"Weavers Words" Vol. 1 Iss. 56 Compiled By David Collins Owned By Weavers Everywhere Date Sent October 15, 1997 Subscribers 342 Back Issues http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/5998/ Basket Biddin' Auction http://members.tripod.com/~Basket_Biddin/ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hi Everyone, I've added a couple of nifty features to Weaver's Words web page. First, you can send free virtual postcards to family/friends. Secondly, you can answer 10 interactive trivia questions and possibly win $25 each week. Go to http://members.tripod.com/~Basket_Biddin/ for more information on the Basket Biddin' Auction. Thanks, David Collins 408 North Devon Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46219-5334 (317) 899-5747 davidc@iei.net P.S. If you have a problem printing back issues directly from web page, follow these steps. 1.) Highlight entire issue. 2.) Click cut. 3.) Paste issue into a word processor of your choosing. 4.) Now Print. This should solve any problems that you may be having. P.S.S. Lets all try to get along. This list is intended for pleasure. If you know of someone who has unsubscribed, encourage them to rejoin our little family. "BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER." @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 1 I. 55 Date: Sun, 12 Oct 1997 22:56:09 -0700 From: Sharle Osborne To: davidc@iei.net This morning I was thinking about how much I enjoy walking and scouting out materials for baskets. I went up into the abandoned orchard behind our property to see if I could peel some cherry bark off of volunteer trees that have sprouted. While looking around I found three giant puffball mushrooms. I felt like I was lugging home gold. We had mushroom steaks for dinner and great plans for the rest of the week. I like reading through WW even though most of it is over my head. This winter I'll be branching out into some willow baskets, I have a good friend across the Sound who is growing a number of varieties. She wants to experiment using willow to make some of the NW style baskets traditionally made from peeled cedar branches and roots. My goal is to make a nice waste paper basket for the bathroom. I started a diagonally plaited bullrush one, but the rush from this area is so small I've decided this will need to be a tray. I've really enjoyed the resources on the web and when I contacted Linda Braun she put pictures of two of my baskets on her gallery page on Baskets etc. I was so thrilled. Today I helped my son with an extra credit social studies project. He made cordage from cattails, cedar bark and cedar root, hung them on a piece of bark and credited the Native Tech cordage page. I never would have found these links on my own, so grateful for the info. I'm going to see about starting a local guild. The closest one is an hour away and they meet Fridays at 10am. I'll be able to attend in 2018 when I retire. Do we just get together and call ourselves a guild or is there a process? Any hot tips? We'll be starting small of course and we have a small population base in this area. I love the birchbark baskets I've seen. Anyone interested in trading some birch bark for western red cedar. I'm not looking for a large quantity, just some to play around with. Sharle Osborne @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Nantuckets Date: Sun, 12 Oct 1997 22:11:14 -1000 From: Joanne Howard To: David Collins Hi from Pearl Harbor overlook(Please refer to WW55 for Lois' invite to my house!), Kay Janke: I have never done a nantucket on a bowl but one of the ladies on this list has. Lori has e mailed to let me know how she did it and I hope she has read your request for info and will jump in. As for doing one, I think I felt the same way you do not too long ago. I think they are beautiful and a challenge. The challenge I faced in Hawaii was the lack of classes. I knew if I was going to do it, I was on my own. First I had some help from some great people on this list that guided me to good information. Martha Weatherbee's web site(www.marthaweatherbee.com) will get you info from Nate's Nantuckets. I e mailed them and requested a catalog and was surprised. I didn't realize that Nantucket baskets were in so many different forms ie. nesting, purses,vases,candy dishes etc.. The molds, and kits are really affordable through Nate's. I also bought Martha Lawrence's book Lightship Baskets of Nantucket. Most suppliers have it and it is my bible. I purchased a Nantucket Penny Basket from Nate's catalog (They advised me to start small!!Good advice!!) with the mold. It was easier to purchase a kit then to buy supplies individually. I still didn't know what cane was or what things I was supposed to have to weave this treasure. So, start small, buy a kit,(not a big investment) read Martha Lawrence's book and I'll bet you can do this on your own. I followed the pattern and referred to the book for detailed pictures and I may that basket. I have to say I am darn proud too!! You can e mail me anytime with questions but I know there are other weavers on this list with years more experience than I have. I know they will be helpful. Lois Keener: My guru, my crazy friend. You know I had this dream last night that this one lolo(crazy) wahine(woman) wrote to da lis(the list) to invite tree hundred and forty(340) wahine and kane(women and men) to my hale(house) for Nantucket basket class. Funny ting(thing), my hale(house) no overlook Pearl Harbor. My Hale overlook the Kamehameha Highway dat run along the Harbor. So I tink to myself, whea the heck I put all dose people? I don't want to disappoint all dose people so I tink (I still dreamin you know!) hey we go Lois' house!! Won't dat be fun? So funny yet, I wake up dis morning and get numba 55 and no ways, Lois really one lolo wahine, she invite everyone to my place for class!!! Class anytime you guys, but I don't know how to teach!!! (For all of our terrific weavers words subcribers, that was your first lesson in Hawaiian Pidgeon English) Lois, you made me laugh forever and it was a challenge to come up with a reply. I hope I did good. I just made some space in my house for weaving. I turned our small storage room into a little weaving room and I am so happy. I have been reading ideas for tool caddies. It is best to stuuf everything in a caddy, or basket and just keep on the table what you need for the moment? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have been keeping my supplies in rubbermaid roughnecks 18 gal containers. That seems to be working so far as I really can't hang anything from the ceiling. I have thought about putting up a piece of peg board on the wall but what types of things are best hung from a hook on the wall? My read, once opened, has a life of it's own. Do you wrap it all back up and hang it, or is is best kept in a container. So glad to see this list with helpful info and fun again. Thanks to everyone that chimes in and truly if anyone of you ever comes out to Hawaii please let me know!!! Aloha from the land of the lolo wahine!! Joanne Howard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: WWords-AMB Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 11:06:20 PDT From: "Kay Janke" To: davidc@iei.net Hi: For those who have indicated they would like to meet at AMB, do you have an idea when that could be? A couple of years ago, a group of us met and had dinner together, we had a good time, but it was super busy and we waited forever for our meal. If anyone has any ideas, please post them. Or just e-mail me direct & we will try to come up with a time that would work out for all. Thanks Kay e-mail: basketladie@hotmail.com @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Re: WW#54 Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 19:52:34 -0500 From: devon_branca@mlsonline.com To: david@putertutor.com Just got back from a colorful trip to Vermont. Would you believe it.... 4 hours from home and my husband and I stop at a lovely restaurant in Whitehall, Vermont, and who do I run into, but my SIL, Carol (who lives just around the corner from me). Life is sure funny. To Linda Marshall. I think some of your questions about selling and displaying baskets were answered in #55 but here a few ideas. For the craft show I run (112 vendors) I make "quarter page" & full size fliers for vendors to display at their other shows preceding ours. This way the vendors are advertising for themselves, as well as the show. Check with your show's committee to see if they do something similar. We have found that the postage for sending these fliers is well worth the advertising we get. When you think about your booth space try to think about what draws you to another vendor's work. What attractive elements made you want to see more? Sometimes sharing a booth with a vendor who has items that would compliment your baskets might entice buyers for both of you. Keep in mind the season, also. For instance you might want to make a scarecrow to hang baskets from, with pumpkins and colorful leaves, for a fall theme. Table coverings, interesting shelves and eye catching displays can entice prospective customers. As Lois said, making each basket unique is also a draw. I think most people want to purchase something that is a "one-of-a-kind". Sometimes this means changing the stain, the dyed weavers, or some other design element. Some vendors attract attention by demonstrating their craft. I really liked that idea of weaving melons that were "pre-started". And only take special orders if you Truly (with a capital T) like repeating a basket. It is sometimes very difficult to make a basket when you know you need to make it to meet someone's explicit expectations. I remember once struggling for a hour trying to get just the right shade of violet for a special order. Now I weave what I like and say "no" to special orders. I have noticed that seasonal baskets aren't big sellers in my area. Seems that people say that if they are going to buy a basket, they want to be able to use it year round. Also seems that you get a cross-section of buyers, from the ones who want "classic simplicity" to those who like the country styles with stenciling or tie ons. So you probably need different styles to appeal to a broad spectrum of the public. Check out other shows in your area, talk to basket weavers in your state and get a feel for the type of buyer who might be coming to your next show--for example our show draws a lot of teachers, so school related crafts sell well. I think there a lulls with everything. Shows that are closer to the holidays seem to pull in more potential spenders. There is always that fine line between too early and too late, though. I do know some vendors who have home shows after a craft show and sell the rest of their stock. Good luck and the same to all of you who have shows coming soon. Cheri @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: WEAVERS WORDS Date: 14 OCT 97 03:26:21 EST From: PAT STEINMETZ To: First of all, Happy Birthday David. I'm sorry I wont be there to help you celebrate. I will be on my way to Mo-Val for a week end of basket making with Betty Curry and friends. I sure wish you were going with us again this year. Last year was just to much fun. We will miss you. The weather here in Indy has changed again. It has rained all day. The temperature is dropping. It is time to break out the sweats and flannels. The drive to Missouri on Friday should be quite beautiful. It should be the peak week end for the leaves changing. I have a question. I recently bought a pattern that calls for knottless netting stitches. Is this the same thing as looping? The diagram for the knottless netting looks similar to looping only backwards. Can someone help me? For Kristin in Yorktown, My mom wanted me to make a basket for her cats to sleep in. I was real pleased with the outcome but I am concerned with staining it. I am afraid that the cats will chew on the reed and ingest the stain. What do you use? Pat in Indy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 1 I. 50 Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 20:06:27 EDT From: froggestow@juno.com (Roberta R Comstock) To: davidc@iei.net References: 1 Weavers Words V.1, I.50. Hi weavers. October finally arrived for real Sunday! The first week+ of this month it was still imitating August. Last night was finally cool enough to turn on a bit of heat in the bedroom. Mary Ann Gullo - Thanks for the stocking pattern! It seems to make sense to me, although I haven't had time to try it yet. I will, though. Judith Olney - Thanks for the Ohio exhibit website info! Lois Keener - I hope your daughter is better and you're able to spend more time weaving again. My thoughts are with you. Darleena & Mary: When using paper grocery bags for reed sorting, I like to fold the top edge down a couple of times to make a cuff. It helps keep the top open and the label in view. Joanne Jackson - Oh, yes, I agree about using a dolly! Couldn't do without mine. I have a folding luggage dolly for when I'm teaching and hauling a plastic 'milk' crate of reference books and a bag of sample baskets on top. Everything gets strapped on with elastic bungee cords. Plus I sometimes use a less compact folding wire basket dolly with bigger wheels that works well for carrying bulkier loads. (I used to see pedestrians taking their groceries home in these. Found mine at a salvage outlet.) The latter will hold my tools, bucket, dye pot & hot plate, a few books and a good sized bag of reed. The big wheels are good on uneven ground, such as at camping events, too. Stacey in Maine - Another way to do basket tags is to photocopy the flat side of a basket and then add your lettering over the woven pattern. You could weave a mat with some wide reed in a twill pattern to give you clear area for the type. Or you could weave a 'frame' of narrow flat reed, photocopy the frame and print your information inside it. Enlarge or reduce to the size you like, fill a page, and then run your multiple copies on card stock. Oops, I'm getting carried away here - just visualized a version with a Gretchen border! Molly in Nevada - I'm glad to see someone else who starts with an inexpensive sample basket and uses it as a basic concept for making something better of your own. I have a whole collection of little 'idea' baskets for just that purpose (and for explaining different styles and methods when I teach my history of basketry class). Diane Rigterink - re 'hairpin': I first encountered this term in a class on a basket that had a Gretchen border. We were to work the border in a sort of horizontal braiding pattern of round reed. To start, we had to 'hairpin' the reed for the border. That is, we bent it gently in half to a sort of old-fashioned hairpin shape (like a huge 'U' pin) and then inserted it over alternate ribs of the basket sides, near the top edge, so that from the outside it looked like a row of staples and all the ends inside were coming up out of the top from the inside of the basket. I believe that for a lid rim near the top of a basket, you would use somewhat shorter pieces (ours were about 5 feet long) to make a ring of stakes pointing toward the center of the open basket top. Then you would probably twine a couple of rows on these stakes to make a ledge for the wooden lid to sit on. Does your pattern tell you how to finish the edge of the ledge after that? Ruth Lascurain - re tool caddy: I think your description is just fine. It made sense to me. I'm building one with several sizes of cans. I have some candy tins with plastic lids for small items and will go with tall coffee cans for the bigger stuff. Tall cans at the corners so it will sit level. I save extra plastic lids so I can put one on the bottom of each can too, to provide a non-scratching base and protect it from rust if I put it down on damp ground. I think that before I attach the cans, I'll build a long, skinny, open at one end pocket on the bottom edge of the board by stapling on a strip of leather or canvas (approximately 5 inches wide and several inches longer than the board, plus a flap tab). It can hold a long flat reed weight and 12-inch ruler and maybe a long tool or two. I'll lace one end shut before attaching it to the board and close the open end flap with Velcro or a loop and toggle of some kind. Maybe I'll make a padded handle of matching leather and cover the cans with vinyl finish wall paper. Re - Trading weaving materials: I'm interested, but not sure yet what I have too much of and would like to trade. I hope to do some collecting before winter sets in. Several friends who have country property have invited me to forage at their places. I'll let you know what I come up with. I live in Missouri and travel quite a bit in Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa as well, in case anyone has a specific request for something I might be able to get. Bert Comstock Independence MO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 1 I. 51 Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 14:50:25 EDT From: froggestow@juno.com (Roberta R Comstock) To: davidc@iei.net References: 1 Subject: "Weavers Words" V.1 I.51 Jayna L. Glemby - re: mesh nylon bags: I make my bags from old sheer nylon curtains which can be found cheap at thrift stores and yard sales. I use olefin macramé' cord for the double drawstrings. In addition to filtering dye baths, they are great for holding reed in a dye bath without having to tie it; also easy to hang up to dry. Hold the bag by the cord and spin it around to remove excess moisture before hanging. For natural dyes, I put the dyestuffs in a bag and it all comes out with no filtering required when I'm ready to use the dye. Berta Huisman - Your chains and shower hooks are a great idea! Your basket room sounds tidy and efficient. I lived in Lake City, IA, for a while and finished College at Buena Vista in Storm Lake. There were a lot of hickory trees around, and I suspect you have them in your area too. I used to gather the crescent-shaped hull pieces and once made a bead drape of them by drilling a hole at each end and stringing them on fishing line alternating assorted beads with the hull segments. They're easy to drill. I'm sure they have basket decorating potential and could be gathered by kids. They should probably be baked a little or dunked in boiling water to kill any insect larvae they may harbor. With a single hole in one end, they could be strung in rings to look like flowers, maybe with a bead in the center. With a pair of holes, they could be strung onto round reed or cord and added in rows all around a basket. Corn husk is another free local material you could use for bows, flowers, cut-out shapes or rows of textural contrast. It's easy to work with and dyes nicely. Cheri Branca - I appreciate your guide notes on writing in general and patterns in particular. Thanks for taking the time to share these with us. Susi Rolf-Tooley - I had carpal tunnel surgery back in 1986 (both wrists, one after the other). Basketry is one of the things I do more of now because it's easier on my hands than calligraphy, embroidery, fine spinning and knitting. It also doesn't require as much fine motor control and fingertip sensitivity. I don't try to do a lot of any one thing at once. It helps to have several projects going and switch off to something different when my hands get crampy. Aspercreme lotion is my friend. I still sometimes wear my wrist braces at night or when driving long distances. Karen Van Gilder - re: harvesting grape vine. You can harvest grape vine about any time, but in the fall after the leaves fall it will be less work for you. What size to select depends on the size of baskets you want to make. Small baskets require fine vines. Heavy vines allow large baskets to be made. Donna Kallner - Thanks for the additional information about Joanna Schantz and her new book! It's almost time - next week is The Big Iowa Trip - I can hardly wait! I also hope to squeeze in some collecting of hickory hulls and corn husks while I'm in Iowa. Don't hold your breath waiting for the shop-cleaning fairies to come around. I looked for them years ago when the directions from my allergist for maintaining a dust-free environment began 'the house should be vacuumed daily, while the patient is away from home...'... Yeah, sure! Living by myself at the time, that was a laugh! I've reached a fair compromise, though - if I don't disturb the dust too much, it doesn't interfere with my breathing. My lifestyle seems to generate dust. Lora L Khoury - Even with cane or flat oval spokes, you could still have contrast if you stain or dye them first. I finished stripping the bark off my tree roots (cottonwood & maybe willow) over the weekend while watching video tapes. Now I need to clean up the mess I made in the livingroom before I start the root basket. I've got a large shoebox full of mostly inner bark fibers. I may try to use them in some handmade paper that could be cut into strips and/or twined for more weaving material. The roots came out much finer than I expected. Some are almost threadlike, very flexible, but still woody and relatively tough. This basket will use most of the bigger ones, but then I'll have to (get to?) make some miniatures too. Happy weaving to all of you. Bert Comstock Independence MO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: subscribe Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 00:42:03 -0700 From: Susan & Roger Godfrey To: davidc@iei.net my name is susan godfrey - sgodfrey@ameritech.net. I have been weaving since around 1978. I am Historian for the Association of Michigan Basketweavers. I am also a Secretary working for Mott Community College in Flint, Mi. I weave as a hobby and also sell at craft shows. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If for any you would ever like to cancel your subscription, simply send me a message with "unsubscribe" as your subject.