Today I had fun, Alison didn't!

No soap today!

Tuesday September 30, 2014

Today wasn't a work day, it was a fun day - at least for Kathy.  

Alison on the other hand was at the local hospital x-ray department with a certain part of her anatomy smashed flat!   Yes, she was having her mammogram, and as any woman who has experienced it will unabashedly tell you.....it is not comfortable and not fun.

Mammos are important, and I am glad Alison bit the bullet so to speak.  Now the l-o-n-g wait for results - as if it's not bad enough just going through the boob torture.

I asked Alison if she wanted to contribute photos of her hospital visit, and she told me to use my imagination, which I took as a no.  Again if you've ever gone through this procedure you certainly don't need or want photographic evidence other than the picture that the radiologist will examine.

The only pictures you will see in this post are ones taken yesterday during a basket making session at my friend Randy's house.  Along with Randy and me were Carol and Mary. Randy is a professional basket maker and weaving technique guru who spent the day simultaneously creating a cute Christmas tree out of Champagne corks while helping us with our baskets.

A year or so ago we had all made baskets together and were getting moderately proficient at basketry, then stuff (life in general) got in the way.  Consequently we hadn't made baskets together for a long time, so we were rusty.  I felt as if I had forgotten everything, but with Randy's patience and tutelage we all created great looking baskets.

Here are a few pictures of our progress.

I'll begin the photos with Carol's tray basket.  When finished it will have braided leather handles and be about 16 inches long and 12 inches wide, it has a solid wood base.  Carol was following a pattern (Large Arrows) from Lyn Siler's book:

A great source!

She is about half way finished, you can see (below) the beginning of the arrow pattern emerging as she weaves up the sides.  Achieving the pattern takes concentration as each row is different. It was neat to watch the pattern evolve. 

At this point Carol is working on the last rows around the top of the basket.  The arrow pattern is perfect and looks very cool.  

Next she will lash on the rims, and it will be done.

I had to leave and didn't get to see Carol's basket completely finished.  In the picture above she has the rim of the basket on and has lashed it in one direction. She will come back and lash it again in the opposite direction and then it will be perfect.  If you look closely you can see the leather handle on the end of the basket

I want to make one.

Now on to another project....

This is the Champagne cork Christmas tree that Randy was working on.  I think it was at this point that she realized she was out of Champagne corks!  

Randy wasn't able to spend much time with her cork tree as she 

helped Mary, Carol, and me 

A LOT with our baskets.

Randy only lacked a couple of corks to complete the tree. Luckily she found a few more and was able to finish it.  The tree is really cute and would make a great centerpiece for a party, especially if Champagne was served.

Thank you again for all your help Randy!

This was Mary's (old) basket. Having started it about a year ago, she was 90% done and was able to finish it right off the bat.  She put the rim on the top and lashed it to the basket.  

There is a spiral pattern in the weave that starts at the top left corner and works it's way around the basket. It is very subtle, but it looks really nice.

In no time Mary was finished with her (old) basket.

 There was still plenty of time so Mary decided on another project, a small basket, similar to the one pictured above.

                    

She chose natural and black dyed reed, which was a neat contrast.  
In this picture she has woven the sides and is working on the handles of the basket.

Here Mary is lashing on the rim. She used special clamps to help hold the rim in place while lashing it on with two rows of reed.

Above is Mary's finished basket. It really pretty, and the light and dark colors give it a very contemporary look!

Nice job Mary!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

This is a basket that I brought with the idea of copying the pattern.

I bought it at a yard sale for $1.00 - a great buy. It lives in my living room and is very handy  for books, toys, magazines etc.

When Randy saw the signature on the bottom of the basket, she realized it had been made by local basket maker Jan Stancil, who just happened to be the person who taught Randy how to make baskets.

(small world!)

                                                                                                               

I have the base done, sides turned up and am almost to the top.

Working on this basket was almost like starting over for me, thankfully Randy was very patient and helpful.

Here I am just about ready to begin the rim of the basket, the handles (holes in the side of the basket) were a little tricky. (Randy's guidance again!)

These are the oak feet I will use for my basket.

And here is the finished basket.

 We all decided the feet looked better on the side rather than the end, and I am leaving the color as is.

Carol and Mary were going to dye their baskets light brown using Rit dye.

Who knew the four of us could create such fabulous things!

Thank you for viewing this side blog about our basket day. Now soap is calling, so we had better get back to the preparations for Saturday's Foxfire festival.