"Weavers Words" Vol. 1 Iss. 68 Compiled By: David Collins Snail Mail: 408 North Devon Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46219 Owned By: Weavers Everywhere Date Sent: November 26, 1997 Subscribers: 368 Back Issues: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/5998/ Basket Biddin' Auction: http://members.tripod.com/~Basket_Biddin/ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Happy Thanksgiving Everyone, Here's a funny for Turkey Day. HOW TO COOK A TURKEY -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Step 1: Go buy a turkey Step 2: Take a drink of whiskey (scotch) Step 3: Put turkey in the oven Step 4: Take another 2 drinks of whiskey Step 5: Set the degree at 375 ovens Step 6: Take 3 more whiskeys of drink Step 7: Turn oven the on Step 8: Take 4 whisks of drinky Step 9: Turk the bastey Step 10: Whiskey another bottle of get Step 11: Stick a turkey in the thermometer Step 12: Glass yourself a pour of whiskey Step 13: Bake the whiskey for 4 hours Step 14: Take the oven out of the turkey Step 15: Take the oven out of the turkey Step 16: Floor the turkey up off of the pick Step 17: Turk the carvey Step 18: Get yourself another scottle of botch Step 19: Tet the sable and pour yourself a glass of turkey Step 20: Bless the saying, pass and eat out Take Care, David P.S. I've added a sponser banner to Weaver's Words webpage. If you have a second please click on the banner. I earn 2 cents per visit and you can get some free magazines. Thanks. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Happy Thanksgiving to All Date: Mon, 24 Nov 1997 15:37:11 -0500 From: martyhln@juno.com To: davidc@iei.net Hi David and World Basketmakers, I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving, not too much turkey now. :-) The weather here in Michigan is normal too cold. Well the basket weaving is good to keep us out of trouble,and since I like to put elephants in all of mine I have time to do a good job. I also like anything that gives me a challenge, whether large or tiny, they all just fascinate me. I like to teach children to do baskets they are so new and fresh, but it dose take a fair amount of patience, they are so honest I like that. I hope you all have good response to your shows. Pine needles need to be dried then re-wet it takes from 2 hours to overnight to re-soak. Then wrap in a wet towel while you work, If you don't use them in 1 day spread them out, then re-soak them. If you dry green pine needles in the shade they stay green, if in the sun they turn brown, spread them on an old towel or sheet. (I also wash them in a little dish soap, and water.Be sure to rinse well this can be done before or after drying.) David I am so glad you are feeling much better. Thanks Norma for the update on David's health. And David the Thanksgiving card was great the music sounded like the circus on the midway, thank you so much. Are you going to run away to the circus? Let's see if we can do the high wire act alright? This news bulletin is great so don't run too far. Regards, Marty Holihan dholihan@genesee.freenet.org martyhln@juno.com @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 1 I. 64 Date: Mon, 24 Nov 1997 13:21:56 EST From: froggestow@juno.com (Roberta R Comstock) To: davidc@iei.net References: 1 ANDREA - Congratulations on your successful basket sale(s)! Posts like yours make me wonder if maybe I could sell a few baskets someday. I hope your fingers heal rapidly and your good fortune continues. Julie C Kleinlein - Glad to see you speaking up. Being among those who couldn't go to the seminar in Asheville, I'm eager to hear about it. Is it an annual event? Should I think about trying to go there in the future? Did you have fun and make fine baskets? What are they like? Who taught your classes? Nancy Jacobs - Isn't old Parkville (MO) a fun place to explore? There are also a number of good antique shops off on some of the byways. I hope to have time to explore the Old Wichita area sometime when I'm down in your area. I picked up a map and some tourist info on our last trip there in September. It was nice to meet you, too, & your fellow Wichita weavers. Tell them hello for me when you see them. Karen in Ohio - Is American Heritage another mass production basket company in the 'Longaberger tradition'? I haven't heard of them before. I'm curious about what sort of answers you give to those questions about working at 'the factory'. I suspect some of them are pretty amusing! (But those may not be the ones you say out loud.) :-) Gretchen Hautzinger - I already reposted Mary Ann Gullo's stocking ornament pattern. Here's the elbow basket ornament that Lois Keener posted: If you are looking for a small ornament, I came up with one. I was talking on the phone (mostly being talked to) and like most weavers, had some scraps laying around and I was playing with them..so I made a tiny elbow basket. I used 8 spokes 10" long of 1/4" flat and made a base of 1 3/4" (4 spokes x 4 spokes). Take the first vertical spoke and bend it over the other half of itself, take the first horizontal spoke and do the same. Do the rest of the spokes the same way, but weave them through each other. I used 3/16 on the sleeves, weaving 5 rows on each sleeve, start and stop. I twinned 3 rows with #2 rr on each sleeve and cut the ends of the spokes on the diagonal. That*s it. I*m using jute as a handle and putting a small doo-dad on the front. I finished it by the time the conversation ended. Now I*ve forgotten who sent in that sweet ornament a few WW ago, but I repeat, sort of, what she said. I don*t know if there is a pattern for this- -I*ve never seen one--and if it*s your pattern, I didn*t mean to offend.. Lois Keener Thanks again for sharing this with us, Lois! Jayna L. Glemby - How did your craft fair experience go? Avis Richard - Welcome back! Do your antlers still have some deer skull with skin attached? I would cut that off with a band saw (or hacksaw) unless you intend to use the pair as a single unit. In that case, to clean off the old dry skin or any other non-bony bits, boiling is a good way to do it. Use an old pot such as a dye pot (not one you cook food in). Unless your stove has an excellent exhaust fan, consider doing it outside on a hot plate or camp stove. If they were well dried before they got to smelling rotten, the odor shouldn't be too bad. A couple hours or so of simmering should do it. Then let them dry again. Don't put them away wet. If you're really concerned about odors, add a little Biz Laundry detergent to the water (if that's still on the market). It was very popular among the vertebrate paleontology crowd in the mid 70s because it contains an enzyme that accelerates the breakdown of stains and non-bony organic material (skin & muscle & connective tissue). They used it to clean skeletons of road-killed animals for use in museum reference collections. Before Biz, they would spit into the bucket so the enzymes from their saliva could perform that function. The antlers themselves probably don't have any real skin on them, but may have bits of the velvety surface coating that antlers have when they first grow. Unless it's smelly or otherwise gross, don't worry about it. It's a good idea to wear a mask to filter out the foul smelling dust when you drill or saw antler, bone or horn. If you have pieces of broken or cut antler, they can be used for making buttons or toggles or small basket handles. Linda Benson - Are the Swedish books published in English? I'm always interested in new basket books, especially ones about European basketry. Can you give me more information about them (Titles, authors, dates, publisher) & where they are available, please? I'm envious of your classes with Vladimir Yarish and Martha Wetherbee! (I've got one copy of Martha's newsletter (from the MO convention last June) - very interesting.) Have you heard anything about Danish baskets or basket books from your new Danish contacts? Sounds as if you've been having a great time this year basket-wise! I have Carol Hart's book & really like it. I second your recommendation. Thanksgiving Day is upon us already! I'm making a sudden (not pre-planned before yesterday) trip to Colorado for a mini-reunion with my brothers & sisters & their families. It's over 2 years since we five siblings were all together (time flies). We're trying to get better about making time for the extended family. It'll be my first T-day without Bob since I met him. (sigh) (He has to work Friday, but will spend T-day locally with his mom & his brother's family.) Weavers Words and everyone who participate here, and especially David Collins, are high on my list of things I'm thankful for this year! Take time from your weaving to enjoy your families and friends, and don't eat TOO much of all that rich food! Bert Comstock Independence, MO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Pine needles Date: Mon, 24 Nov 1997 11:21:19 -0800 From: "Susan H. MacIntire" <"baskets@together.net"@together.net> To: davidc@iei.net References: 1 Greetings & Happy Thanksgiving. Hope all of your are better organized for the holiday than I am. Today I am going to make slabs of gingerbread for our gingerbread village (between weaving two wine carriers that a customer wants to pick up tomorrow). After we clear the table of the Thanksgiving dinner, we all sit around and put together gingerbread houses that each of my children can take home. The grandchildren are charged with buying candies and suitable edibles to decorate with. It's great fun and everyone can participate, from the youngest grandchild (age 9) to my son Gregg, who is 33, severely retarded and lives in a men's group home. I wanted to tell Char that I have woven with all sorts ages pine needles successfully. A friend brought me branches in the back of her van from a vacation down south. I wove with the needles as I picked them off. The smell was wonderful. I still have the basket, now ten years old, and it hasn't loosened up. I coiled it with raffia. Since I "met" Mary Carty on the old list, I have taken her suggestion and now sew the pine needles with artificial sinew, divided in thirds. It is very strong and doesn't fray the way raffia can. The look of a finished basket is the same. The oldest pine needles I have used (and the ones I will probably be using for the rest of my life) are from a trunk found in the attic of a house here in Shoreham, VT. The house belonged to "Aunt Marcia Douglas" who died in the 1920's. Aunt Marcia had a hat shop in the late 1800's and also made and sold hair wreaths. When she went on a vacation to Louisiana, she learned how to coil pine needle baskets and came home with a large trunk completely filled with very long pine needles wrapped in bunches with twine. Since her death it has sat in the attic. Shortly before her grand niece Laura died a couple of years ago, she told me about the trunk and wondered if I could use the pine needles. I went up to her attic and brought it down with the help of the visiting nurse. It's amazing, but the needles are in great shape and quite flexible. When soaked for a little, they coil up beautifully and the baskets I made just after I got them are holding up fine. There also was a bunch of colored raffia in the trunk and some bases started with beautiful designs done with the colored raffia. I've shared the needles with the Green Mountain Basket Guild and am willing to trade and send some to any of you who have buckeyes, honeysuckle vine or other native materials you can freely gather in your areas. For the most part I make baskets of reed to sell. I don't do craft fairs, but have sold them on consignment at the Vermont State Craft Center at Frog Hollow for the past fifteen years, and also have several shops that buy them outright from me. My first love is making baskets out of black (brown) ash and sweet grass. I can get black ash in the swamp behind my house and have started a sweet grass patch on the west end of my vegetable garden with plugs I ordered from a nursery in California. The average consumer does not want to pay double the price for a basket of hand pounded black ash, so I only do those for gifts, for special orders, and for myself. I will be very busy with private basket orders till after Christmas, but hope to participate more on the list when things drop off in January. In the meantime, I really enjoy reading everyone's posts. Thank you David for doing this list. I also like the fact that we all look at things differently and put various perspectives on our comments. That's what makes the list interesting! Happy Holidays, Sue MacIntire, in Vermont where there is lots of snow already for winter sports. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 10:14:15 -0500 From: "Debra Davis Lymburner" To: "David Collins" Hello everyone. I want to talk about something that has nothing to do with baskets but may help inform you in some way. My husband is undergoing chemotherapy for a reoccurrence of cancer that we thought was cured a couple of years ago. He had testicular cancer that has now spread to some lymph nodes in other parts of his body. This type of cancer accounts for a very small percentage of cancers in men, but is the most common form of cancer in young men. Men should be doing testicular self-examinations, just as we do breast self-exams. Do doctors tell men and young boys this? My husband ignored the swelling in his testicle, never imagining what it could indicate. The warning signs (which may also indicate something other than cancer) are a lump, enlargement, or feeling of heaviness in the testicle. A dull ache in the groin or pain in the testicle or scrotum may also be warning signs. A testicular self-exam can lead to early detection. Our sons and husbands, etc. should discuss this with their doctors and be shown how to properly examine themselves. David, my husband, prognosis is good and we are thankful for so much this holiday. Thanks for letting me use WW as a way of getting this info out. I wish all of you good health, happy holidays, and of course happy weaving. Debra in Pinckney, Michigan. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 1 I. 65 Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 01:30:35 EST From: froggestow@juno.com (Roberta R Comstock) To: davidc@iei.net References: 1 "Weavers Words" Vol. 1 Iss. 65 Kay Janke - The MO Basketweavers Guild newsletter, 'The Twining Times' is edited/published by Rhonda Snyder. You can reach her by email at: mbgrhond@i1.net (please note that the second character after the @ is the numeral one, not a capital letter i). Linda Marshall - I haven't heard of your specific problem in a formal class set-up. I think you did the reasonable thing in canceling it. If there had been others already signed up for it, I would have told the person wanting two-fers that they could either pay for two students or leave one home. How old were the daughters going to be in the mother-daughter un-class? If somebody wanted to Arrange for such a class and have two people work on one basket, the teaching fee could be adjusted so that the class fee would apply to each person and the materials kit could be separate. Or if you prefer to go with a flat rate Per Person, they could work on one basket together in class and take the other kit home to do later. I generally don't object if I'm teaching a kids class and a parent opts to sit in and help a child who may be a little too young to actually have the motor skills to do the project. If the child Is capable of doing their own project, I try to talk the parent into doing Their own project as well. Most of these classes are very simple generic beginner projects that have no pattern or precut kit -- the sort of things I might do at a demo. Keep in mind that most of my teaching is within the context of a historic recreation group and I rarely get a serious basket weaver in the beginning class. Last week I was delighted to find one student in a two hour berry basket class who had actually woven a basket before. (Nobody actually finished their basket that night. They are to show me the finished baskets a an event in early December.) I am often volunteering my time and only getting reimbursed for travel and material costs (if that). I would Not be so flexible with a structured class for a more advanced basket. My teaching fees would be considerably higher in a 'modern' setting or if I was trying to make a living through basketry. The class length would also be set to include enough time for everyone to finish. Lois Keener - I hope your rash of rashes is under control by now. I detest mystery rashes! They drive me crazy! Does Benedryl antihistamine help? It comes in spray and cream forms, as well as the traditional tablets. Hope your rash of uninvited disruptive visitors at class is under control too! :-) I've gotten a bit cranky over the years where other peoples' unruly kids are concerned. There are just too many parents these days who have no clue about how to keep the upper hand &/or teach their children manners. I no longer suffer visits from wild children and oblivious parents in silence. It's my space they are invading, and if the parents don't impose order on the kids, I DO! Early on (like about the second time the parent makes an idle threat) I simply speak directly to the child(ren) and explain in simple language that this is My house and they have to follow My rules here. I tell them some acceptable quiet thing they May do, while sitting quietly in a corner of the room. (I do keep a small toy box and some children's books for such occasions.) If they continue to be boisterous, I ask the parent who brought them to take them away Now. Most kids willingly go along with my rules. Many parents are amazed that they obey me. I think they (the kids) can tell by my tone of voice that I mean what I say about my rules in my house. The very few who actually get sent away are not missed. I haven't lost any friends yet over this policy. If a spouse wants to talk to one of my students, the student may leave the room to talk to them. If they want to wait, they may do so in another room. Sometimes you just have to tell them that he class is on a schedule and must keep to it without interruptions. It is unfair to all the other students to do otherwise. Sorry for raving so about this. As you can see, it gets my goat! Janet Freebairn - As active as Weavers Words is and as many people as are into baskets across the country, it surprises me that there is no major basket magazine making a go of it. This time last year I didn't even know basket guilds existed in this day and age. Now I keep hearing about more and more of them in more and more places. I wonder if the lack of expensive equipment has kept manufacturers from publishing a magazine to support the demand for such equipment. For example - spinning wheels, textile looms, sewing machines, sergers, knitting machines... Most sports and hobbies also require pretty hefty layouts of cash for equipment, supplies, tools, materials, display cases for collectibles, special clothing, and so on. Maybe the time has come for someone to introduce a high tech basket-focused magazine. The market exists! Why is nobody tapping into it? Look at the successes of such relatively recent magazines as 'Knitters', 'Threads', 'Piecework' and 'The Herb Companion'. Maybe I should write to Interweave Press &/or HGA about this. (Not to be confused with the possibly failing(?) basketry magazine 'Interwoven News') When I follow through on this idea, I'll report back if I get a response. Oops, there I go on another rant. What phase is the moon in right now? Marie Jordan - I think you are on a good track with your historic outlets! Living history is booming in the Kansas City area, from the Renaissance Festivals, Inc. (a huge profit-making organization) through private, city, county, and state historic sites and museums - most of which have associated gift and book shops, to National Park Service Museums. There are also local businesses catering to historic interest groups in his area - Three Trails Trading Post caters to buckskinners, fur trade and Native American groups; James Country Mercantile serves pioneer and Civil War era reenactors. Reenactors end to be very interesting people, too - an added bonus! Carey Ray - Help! You mentioned the Longaberger Basket Factory basket-shaped building in a Nov 17 issue of something, but didn't mention what publication you were talking about. Now I'm eager to see it and don't know where to look. Your warning note had me laughing out loud! Gotta wrap this up now & take out the trash. Have to pack for my trip to Colorado via Nebraska. I've already told my brother we have to stop to collect yucca leaves if we find a good place. They're a rampant weed in western Nebraska. I intend to put my two teenage nephews to work helping me cut some! I'll report on my findings when I get home next Sunday or Monday. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! Bert Comstock Independence, MO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Christmas ornaments Date: Wed, 26 Nov 1997 08:35:56 -0500 From: "Gretchen Hautzinger" To: Awhile back a lot of people were looking for the Christmas Ornaments by the Blue Ridge Basketmakers. Well I found it. The Basket Maker has it listed in his catalog and I called Bill to make sure it was available before posting to the list. This is available. His web site is www.Basketmaker.com and the ordering number is 888-641-7312. I did my fourth show this fall and it was one I did on a whim. I found about it the day before and they had one space left. I did great. I took all of my baskets out of a local consignment shop and put them in the show. There was one other basket maker and she did really well too. Our baskets were not anything alike. Our styles and colors were very different. I like it when a fellow basket maker does well. I haven't done well at the local consignment shop and after this month am leaving the shop. I am going to do craft shows next year only. Thought it might be fun for everyone to say what their best basket seller was for this past craft season. Mine were sewing baskets. Anything to do with sewing or quilting. Happy Holidays Gretchen "The Cat Basket" @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Thanksgiving Date: Wed, 26 Nov 1997 07:32:30 -0500 From: "Jayna L. Glemby" To: David Collins Happy Thanksgiving David, and to all of you on WW. I especially want to thank Lois K. and Donna W. for all the support and encouragement they gave me, in going into my first big craft fair. The fair was a huge success and I met so many wonderful people. Compared to some of the stories I've read on WW, it was just delightful. No one asked me silly questions, nor about L. baskets, or questioned prices. In fact the first to sell was a $40. basket! People either walked right by or stopped and chatted. I sold 3/4 of my supplies! There was a huge fair in the next town at a regional high school and people came from it saying it was 3 and 4 people deep and they couldn't even get to the booths, so it really helped us. The lady across from me sold all kinds of Christmas angels and she was an angel herself. In fact we got along so well, we signed up for the next year and the same tables. It was great fun and I'm glad I did it and I'm glad it's over...found it stressful getting ready, at least now I have a year to get ready. Wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving and when I count my blessings, I'll include my WW friends! Jayna in cold, central Massachusetts (Ps, I know you're lurking Gail, so happy turkey day!) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: working with flat reed Date: Wed, 26 Nov 1997 10:00:05 -0800 From: Melissa Borsting To: davidc@iei.net, davidc@iei.net Hi basketeers - happy holidays, I wanted to ask about using flat reed for stakes in baskets (market, etc.). I've never had any formal training in these types of baskets, so I wanted to know if there are any tricks to the "upsett." How do you get them to go UP without splitting a bit on the crease? Do I need to soak them more? Less? I always end up with hairy edges. That isn't too much of a structural problem, but sometimes a larger piece splits off. I was also wondering about working with hardwood strips. I purchased some and think I soaked them too long b/c when I went to bend one of them it broke in half at the crease. Any suggestions there? Thanks, Melissa Ashland, OR @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Indy Weave '98 Date: Wed, 26 Nov 1997 02:06:32 -0500 (EST) From: Bskcreed@aol.com To: davidc@iei.net, Basket-L@rmgate.pop.indiana.edu Happy Thanksgiving wishes to everyone. I just wanted to remind anyone wishing to attend the Indiana Basketmakers Association convention - Indy Weave '98 - to get in those registration forms. All forms postmarked by December 1 will be considered as "first day registrations". Initial class assignments will be based on random drawing of all registration forms postmarked by December 1. Any forms postmarked Dec 2 - 20 will be considered secondary as space allows. Tentative schedule for return of class assignments will be the beginning of January. You should already have all necessary information in your convention book and registration package. If anyone has still not received a convention book and is eligible to attend convention - please e-mail me immediately at Bskcreed@aol.com. If you are not able to take classes at convention, remember that there is a Visitor Day on Saturday March 28, 1998 from 7 am - 11 pm. Visit the exhibit room where teachers and attendees show their best work, shop with over 50 vendors with supplies and patterns, sit in on basket related lectures and stay for the pattern marketplace from 9-11pm. IBA members free - non members $4 charge. All are welcome. Lynn Pawley Indianapolis Bskcreed@aol.com @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If for any you would ever like to cancel your subscription, simply send me a message with "unsubscribe" as your subject.