from the air and will swell to a slightly larger size if stored in open air than it would if stored dry.

As you can see, reed sizes are a great example of how imprecision is a natural part of basket making. But they are just one example of many!

Here’s another: While I will provide measurements for your spokes throughout the projects and lessons in this book, these measurements reflect my finished, adjusted sizes that fit my basket using my particular round reed size. To create that finished basket size, I cut my spokes slightly (about ⅜" to ½" [1 to 1.3cm]) longer than what I expected to need. Then I cut them to a tapered point so they could be inserted into the ear or previous weaving patterns. In the photo below, you can see me eyeballing a spoke and getting ready to cut it to size.

Cut spokes to size after holding them up against your basket.

After the new spoke has been inserted, I visually check its placement against the curved profile of the spokes that have already been added to the basket frame. In the photo at top right, you can see that the spoke that I am holding is placed too deeply into the previous weaving work to conform with the desired profile curve of the basket frame.

By adjusting the placement of that spoke, pulling it out slightly from the weaving pattern, I can bring it out to the curve of the desired profile, as shown in the photo at bottom right. You may need to adjust a spoke several times during the weaving process.

All of this imprecision, estimation, and adjustment on the fly are actually a great advantage to this craft: you, the basket maker, need not worry about extremely accurate measurements, substituting one reed size for another, or how many rows it takes to fill one area of your basket. If you use a fatter round reed spoke than the one I use, or if your spoke needs to be ½" (1.3cm) longer than mine, your basket will still be a delightful, unique, and functional masterpiece!

Check spoke placement after the spokes are inserted.

Once the shape looks right, keep weaving!

Essential Basket-Making Terms

Every craft has its own special vocabulary. Because basketry is a folk art handed down from one generation to the next, each region seems to have its own terms for the structural framework of its baskets, basket shapes, and weaving patterns. For example, the weaving pattern that locks the handle hoop to the rim hoop can be called an ear, an eye, or a knot.

Let’s take a quick look at the basic terms used in rib basket construction and how you can apply them in working your own unique designs. Many of these terms are used in other kinds of basket making as well, although some are specific to the rib baskets this book focuses on. Make sure you take a good look at this list of terms before diving further into the book, to avoid confusion later! The terms are presented in a logical order rather than in alphabetical order both to help you understand them and to serve as an introduction to how rib baskets are constructed.

hoop: a continuous circle, oval, or other shape made of wood (or sometimes another material) that is used to form the handle, the rim, and often the spine of a rib basket.

handle: the upper portion of the center vertical hoop.

rim handle: an open, unwoven area along the rim hoop that creates a space for a full hand grip.

rim/rim hoop: the hoop that sits horizontally and acts as the rim/opening of the basket. The spokes are attached to the rim with weaving.

spoke/rib: a foundational piece of a rib basket that is typically attached at both ends to the rim at the site of the ear/knot anchoring the handle and rim together. Multiple spokes/ribs plus the rim and handle form the essential “skeleton” of the basket, before weavers are added. Throughout this book, we’ll use the term “spoke” rather than “rib” to refer to additional pieces that are inserted into the ear/eye (but both terms are accurate!).

spine/central spoke: the spoke or bottom portion of the handle hoop that is placed at a 90-degree angle to the rim, going from one side of the rim all the way to the very bottom of the basket and back up to the opposite side of the rim. Often the handle and spine are made of a single hoop, but the spine can also be made from a separate single spoke in a basket that doesn’t have a standard handle.

weaver: any piece, such as a reed, raffia, or a wood splint, that is woven horizontally around the basket spokes or other parts of the basket. Weavers are what are most obviously visible when you look at a basket, whereas spokes tend to be somewhat hidden.

weaving: adding weavers to the skeleton of a basket in any of a variety of patterns by feeding the weavers over and under the spokes of the basket.

reed: a weaving and basketry material that is made from rattan, a large group of species of thorny, vine-like palms. It is cut in long strips from the stems of the plant and dried.

row: a single weaver (or set of weavers as a unit) woven from rim to rim or from the starting and ending point of short rows.

short row: a row of weaving that does not go from rim to rim all the way around the basket one time, instead only incorporating some of the basket spokes. Short rows are used to compensate for the changing circumference of a basket as the spokes increase or decrease in size.

packing: pushing weavers together to make them lie tightly against the previous rows of weavers.

splicing: adding a new weaver to an existing weaver that is too short to finish the desired row.

ear/eye/knot: the lashing that securely connects the rim hoop to the handle hoop or the rim hoop to the spine of the basket frame. There are a variety of ear, eye, and knot weaving patterns that can be interchanged to create new basket designs.

half God’s Eye knot: a common knot used to bind the handle to the rim (forming an ear) or used in combination with a smaller eye/ear pattern to create the weaving that will anchor the spokes. It looks like a half circle or fan, facing down on the body of the basket where the handle meets the rim.

God’s Eye knot: another common knot used to bind the handle to the rim (forming an ear). It looks like a full circle on the body and handle of the basket where the handle meets the rim. A large God’s Eye knot creates the weaving that will anchor the spokes.

Tools

EVERYDAY TOOLS

The basket maker’s tool kit requires a few basic tools, many of which you may already have in your general crafting-supplies stash. Some of the essential tools used for basketwork that you may already have lying around include: a bench knife or pair of heavy-bladed scissors, a packing tool or standard-tipped screwdriver, spring clamps or laundry clothespins, an awl, a yardstick or measuring tape, twine or heavy thread, and a large pan for soaking reeds.

CUTTING AND PACKING TOOLS

A tool to cut reeds, a packer, and simple clamps to hold the weavers in place are essential to basket making. Spring clips or spring clamps are also used to anchor spokes to the ear until enough weaving has been worked to hold them securely.

Reed cutters (specially marketed to basket makers), scissors, and utility knives are excellent for cutting flat weaving reeds and round spokes to size. Pick a heavy-bladed pair of scissors that can handle the thickest round reeds. A utility knife or bench knife can be used both to cut reeds to length and to taper both ends of a reed to reduce the thickness at an overlap point in the weaving.

You may already have some of the everyday items needed for basket making.

Packing tools, or packers, are used to firmly set one row of weaving against another. Packers come with both straight shanks to pack the basket walls and bent shanks that will reach into the tight corners of a God’s Eye knot or under the rim of a basket. You can use a straight standard screwdriver as a packing tool, too.

Top to bottom: bench knife, flat-tipped packing tool, long flat-tipped packing tool, curved-tipped packing tool, scissors, large awl.

Small spring clamps can hold the previous row of weavers in place as you work a new weaver.

An awl is a necessary tool for rib basket makers. This tool has a long, tapered shank that ends in a sharp point. The point is used to split the reeds in a half God’s Eye knot to receive a basket spoke.

Spring clamps and spring clothespins (not peg clothespins) are used to temporarily secure a weaver as you work through a weaving pattern. To secure an extra-large round spoke or a natural thick vine, you can use small zip ties or cable ties. Cut the ties after the weaving has been completed enough to hold the spoke or vine in place securely without the help of the ties.

Ceramic clay tools are inexpensive and come in a variety of shapes that you can use in basketry. Most sets include a needlepoint tool that can be used as an awl, flat and arrowhead-shaped tools that can be used as packers, and several types of curved or bent tools that will reach into those hard-to-reach spaces.

This small set of ceramic clay tools can easily become basket-making tools.

REED SHAVER

A reed shaver has a heavily textured grater on the bottom side of the tool. As you pull the grater along the end of a cut flat weaver, the tool shaves the weaver to a thin taper. Use a reed shaver to taper the two ends of your reed where one end will overlap another.

WEAVING TOOLS

To tease a weaver through an extra-tight area, use either nylon-grip flat-nosed pliers or straight-nosed pliers. The tips of the pliers can grip the reed end when your fingertips are too large. Nylon-grip pliers cushion the damp reed from being damaged by the pliers’ tip.

A jeweler’s bead scoop has the perfect shape for creating the pathway for added spokes in a rib basket. The point of the scoop is worked into the weaving space where you want to add a new spoke. The new spoke can be guided along the scoop and placed into position.

A reed shaver cuts the wood fibers at the end of a reed to reduce the thickness of the reed into a gentle taper. The tapered end makes the reed easier to work with.

From left to right: nylon-grip flat-nosed pliers, straight-nosed pliers, jeweler’s bead scoop, tapestry needles.

Tapestry needles or blunt needles for leathercrafting work well to lace raffia, small twine, and ribbon accents along your weaving patterns.

SOAKING TOOLS

Your reeds, whether round or flat, need to be soaked for a few moments in warm water to make them flexible enough to weave smoothly through the ups and downs of a weaving pattern. Soak your reeds in a large water bowl or pan before you begin working. Use a large sea sponge or synthetic sponge and large paintbrushes to redampen your reeds and spokes as you work the basket. Soaking is needed when the reed will be worked over and under spokes that are spaced as close as ¼" (0.6cm) apart. Only soak your reeds right before you will be weaving them into the basket frame. Repeated soaking and drying can make your reed brittle and cause it to lift fine fibers along its surface.

Water bowls, sponges, and paintbrushes serve to soak your reeds and keep them damp during work.

MEASURING TOOLS

You will need a tape measure, yardstick, or cutting mat to measure your round and flat reeds. A tape measure works very well for marking the length of a basket spoke. Reeds being used as weavers, which do not need to be as accurate in length as spokes, can simply be measured against the area of the basket into which they will be woven—just remember to overestimate a little to account for the ins and outs of the weaving.

This self-healing quilting mat has both a 1" (2.5cm) grid pattern, which can be used to measure the spokes, and a set of concentric circles, which can be used to check the roundness of the basket spoke pattern.

Weaving Materials

There is a lot of variety in the materials you will use to make your baskets! In the photo below, you can see a preview of just some of that variety. Each of these names, numbers, and descriptions will be explained in detail in the following pages. As you read, refer back to this image to see how they all compare.

HOOPS

Wooden hoops are what give the rib basket its classic round or oval shape. These hoops are used for the handle of the basket (when it has one) as well as the top rim. Hoops typically measure from ½" to 1 ¼" (1.3 to 3.2cm) in width and from 3" to 18" (7.6 to 45cm) in diameter. The diameter of your hoop determines the general diameter of your basket, because the hoop acts as the basket’s opening.