"Weavers Words" Vol. 2 Iss. 108 Date Sent: April 03, 1999 Web Page: http://www.iei.net/~davidc/ Subscribers: 1000 David Collins 408 North Devon Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46219 317-899-5747 davidc@iei.net %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Do You Like Weavers Words? Click Below To "Recommend-It" To A Friend! http://recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=210339 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% "Web Cards" - Create Full-Color Postcards For Your Web Page. http://www.printing.com/affiliate.asp?site=davidc For every free sample of "Web Cards" that you request from the above link, I will receive a $1 commission. It cost you NOTHING. Once you receive your free sample, you can purchase personalized "Web Cards" for your web page and/or business if you like. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% "Bare Walls" Basket Pictures/Prints If you are looking for basket pictures/prints, check out "Bare Walls" through Weaver's Words site. I will get a 15% commission from Bare Walls for every picture/print ordered. The address to check out the pictures is: http://www.iei.net/~davidc/prints.html %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Hi Everyone, I WOULD LIKE TO WELCOME OUR 1000th WEAVER'S WORDS FAMILY MEMBER, JILL BOLES!!! WOW!!! I have an idea that may be good then again maybe not. I thought it would nice to have a free pattern page on Weaver's Words web page. So if you have a free pattern that is YOUR ORIGINAL DESIGN, please send it to me and I will get busy setting it up. Please include photo of basket & please make sure the pattern is your original design. If you are fairly new to Weaver's Words, you might not be aware of Weaver's Words recipe page. There are currently over 85 masterpieces that subscribers have concocted on Weaver's Words web page. There hasn't been any new additions added lately. So if you have any masterpieces, send them to me and I'll add them. Here's the address: http://www.iei.net/~davidc/recipes.html Judy Richmond Spates added her original Basket Tags to the classifieds page. Be sure to check them out. The address is: http://www.iei.net/~davidc/classifieds.html Here's some more pictures of my little buddy, Jace Ellis Collins. I know it's not basketry related. Oh Well! http://www.iei.net/~davidc/JaceECollins.JPG http://www.iei.net/~davidc/JaceECollins2.JPG http://www.iei.net/~davidc/JaceECollins3.JPG http://www.iei.net/~davidc/JaceECollins4.JPG http://www.iei.net/~davidc/JaceECollins5.JPG Take Care, David davidc@iei.net %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Convention Goodies Date: Fri, 02 Apr 1999 01:28:01 +0000 From: Tony Stubblefield or Dean Meredith To: David Collins/Weavers Words Hello again, Naomi - Why yes, actually one of the new Nantucket molds I got was a 6" "pot belly" from Jim Rutherford. I am very anxious to start it. I think I will make the first one with 6-mm cane staves and then try some ash staves on the next. I am planning on making one of these for my father's Christmas. I got a lathe last year for Christmas and I am going to try my hand at making a lid too. I'll let you know how it turns out. Let me know if you figure out any tricks or stumbling points on the mold. The other mold I got a scallop purse mold from HH Perkins. I think I will make that one for my mom for Christmas, but maybe only as a bureau basket not a purse. Sorry, but I don't have any great words of wisdom :-) on how to fold over the uprights on a reed market basket. I do only tuck to the inside though and trim the outside ones flush, that at least eliminates the problem on half of them. For cracking I just take angled nippers and trim off the hairs before I put the rim on. Oh, I do use a spray bottle and wet both sides of the uprights and let the water have a minute to soak in before I fold them. Sometimes you are lucky and have really good reed that doesn't seem to crack as much, but in general it is just going to do that. Juanita - about adjusting a pattern - I will probably get blasted here, but I never use patterns and think they become a real crutch for weavers. That is why I never use patterns in class (I do use diagrams for techniques). When I teach I want my students to learn how to make a certain weaving "style" not just one particular basket. I make my students eyeball measure all there own materials, no tape measures in my classes. Now this doesn't apply to mold weaving, that's a different story, but I do explain how I arrived at my stave length so students can later make any size basket they want. I think people get hooked on patterns and don't explore and experiment as much as they should. Ok, for a minute there I thought I was going to fall off of that soap box :-) To answer your question Juanita what I would do would be to use a spoke that was no wider than your handle, so probably 1/2" flat. I would take a piece of this and lay it around the base and sides of the handle in a sort of "U" shape and adjust the length until it was the height I wanted the sides of the basket to be. I would then add about 3" to each end, to account for turning down and tucking, and then cut the piece. You now have a template to cut the rest of your uprights. Since a Williamsburg basket is usually square to round (but it doesn't have to be!) you will need to cut enough uprights to have an odd number running across the base of the handle, probably 7 or so depending on how big you want the spaces/holes in the bottom to be. (Hint: with a Williamsburg you need to have fairly small holes and so more uprights because of the exaggerated flair of the sides. If you have a widely laid base by the time you get to the rim the uprights are going to be too far apart.) Now you will need the same number of uprights, minus one because the handle is going to be an upright, going the other way, so approximately 6 or so (this would make for 3 on each side of the handle). Now layout the base as you normally would, making sure it is square, and you are ready to go. (Hint: with a Williamsburg you must be very conscious of the angle of the sides of the basket. Try to make sure that the end sides flair the same as the flair of the handle sides.) You really shouldn't have any trouble and if doesn't turn out exactly the way you wanted it too, just make and other one and this time remembering what seemed to be the problem areas. Good luck. Oh one more thing... Judy Briscoe - I wanted to thank you for taking time to talk with me at the tail end of your class in IN, I'm sure you must have been very tired. I really liked the black ash and sweetgrass acorn you were teaching. I have been thinking about it lately and would like to try one. Do you have a kit or instructions (as I have access to the ash, but not the sweetgrass) you sell and do you have a mold you would sell or rent? Or are you going to be teaching that again some time soon? Let me know. Thanks Well time to go to bed. I have to shape some staves tomorrow morning before I head to my parents house for Easter. I am going to work on a couple of Nantucket's while I am there. I am also going to con my dad into helping me make some handle jigs ;-) Talk to you later, Tony Stubblefield St. Louis http://www.tetranet.net/users/deanandtony/baskets.htm %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 2 I. 106 Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 00:28:01 -0500 From: "Susan Tripp" To: "David Collins" Kay, you get my vote for most understandable instructions on wrapping a handle with two wrappers! Thanks to all who offered the wrapping tip two WW's ago. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: pattern adjustments, swap Date: Fri, 02 Apr 1999 07:41:00 -0500 From: Winnie Organization: @Home Network Member To: David Collins Hi Weavers, Happy to hear about the convention from so many of you. Does anyone know of any conventions in the summer? I teach in the public school and do not have the luxury of being able to take long weekends during the school year. Juaninta asked about adjusting for a 7" Williamsburg handle. I adjust patterns frequently. I usually adjust the size of reed up or down and then find the average for the length. In this case I would use 15, 3/8" spokes and cut them 24" long. I always stick with the smaller reed when there isn't a size in between. (I hate having to fight with reed that is too big.) If the base doesn't go to where the handle starts to go up, do a row or two of twining to fill in the space. To be sure of the length of the spokes I wrap a tape measure around the handle and measure how far up the handle I want the sides to go, then for tucking add 4 inches for a small basket or 6 inches for a larger basket. I'm happy to see that the next swap is underway. Thanks to Sue for organizing it. Winnie %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 2 I. 107 Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 10:23:42 -0500 From: jbenner@juno.com To: davidc@iei.net HI Everyone, Sounds like you all had a wonderful time at the convention. Wish I was more of a traveler, but if it takes more than 3 hours by car or needs a plane, forget it. Maybe someday I'll stop being phobic. I want to thank all of you who responded via WW and privately on my poison ivy. Karen, no, I didn't go hunting for it. (G) I was helping my son with his scrub trees and brush on his property (newly purchased). He had left with a friend in a dump truck to take the wood from two sheds to the dump. I arrived and stared in the same area, raking dead leaves and clipping off either grape vines or honeysuckle vines. They were fat and dry and had tendrils connecting them to these bushes. In retrospect, number one I was wasting my time cause they're pulling them out with a truck and number two, maybe these were very fat poison ivies? Anyway, I saw nothing that even would make me think to watch out. Stupidly I was only in t shirt and jeans with no gloves. I tend to rub my face a lot when tense or working hard. I was sweating, and running my hands through my hair, and then later of course I had to rub my face. I also heard that it probably got on the steering wheel of the car, the door, and shift, all that stuff. I did wash all my clothes and take a shower, but my sneakers were deep in it all, and they weren't cleaned. I heard it could have stayed on my shoelaces. Also heard it can stay in your clothes even after washing. One person insists her Dr told her that you can't spread it on yourself, you have to be retouching the oil that you have missed to spread it. I always thought the stuff that came off the blisters could spread it. Anyway, I did call the DR, and he has prescribed a cream and then calamine lotion over top of that. If it stays bad or worsens he'll put me on prednisone. Janet, this isn't my first case of poison, but first in many many years, since i was a kid and we played in fields and woods. I remember now why I hated it! (vbg) On the up side it's been so nice out, I can't get into a bad mood over this. HI Bert, Thanks for that very informative poison notice. I will be printing that out for future use and for my son to read carefully. Sounds like the only way to get rid of it. I was wondering how we could get rid of this plague. Thanks so much. Lois, That was me, about the 15.00 round basket. I didn't set the price. The lady who owns the building we are using did. I told her about how much I thought it would be for each individual basket supplies, and I'd guess she tripled it. I figure how many baskets I can get out of a 1lb coil, then divide that into the cost of the coil. Of course one needs to do that for each part of the basket. The round basket is a simple fruit type basket. I called it medium cause it's bigger than like a 4" dia. x 3" dia. one. I think it's about 8-10" wide and about 5" tall. I realize now that the term Medium is relative. Sorry. They'll be using 1/2" flat reed for stakes and weavers and if time gets short, maybe 3/4" or 1" strips in the middle. Most do decorative painting so that'll give them something to paint on too. There is no handle, and the rim won't be flat oval, it'll be more flat reed. I think they'll have trouble with the shaving and shaping with flat oval. I know I do. Takes a lot of soaking for the inner rim, and then dry the thing to shave it then rewet it for inserting again... maybe I'm going too deep, but that's the only way I can get the rim to lay right. These won't be kits, but I will provide the materials anw whatever tools I have on hand to help them with. This is going to be my last "class". It gets me too nutsy. I like to help others, but found I don't like to teach. They want me to do a demo at the daycare for 2-5 yr olds on how a basket is made. This to me is even worse than teaching. I shudder to think of 30-40 sets of little eyes on me. I think I shall pass. They had a pizza guy coming in to show how he makes pizza, a karate guy, a florist, a K-9 officer etc. I just can't bring myself to do this yet. Well, I'm off to the pharmacy to see if they have my cream in yet. Take care all... watch out for that poison!! Judy Benner (in Eastern Pa. where it's trying to get sunny and the daffodils are blooming!) %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Basket Quotes Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 11:16:12 -0500 From: Wendy Milne To: "'David Collins'" Hi all, Thanks for all the good thoughts you all sent my way for my first class as a teacher. Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to the list. The class went GREAT! Everyone did really well and enjoyed themselves. One person had taken a class before and said that I explained things much better than her last teacher (nice complement!). A question to all the more experienced teachers out there... how do you manage the class when you have students in multiple skill levels and keep the more experienced or the ones who pick things up more quickly from getting bored while you are helping the newer, more slower paces students? I just finished a chasing spiral basket as a wedding present for a friend and wanted to put a poem or quote regarding baskets and the weaving together of the two lives etc, etc. Does anyone know of any basket type poems or quotes that they have used in cards or notes with gifts? Thanks! Wendy Milne Gorham, Maine (where the buds are appearing on the lilac bushes!!!) %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: misc. Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 11:40:45 -0500 From: "Angie Longenecker" To: "David" Hi all, Darleena in the Azores - Hope you feel better after venting (personally I prob would've written a whole lot more - I admire you're restraint! :) Many times at shows people will walk up to my booth, look at my last name (Longenecker) and say "Oh, you're one of those home party people" "Oh, are you the one from OH?" It sets me off every time! I'm looking forward to changing my last name this summer when I get married, just for that reason! Mike thought I was going to keep my last name "for business reasons", (since I do believe that when someone has established themselves, name recognition is very important), I told him no way! I can't wait to be a Wagner and never have to hear "Oh, Longenecker, are you one of the family members from the company in OH?" There's no way you should go work for the "L" company! You're exactly right - you are your own company! You are every bit the legitimate company that they are! Wow, you've got me venting and it didn't even happen to me! Judy Benner - go to the drugstore and get Ruligel (sp?) it's a clear gel with a mintyish smell that works very well on poison ivy and bug bites. Old style toothpaste (the whiteish kind, not the gels - although they may work too, I've never tried them) also works well for really bad cases, but it's rather unsightly. Weaving - I'm excited, found some Red Osier Dogwood the other day, beautiful to weave with and a gorgeous color! Thank goodness it's finally warm. Angie in PA The Country Seat http://www.countryseat.com %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Weavers Words Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 10:24:28 -0800 From: "Pam Feix" To: "David Collins" Hello there to all of you wonderful basket weavers!!! First of all, I am way behind in my WW and don't know if I am going to get the last few read, but will try. If I don't, I will just pick up with the current ones and move right along. IBA convention was AWESOME, but I left my rear end over in Indy and it is slowly making it's way back home. I wish it would hurry and get here. I am sooooooooo very tired. Not only am I tired, I am sick and I think it is because of the dry air in the hotel, but hey, it was worth it!!! I met so many of you WW folks and am thrilled to actually have an imprint of your faces in my mind. I just cannot tell you how excited I was to meet all of you, and I told my hubby that I felt like I already knew some of you. What a wonderful group of weavers you all are. Marty H: I told my Grandma what you told me to tell her, and I am now letting it sink in. She just looked at me a bit dumb founded, so I am going to let her think about it. I am very happy to have met you and will keep our little talk and hug close to my heart. You are a peach!!! Norma and Connie: Wow, the raffle room was awesome, but I didn't win anything, darn it!!! Oh well, I guess there is always next year. I did try to beat the all time record for raffle sales, but guess I didn't do that either. Thanks so much for all of your hard work, I truly appreciate it!!! Tony Stubblefield: I was thrilled to meet you, but hope I wasn't looking as bad as I was feeling. I was already wore out and then was getting this darn cold as well. Your basket was absolutely beautiful!!! I did get my Nantucket Oval Purse made but Kay Kohler and her husband have to take them home to custom fit the lids to them. It was sure hard to leave it behind. It was my first Nantucket (other than a little salt and pepper that I tried without any real knowledge) and am thrilled at it's outcome. I bought 2 molds from Bill Dunning and other various basket parts and am now going to try to hone my skill on these. I truly admire your work!!! Well, not to leave anyone out, I also want to say hi to Pat Moritz, Ruthann Morningstar, Susan Slaven (who also took the Nantucket Purse class). Linda Boyle-Gibson, I tried to meet you, I was in your room a few times but you were off teaching and the rest of the time I was in class or volunteering!! Karen Griffith, I wanted to meet you to, as I was in your room a few times as well, but did not get a chance to actually meet you. My husband told me later that you were at the vendors meeting but I did not know at that time, sorry I missed you. If I have forgotten to mention your name, it is only because my mind is all jumbled with this head cold and the commotion of coming home. We had a wild week this week. There was an overwhelming response to our bases and I want to thank each and every one of you, so THANK YOU. Then, my little grandson, he is 4, was taken to the hospital and was kept for 2 nights, due to dehydration from a virus. I had my little 2 year old granddaughter and believe you me, she has a whole lot more energy than I ever remember having!!! I don't know if I will ever get the chance to recover, but I am going to try. I really need to be weaving!!!!!!!!!! I will try to keep up with all the WW now. Hey David, do you have a page, that I missed, that lists all of the state basket associations and how to become members to them? I may have just overlooked them. And by the way, Jace is a doll, my favorite one in there is picture #3 and #4. What a cutie. Thanks again David, and be nice to your mom, she is a real neat woman!!!!! Ta Ta For Now!! :):) Pam Feix in Southwest OH where it is cloudy but in the 70's!!! http://www.feixbaskets-crafts.com %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Weaver's Words Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 12:10:16 -0800 From: "Pam Feix" To: "David Collins" Oh my gosh, I almost forgot, Carolyn Black, I was very glad to meet you and want you to know that I had a great time at convention and am already looking forward to next year. Also, if I failed to mention anyone else that I met, I don't mean anything personal, there were just so many of you all and I truly loved meeting you all. Bye again. :) Pam Feix http://www.feixbaskets-crafts.com %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 2 I. 107 Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 13:28:55 -0800 From: "Denise Beck" To: "David Collins" David -- who IS that handsome young man wearing your last name!!! What a cutie-pie, how old is he? That was the virtual equivalent of someone coming up to you and dropping open their wallet full of photos, but I can understand why you'd want to share Jace with us. Want to see my grandkids???? (just kidding, though they are irresistible...) Anyway, I don't have any original patterns, but I do a lot of gourmet cooking, and have some recipes I could share, if anyone cares. Mostly of marinades and salad dressings, because I always think that the right sauce is what makes the difference between everyday and special. I will enclose a scan of my latest disaster, the French #4 Strawberry basket I did last weekend with Alastair Heseltine. We got kind of behind and I had to rush to get out of there and catch the last ferry and I screwed up the border and had to stumble through the handle on my own after I got home, but it's all a learning experience. By the way, I videotaped the entire basket workshop with Alastair (except for the handle, I'll have to add that on somehow) and am trying to convince him that we should sell them. I'm going to be working on editing the 48 hours down to a manageable length. More adventures in dying: I tried a soak based on a comment on Susan Billy's Pomo Indian basket web site http://indy4.fdl.cc.mn.us/~isk/art/basket/pomo.html about how they used to get black color on their grasses. I quote: "Lydia Fort, Lake County Sulphur Bank/Elem Colony Reservation, made this beaded basket sometime before 1972. Its surface is mainly covered with glossy deep black-dyed bullrush root, with a star and diamonds design in beads. To get this black, a dye is made by soaking walnut hulls, ash, and rusty nails in rainwater, aged for 6 months, then the split and dried bullrush roots are put into it for several long soakings and dryings. " I put walnut hulls, rusty nails and lots of black chunks of wood (charcoal-ized) from our construction waste burn pile into a crock, filled with water, and put in a cedar strip. Lo and behold, after three days it was perfectly black! I'm thrilled, now I can do experiments in color patterns in cedar baskets. It didn't dye black until I put in the black wood/charcoal, then it really worked! Rae: >>>My garden is still a long way from being visible and lies under at least 10-12 inches of snow. However I have seen Canada geese and 4 bluebirds that gives me hope. I asked before, and still wonder if anybody is going to Focus 99 in Naramata BC in June. There is sure to be spring or maybe summer weather there. Will I get to meet any of you there????????>>>>>> Hey, Rae, you'll get to meet me and also several others from the Salt Spring guild at Naramata. I'm coming for the whole week with Barb Archer, and Lorna Cammaert and several others are coming for the weekend. Sorry about spring. Here's some more torture for you: here in B.C. we have our daffodils in full bloom and also the flowering cherry trees, the peach, the nectarine, and all the wild plums around the orchard. It's absolutely lovely, picture postcard stuff. The hummingbirds have been coming to my feeder for two weeks and yesterday I saw the first swallows checking out the nesting box. I also ate some sprouting broccoli that overwintered in the garden for dinner last night. ;-P Neener-neener-neener, as my daughter used to say back when she was less mature..... Don't hold it against us. I have to have SOMEONE to lord it over, since my mother is bragging to me about picking strawberries and asparagus already down in California. Sigh. Naramata in June will certainly be summer weather, and swimming suits will be mandatory for lake Okanagan, assuming you can tear yourself away from your weaving for long enough! What I do with the newsletter is click reply to author at the top, which brings up the entire newsletter, CTRL-A and delete the entire thing, then click back to the WW, highlighting what I want to respond to, CTRL-C (copy) and click back to my blank reply, then CTRL-V (paste) in the bit that I want to respond to. I add the >>> carats to show that it is a quote from someone else, then just type in my response, as above. Lois: >>Someone mentioned prices for basket classes and said $15 for a medium round basket. I'm really curious about what is considered a "medium" basket as I think $15 sounds too inexpensive for a basket class. Is there a handle or dyed reed? Is the teacher supplying a complete kit? I teach the class (with a few exceptions) for the same price I would sell the basket for. Anyone have a comment on pricing classes?>>> Don't undersell yourself, you can always price lower if nobody signs up, but $15 seems excessively cheap for all the time and energy you will have to spend getting ready for the class, organizing the materials, writing up and copying patterns and notes, and teaching the thing. Don't forget how many ways there are for a newby to screw up even the simplest basket. You will be running around from student to student clarifying and helping and it will take at least five times longer than you think it will. Alastair Heseltine charges around $80 a day for his classes. I just did a weekend with him making a #4 willow strawberry basket (French design) and he charged $150, and earned every penny of it and then some! You are the teacher so you decide whether material costs are extra or included, but it seems unlikely that anyone else but you will be able to provide the necessary materials. Don't forget that you can weave the basket quickly, so your time/price ratio is different when you are teaching, since it takes so much longer (and is so much more psychically strenuous...) Pam: >>>Denise Beck--Your willow garden skep is just gorgeous! Did you weave it with fresh or soaked willow? I can't wait to try one in a month or so when the willow is ready>>> Oh, blush blush, thanks ever so.... .Soaked dried willow. grown by Alastair, which accounts for most of the grogeousness, he has the best willow I've ever used. I'll call him and ask if he minds if I post his instructions on David's new pattern page, since so many have asked. The instructions are quite meagre, and won't be readily understood by anyone who hasn't already done a fair amount of willow work, so I think his classes are safe. Darleena: >>>I'm venting! I have a friend of my husbands in the house, as I type, who was looking at my baskets and said that I should get a job weaving baskets for that "L" company who makes really cool baskets. UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! >>>> There are a lot of ignorami in the world (plural of ignoramus, I guess) so smile and ignore. If you can't do that, go to Susan Billy's Pomo web site http://indy4.fdl.cc.mn.us/~isk/art/basket/pomo.html and scroll down to the picture of a Pomo basket being offered by the Morning Star Gallery in Santa Fe for $36,000 and show your ignorant friends what real basket art can be worth! P.S. what's the "L" company?? Bert: >>Denise Beck - You have a willow cleave? One of those cool eggy shaped ones? If so, where did you ever find it? Are they still available. That and a rapping iron are two willow tools I really want to acquire.>> I got mine from Bonnie Gale's English Willow web site http://www.msu.edu/user/shermanh/galeb/welcome.htm and it works great, I cleaved several dozen willows with it last week. She has rapping irons, too, but I made my own out of a piece of thick scrap iron that happened to have a hole in the end that I found at Capital Iron Store in Victoria, BC. I think it might have originally been some kind of sash weight, flat, though. I took a bastard rasp and filed down the sharp edges and it works beautifully as a rapper and a willow commander (love that term!). Geez I'm glad we don't have poison ivy or poison oak in British Columbia! No poisonous snakes, either, at least out here on the coast, though I understand there are rattlesnakes in the interior. However we do have lots of black widows and brown recluse spiders, not a great thing for people who store bundles of dried basketry materials in dusty sheds... I have shaken a few black widows out of umbrellas in the garage and once had dozens living under my sofa cushions, unbeknownst to me. Brrr! Devil's claw can be viewed on The Caning Shop web page at http://www.caning.com/gourdtools.html and I have attached the photo with this message. I guess David will have to post it on the basket pictures page or something. Denise McCann Beck Coastal British Columbia USDA zone 7 Sunset Zone 4 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 2 I. 107 Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 16:32:19 -0500 From: "Donna" To: "David Collins" Hi everyone - David, thanks again for this great forum. I'm rather enjoying "thinking" about some of the posting I've been making lately. Gets me away from the day-to-day business dealings and lets me "think" weaving even though I get little chance to actually do so lately. Pam - You and I are some of the lucky ones. I, too, have my computer set to warn before opening, etc. and recognized the virus name and did not open the Happy 99 when I got it. Last week, my sister, who is military in Germany, wrote and warned us that she got the Melissa virus (it had infected the computers at work - a military bank) and knew she had passed it on without realizing it and to be very careful of what we open. With all this "sickness" going on, I open very few attachments unless I can recognize the content no matter who it's from. Vicky - You don't have to worry about termites in your reed UNLESS your basement is already infected. Termites eat wood and tunnel in it as they go to build nests. Reed is not thick enough for them to do this. This is truly a simplistic answer, but we've had them and know their habits and don't feel they would be interested in it, except to possibly nibble on if they happen to be in the area. Judy - Since my grandmother is no longer with us, we don't get our supplies of lye soap like we used to but most supermarkets, at least around here, still sell Fells Naptha bar soap. This is a standard in our house during poison ivy season (mostly year round!) as a preventive measure. Once contracted, I use a product my doctor recommended over 20 years ago - Ruhligel, cream or lotion. (Not sure of spelling). It has something in it that dries up the sores quicker than any other product I've tried and has the advantage of being "clear" in all three forms. I've been very fortunate that I have never had a bad case since I took a series of shots almost 24 years ago (was pregnant at the time but we had no clue and to this day my son does not get it! - yet everyone else on both sides of the family does!) Darleena - With a last name like "Longenecker", think of the comments we get all the time. Depends on my mood, I just blow them off with "sorry, not even close - that's "berger" & I'm "necker". I almost always reply though that they sell baskets made by hand (as opposed to machine) , we sell handwoven baskets (woven from bottom to top by us) and that I'm familiar with them as I have repaired quite a number of them over the years! No matter how hard I try not to get so long winded, it just doesn't work. I'll send this volume off from cloudy but at least warm, PA Donna http://www.countryseat.com Check out our new online searchable catalog with shopping cart ctryseat@fast.net %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: weaverswords Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 16:36:28 EST From: DebGring@aol.com To: davidc@iei.net Hello everyone, I have an announcement to make.....I cleaned my basket room this week and it looks nice now! I'm sure it won't for long as I am a very messy weaver. Glad to see another swap starting, I've not participated before, but will try this time. Bert, I cannot add anything else about poison ivy that you didn't say. I had it on my eyelid once (from the cat's tail I think) and it was miserable. Think the doc ordered some steroids that time. I have noticed that it seems to be taking longer to go away than it used to. Or maybe I am more impatient to get over it! :>} As I said, I did clean my room, finished just yesterday, then began a small basket last eve, left the water in the room to finish today and found (after I put the reed in the water, not the basket though) a floating object....UGH-dead mouse.....YEEKS It and the reed are safely in the garbage, my pan soaked with hot water and bleach (LOT"S of bleach) and now the basket is finished. One would think that with 2 cats and a dog in the household, not to mention a husband who is a pest control technician we would not have mice. My room however is in the garage which is not attached to the house so, I'll give them a break this time. Received the first issue of the AMB publication (just joined this year) and am looking forward to trying the convention this fall. I've not been to a big convention, so am most anxious to try it. Enjoy reading about all of you gatherers and willow makers. I may have to break down sometime and try willow, don't know about gathering though...... will think on that. Enjoyed too all the info from conventions. Hope everyone has a nice Holiday weekend. Thank-you David, Debbie Gring, in NW Ohio, where spring has sprung finally. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 2 I. 107 Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 17:47:55 -0500 From: "Donna" To: "David Collins" Hi everyone - For those of you who had inquired, Patti Hawkins twill babies arrived today and are available in the online catalog. Thank your for your inquiries. Eileen - Thanks for the dates for 2000 in MI. I've already marked my calendar since it's earlier in the month, I won't have problems with the other weekend I'm involved with. Juanita - Since there's no truly "right" or "wrong" way to figure it out, I'll just give you a few guidelines that I use. The narrower the spoke, the more you have to use to fill up the space, the wider the less. First, the length of the spoke. How high do you want it? Figure double the height (you have 2 sides to a basket), add the width across the bottom, plus 6 inches to tuck (3 on each side) and in the case of a Wmsbg. that flares out, add the difference in the width of the handle at the base, from the width at the height of the basket. (Ex: a 6" high basket on a 7" Wmsbg & would figure 6" x 2 = 12" + 7" + 6" + 5" = 30" (granted, this is generous, but if in doubt, always go longer) What shape do you want the completed basket to be? If longer, than wide add some extra length to these. Cut up strips of newspaper to experiment with, or use UNCUT pieces of reed to lay across the handle for spacing and number of spokes desired. I've never seen in print any formulas to use. Remember, there is no RIGHT or WRONG way of doing it, it's all in what's pleasing to the eye. More on poison - Always assume you've been exposed and take precautions if allergic to it. Prevention is the best medicine. Yes, clothing can infect you, even someone else's if they have been in it. Wash exposed areas immediately, strip (inside out is a good precaution) into wash machine (not you, of course) and shower with a fairly abrasive soap. Donna L. http://www.countryseat.com Check out our new online searchable catalog with shopping cart ctryseat@fast.net %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Poison Ivy Date: Fri, 02 Apr 1999 18:19:50 -0500 From: gatsby@larck.net To: davidc@iei.net Judy: You asked about how to treat Poison Ivy. I use a technique that will probably make people cringe. I scrub the patch with soap and water when it starts to itch. Use a wash cloth but don't use the wash cloth again. Then, I put rubbing alcohol on it! Yes, it does sting. But, it is one of the few things that takes the itch away for at least half the day. I also have some creme that the dr. prescribed. The creme alone doesn't make a dent in the itch. I've tries calamine lotion too and the alcohol is best if you can stand the initial pain. It doesn't leave a scar either. (I've been asked about this) It does make the spot ooze. But, I have found that once the ooze is over, so is the itch. I get poison ivy between 3=5 times a year. My house seems to have been built in the middle of the best patch of PI in Maine. My dogs wander through it daily when they do their thing and then they bring it in to share. I spend each spring with a bottle of Roundup but it doesn't make a dent. I think a need an airdrop of the stuff. OK, no more talk about conventions for the next 12 years when I hope to retire from teaching and be able to attend. Dot in Maine where the PI is getting ready to sprout it's ugly little head out of the leaves. But, at least the day lily's are starting to sprout too! %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: NCBA Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 15:21:13 -0900 From: "Jill Choate" To: "David Collins" Could anyone give me an email address for someone affiliated with the NCBA? I've tried an email for Jimmie Kent but it doesn't seem to be working. Any assistance in this regard would be appreciated. Jill Choate J. Choate Basketry Talkeetna, Alaska Visit our webpage: www.corecom.net/~choatepp Drop us a line: choatepp@corecom.net %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 19:23:40 EST From: CLAYART2@aol.com To: davidc@iei.net Well, here goes, another lurking newby coming out from behind the bushes!. Not only that I've gotten brave enough to sign up for the spring basket swap. When will all this courage stop?!! Just finished teaching my first basket class at the senior center. We did the Bean Pot Basket from Lyn Silers' Handmade Baskets. Everyone did rather well for their first time, none looked alike, and some actually look somewhat like the picture in the book. Some were concerned that theirs did not look perfect or like anyone else's but I, also, told them that because of the tension used, etc. that none would be the very same as illustrated. Re: the charge for a class....the purists will be upset, but I didn't charge anything except for the supplies...Oh well, never thought I'd be rich anyway..! When my nerves get back in order we may do another class. This time I think we'll do a market basket. Darleena....the gasket you blew seems unfounded...it sounded like your friend was trying to give you a compliment..and probably doesn't know the difference between quality and quantity. Many folks are ignorant about baskets and don't realize what really goes into them....that's the time to give verbal lesson in the difference and educate them so they will never look at a basket the same way again!! Naomi- Have to whine about the convention coming to Tampa....I just moved from there in January and of course now there's a big doin's comin' to town! David- re: your idea of a free pattern page.....love it!! I'm a novice so any different kind of basket "recipe" I can get a hold of ( and free is best) is appreciated. That and being totally disabled on a fixed income limits how much I can spend. Keep up the wonderful job on the newsletter....it's the best one I get and I look forward to each issue.....Your web site is just grand!!..what a representation of basketmakers around the world . You should be proud.! AAHHH, there it is( little notes all over) Lois in Honolulu....thank you for the tips on classes and what to say to a nervous student..It came in very handy. Warm fuzzies went a long way! Pat Moritz- Thanks Yea! another bird lover...I didn't know what personalities they had until I acquired these guys...Each a person-bird unto his own! Can't find who had the great cat story but I laughed 'til I cried...what a hoot!!! Funny how animals train their owners isn't it? And--can't find who had the pattern for snowshoes. Please share or just e-mail me the information if you will please. Now for the purists among you, here is a basket moment......I have endeavored to start a fishing creel...the basic framing is started and I'm slowing down already..encouragement needed over here!! HEEHEE, the directions seemed easy enough to follow when I read through them...maybe the rest of my body knows something I don't.. Well, guess I got kind of wordy, but I was saving up...Happy weaving from Nora in Colorado where it used to be nice, then started snowing yesterday and has not stopped yet and isn't suppose to.....where is the dogsled person? %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: sending replies Date: Fri, 2 Apr 1999 21:12:01 -0500 From: "Mary Hooper" To: "David Collins" Rae in Alberta: Try this: choose Mail from the menu bar, then choose Options, then Send. Click the box for Include message in reply. If there's a checkmark you are sending the newsletter in your answer. To not send the newsletter the box should have no checkmark. Let us know if it works for you. Mary Hooper in 70 degree mountains of western North Carolina. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 2 I. 107 Date: Sat, 3 Apr 1999 10:38:35 -0000 From: "french" To: "David Collins" Hi Everyone! Happy Easter to all - :) Juanita Gulden - You asked about adapting a Williamsburg pattern to fit a specific handle.... I've made a Williamsburg on a 7" handle and used 1/2" spokes - 17 of them at 28" long. My weavers are also 1/2". As a rule, follow the flow of the patterns you have - 5" handle called for 3/8" spokes and 10" handle called for 5/8" spokes - therefore, it would make sense to go with a reed size in between those two (1/2") with a 7" handle. As far as the length of the spokes go, measure out the size of your basket (bottom plus 2 sides) and then add 3" on each side for tucking - in this case for a total of 28" if your basket will be a high as mine is. I hope this helps you out. Sounds like everyone had a wonderful time at convention - I'm envious! :) Some day, I too may actually make it to one. It's on my list (a very long lis) of things to do. I see the rules posted for the next swap - guess I best get my e-mail in to Sue ASAP! Happy Weaving to all! Diana French from Southern New Jersey where the Spring blossoms are bursting!!! %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Bits and Pieces Date: Sat, 3 Apr 1999 09:39:15, -0500 From: BDKE97B@prodigy.com (MRS BILLIE A DORRIS) To: davidc@iei.net Darla, can't imagine having 90 baskets for a show-only in my dreams. Feel like I'm lucky if I have 50. But even when I was doing reed baskets I didn't make many small ones. Right now I have probably 15 Nantucket's with 6 weeks 'til my first show. Do need to get a move on. Have several woven but not lashed or finished. We too were in a Mark Adams in Charlotte which just shows you what a difference management makes. They did offer box lunches on Friday and Sat. for about an hour. Sandwich, chips, cookie and Pepsi (ugh). Which was better than nothing. I remember one year in a different hotel (in Charlotte) they had a buffet set up outside the classrooms and it was wonderful. These people either didn't learn or didn't care. On Sat. afternoon as we were leaving class with all our "stuff" we had to walk through a wedding reception. Talk about tacky. If I was the bride I would have been most unhappy. I did have snacks but even I can exist only so long on Girl Scout cookies. I actually had 4 apples with me which saved me. Did see one thing which I thought was funny. Was standing in line on Sat. even waiting for a table. There were two well-dressed men standing in front of me waiting too. Everyone got to talking as you sometimes do. Finally the hostess said she could seat us but we had to understand it would be a while before we would be served but at least we could sit down. At that point the older gentleman walked over to the "continental breakfast line(server yourself coffee, fruit etc) which was next to where we were waiting and picked up two oranges to take to the table with him. He wasn't going to starve while he was waiting. Have sore muscles today as I decided yesterday to weed a couple of the flower beds. Our winter was so mild the weeds have already taken over. Never realize how out of shape I'm in until I do something like that. Felt like I had accomplished something though. I wonder how many fellow weavers managed to get a ticket on their way home. The state police decided that things were getting out of hand and concentrated on interstate 95-the main route through Va. from Maryland to N.C. Several weeks ago they targeted 81 which runs down the western part of the state and got something like 1700 in 7 hours. I will be glad next year when the two conventions don't conflict as I missed many friends and teachers who were in Indiana. It wasn't the same without them. It was nice to see some different classes taught this year. N. C. has tended toward the traditional for so long it's good to see a change. The bark classes looked wonderful and I was envious. But then lots were envious of the purse class I took. Heard that there were over 100 who tried for the purse. Enough for now. Billie in cool Va. beach %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 2 I. 106 Date: Sat, 3 Apr 1999 14:14:50 -0600 From: Roberta R Comstock To: davidc@iei.net "Weavers Words" Vol. 2 Iss. 106 Donna, Winnie, Kay H, Diana F & Melissa - Thanks for the excellent explanations of how to splice a handle wrapper. It's so neat to see all these great minds running on the same track! Tony S. - What a great frog story! My imaginary catroon theater went into hyperdrive on that one. :=) I've got a lot of arrow frog things in one of our bathrooms - all of them much bigger than life and non-toxic. One thing I forgot to mention on the museum visit thing is that it's a good idea to make an appointment well in advance. When I did that at the Met in NYC, I wrote to the curator of textiles about a month ahead of time & sent her a copy of my chronology of knitting history & reference list to show that I was really serious. (That's what I was studying at the time.) She was most helpful. Anne Boquist - In my case, Bert is short for Roberta. You aren't alone, though. Lots of people think I'm a guy if they've never met me. Now if they think that After they meet me, then I'll worry. I've spent a lot of time in my life hangin' out with a bunch of guys, starting with my brother & 6 cousins when I was a kid. They seemed to be doing more interesting things. My career as a park ranger and water resources planner was sort of like that too. I've sort of had the best of both worlds in the gender department - never let my female state get in the way of doing what I wanted to do. Norma - I envy you your class with Flo Hoppe. One of these days, maybe I can take one. And one of these years I'll get to Indiana and meet you at a convention. Glad to hear it went well. Bert Comstock, Independence, MO %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: miniature egg basket Date: Sat, 3 Apr 1999 16:18:34 EST From: CHobbsNANA@aol.com To: davidc@iei.net David, was good to talk with your mother. I see you are really hanging in there! To Fran Steidel-I received one of your little miniature egg baskets, and just love it. I was glad to know who had made them. I've just studied it, but don't think I could make one. The IBA convention was just wonderful! Carolyn and all those on the board just outdid themselves! The food buffets were just great. I attended many of the lectures, and they were great. John's lecture was wonderful. I heard his lecture five years ago at the AMB, and he refers to it as a disaster-but it was absolutely the funniest lecture ever, even if he didn't mean for it to be. It was just all mixed up. He said "Now this is Anne, and a cow would come on the screen", and the whole show was like that. Was great to meet Jill Choate. Now I can visualize her dog races. Glad Jill enjoyed our convention. I took 2 classes-both were Luke Block. Loved both baskets, and also enjoyed his wife Willow. She would like to take a class in weaving with Willow. Wonder why Clare %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: (no subject) Date: Sat, 3 Apr 1999 18:55:19 EST From: Arlo1225@aol.com To: davidc@iei.net Hi Everyone! Happy holidays! I think Spring has finally decided to visit upstate NY! Hope I didn't just jinx us! Fran - looked through "Webster's Thesaurus" and found the following: Mini - tiny, refined, minute, wee, diminutive, teeny, weeny, teeny-weeny, teensy, itty, bitty, itty-bitty, reduced, condensed, compact, contracted :-) Judy - re: poison ivy - just wanted to add a footnote to Bert's terrific piece - many think poison ivy only grows in groups of 3 leaflets - not so - leaflets may be in 4's and 5's also, but you should still heed the old saying, "Leaflets three, let it be." Also, when young, the leaflets are very shiny and sometimes reddish in color. It can grow as a vine, a low ground cover, or in the South as a small freestanding treelike plant. It's very easy to recognize as a vine as the supporting tendrils are very hairy - forming a dense mat on older vines. If you have it anywhere near your face - seek medical treatment! And finally, soaking in an oatmeal bath (or Aveeno oatmeal bath) is very soothing and helps relieve the itch. Sue - Yippee! Another swap! Thank you so much for volunteering your time! I've already e-mailed my address to you! Dave - Happy Easter! Wow - Jace! What a cutie! Thanks once again for all you do for us! Must run - time to color Easter eggs and help the Easter Bunny prepare for tomorrow's egg hunt! Happy Weaving! Lesley, in upstate NY where the weather is almost warm and the flowers are popping up anyway! %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% If for any you would ever like to cancel your subscription, simply send me a message with "unsubscribe" as your subject.