Third Basket

My third basket for the Texas Basket Weaver's Association was called Sonora taught by Marcia Balleweg. Sadly, I failed to get a photo of Marcia. She was a patient and attentive teacher, just what I like best so the class went very well for me. The basket started with 54 stakes of round reed placed in a slotted wooden base.

Beginning of Sonora

In the beginning it feels a little like a giant unwieldy spider that's hard to hold on to. Once all the stakes were placed there were two rows of 'triple weave' done with 3 weavers. After that it was just a plain over 1/under 1 weave to the top of the basket. I got so involved with this basket that I forgot to take a few pics here and there. I did get shots of folks around me though. Go figure. Do check out the teeny little basket necklace this lady is wearing. Those teeny baskets take a lot of patience and perseverance to weave!

Plain weave to the top

During the plain over/under weave it was important to pay attention to shaping. Ideally it would be about 6" in diameter at 2 1/2" from the base and then we were aiming for 5" in diameter at 5" up from the base. At the top we used the spokes to make a woven rim. Then we started weaving down the basket to make a double walled basket. Twice the work for ONE basket!!

Woven rim on Sonora

Now for some fun stuff. On the way down the outside we started with 6 rows of triple weave in a colored reed. I chose rust. (Is it bad to be so predictable? Nah!)  After the 6 rows of colored reed we started French randing with 27 pieces of cane. Don't ask me how it got to be called French randing. I have NO idea. When I googled it I got things like French fries, French toast and French kiss. Whatever.

French randing along with the colored reed

As you can see French randing goes in at an angle. It feels pretty weird to do at first. In the middle of the French randing there are 3 more rows of triple twining.

Maintaining basket shape

As the weaving progressed on the outside of the basket it became very important to pull the stakes back in to maintain the shape of the first basket wall. It helped a lot to tie up all the stakes into a sort of tepee effect. This is one of my fellow weavers in class. After the second section of French randing it was back to colored reed and more triple weave to the bottom of the basket which was then finished off with a woven rim. Marcia helped me modify the rim on my basket to make it actually be the foot as the basket sat a little off kilter on the base. Thanks for helping me fudge the outcome Marcia!!

Outside and Inside of Sonora

Ta Da!! Sonora is done!

Blessings,
gk