"Weavers Words" Vol. 2 Iss. 76 Date Sent: January 20, 1999 Subscribers: 911 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 have added a lot of new pictures to the basket picture page. Here's the address: http://www.iei.net/~davidc/pictures.html We now have over 50 basket pictures on Weaver's Words basket picture page. So if you have a picture('s) that you would like to share, don't be shy. You can send them to me via e-mail or snail mail (U.S. Mail). Also, Diana Macomber had me add her 17 page "Canada Geese Decoy Pattern" to the classifieds page. Here's the address: http://www.iei.net/~davidc/classifieds.html Take Care, David davidc@iei.net P.S. 345 days until the millennium. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: Basket Article Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 14:29:00 +0000 From: burnsey2@juno.com (Laurie Burns) To: davidc@iei.net References: 1 David, First, let me thank you for continuing to put this newsletter together. I truly look forward to getting and reading each one! Second, a couple of newsletters ago, someone asked me which magazine I saw the tea stain in. Because my computer is downstairs and the magazine was upstairs at the time, I forgot to write back. The magazine is called Wood and it is put out by Better Homes and Gardens. It was in their winter 1998 issue and feature's a couple named Joe and Barb Melcher who weave together. It was the first time that I had heard about a tea stain. Thank you to all who responded with that recipe and others. I tried the tea stain and it helped me out in a pinch, but I still prefer the colors you can get using the minwax mix. I just wish it didn't smell so bad. Take care and Happy Weaving from Laurie in freezing cold upstate NY! %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 2 I. 75 Date: Sat, 16 Jan 99 15:29:29 PST From: pywoodbury@worldnet.att.net To: "David Collins" References: 1, 2 Hi Weaving World, I have had so many inquiries about the Wee Wishes Basket of Pat Levitte that I called and talked to Pat to get her permission to print her address. For those of you interested in the Wee Wishes pattern send $2.33 to Pat Levitte, 150 Fenner Rd. Caro, MI 48732. Pam %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 2 I. 73 Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 15:57:29 -0600 From: froggestow@juno.com (Roberta R Comstock) To: davidc@iei.net "Weavers Words" Vol. 2 Iss. 73 Barbara in Louisville - Regarding handle making: I believe it's MUCH easier to make your handles out of freshly cut wood than it would be to make them from seasoned wood bought at a lumber yard. The green wood will be softer and easier to carve and reasonable easy to bend to shape and tie in place to dry that way. With seasoned lumber you would have to steam it thoroughly before you could bend it. (Most people probably don't have the necessary equipment to efficiently steam a piece of wood that is long enough for a large basket handle.) Although you could cut a U- shaped handle to out of a board, part of the curve would then be going across the grain and the handle would not be nearly as strong as one that is bent so the grain follows the curve. Lesley - If you want your lacrosse stick basket to be functional, you will have to make it out of something much tougher than rattan reed. I suspect the originals were made of some sort of hardwood that could stand up to the rough treatment it would get in an actual game of lacrosse. Alice - I've never had problems with Aspercreme, Mineral Ice or Ben Gay. But once I tried an analgesic creme that had capsaicin (extracted from hot chili peppers) in it and that one gave me a rash right away. You might ask your sister to read the fine print ingredients list and see if capsaicin was in the one that irritated her skin. Bert Comstock Independence, MO %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Nantuckets Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 13:49:41 -1000 From: Joanne Howard To: "Collins, David" Aloha, Having a great time in Lois' basket classes. Painting class is fun too. So back to baskets. I noticed that some of you all are doing stuff with Nantuckets. I have worked the kits from Nate's Nantucket's (when it used to be Martha Weatherbees' place) and they are really good. Has anyone heard from Nate's lately? I am supposed to get a newsletter and in two years I have only received one. I was just wondering if anyone knew what they were up too. Does anyone else sell fairly inexpensive kits like Nate' place? I hope you all are surviving the snow and cold. Gosh, I can't believe some of what I see on CNN as far as snow goes. I guess I have forgotten how it feels. Sometimes I miss the season but most times not. Ok, , you all must come to Hawaii and weave. Lois, will pick all 900 of you up at the airport in her new jeep!!! Can you imagine weaving at the beach. What fun!!! It's off to weave now. Take care, Aloha oe, Joanne %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: WW Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 19:19:00 -0500 From: MYLOIS Organization: Prodigy Internet To: davidc@iei.net Hi All: Well, we were snowbound for 3 days this week and finally on Friday our closest neighbor got his tractor "unstuck" and plowed out our drive and then the county plowed the road Friday afternoon. We live in North Street, Michigan which is northwest of Port Huron in Michigan's Thumb. We have 4 to 5 feet of snow across the back of our place and about 4 feet on our dec. Out front it looks like Mt. Everest -- huge piles of snow. It is a major chore to try and go anywhere. To Pam: Yeh -- I'm slob #2. It is so much easier to just drop everything on the floor with the good intentions of cleaning it up later except later never comes. If I win the lottery, I am going to hire a "reed picker upper". Myra Stutler mylois@prodigy.net %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: re: looking for cut pattern Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 17:12:36 -0800 From: "chas" To: "weavers words" Hi All: I hope someone can help me.... I had hoped to make Sandy Atkinson's nested heart pattern as a gift this weekend... When I got everything out, I found that I only can find the cut pattern for the MEDIUM heart... Would anyone have the large and small??? I had them at one time, must have mis-filed them. And I needed to do it soon... Doesn't that always happen? Thanks in advance Ruth Cinebar WA Where it is REALLY raining and dark today... A good day to weave! %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Swan Baskets Date: Sun, 17 Jan 1999 11:43:28 EST From: MARTYAMAZ@aol.com To: davidc@iei.net Hello Ms. Otto: I got your email address from Ms. Marilyn Whitehead. I am interested in baskets shaped like birds; swans in particular. I would like to use them for table toppers (to put favors in) for my wedding. Do you make a basket like this or know someone who does? Thank you for your time, Trina martyamaz@aol.com %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Weaver's Words Date: Sun, 17 Jan 1999 17:30:01 -0800 From: hannah To: "'davidc@iei.net'" Hi to David and to all world wide basket weavers!!! Just want to let you all know that the web site is still up and running, but I am currently adding the shopping cart to it. Please make note not to use the shopping cart yet, as it is still in the works. I will let you all know when it is ready for use. I have also made a note on the pages to make sure noone tries to use it until it is done. I just don't want someone to place an order on there and it not be working yet. That would be a disaster on both ends. Now, I also found that I had an error on my web site on the base catalog. One of my prices was way off and I just want you all to know that it has been corrected to reflect the correct price. It is for Judy's Quilt Base/Frame. I had it correct at first and for some reason, I changed it here in the last couple of weeks, in error. I am sorry if this caused any of you any inconvenience. Now, I want you all to know that Gretchen is way ahead of me in her daily weaving, but I have been working on the web site. As soon as I get this shopping cart done, I will be working at my weaving just as hard as she is. She is going at it pretty good. Keep up the Good Work Gretchen!!! Also, Keep on praying for her, as her dream is about to be realized and then she is going to share it with you. It is truly wonderful and she is greatly deserving. It was almost 50 degrees here today and it is so very welcome after all of the ice and snow. My son may actually get to go back to school. He hasn't had any school since December 19th (winter break and then all of the ice and snow). Well, I wish you all a very happy day and keep on weavin'!!! Pam Feix from Southwest OH http://www.feixbaskets-crafts.com PS I got my class schedule for IBA and am so excited, I cannot wait until March gets here!!! Talk to you all very soon. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Date: Sun, 17 Jan 1999 20:15:57 -0500 From: "eskbaskets" To: "david collins" Hello from Betty Kourkounakis in thawing NE Ohio!! First I'd like to proclaim that I have been thoroughly enjoying the real winter this year. Some folks love the summer; I always feel the best in winter. Snuggly blankets, warm clothes, lotsa good hair days. I haven't written in for a long time b/c of the holiday business, but have been keeping posted on you all. Gail Caron - I felt sooo bad for you when I read about your dear kitties. I, too, am an animal lover, and have agonized over the loss of a couple pets. There's just something so special about a loving pet. I do sympathize and hope you're finding a bit of healing. Pam Woodbury - Congrats on getting your basket room cleaned out; what a HUGE undertaking!! And no, I can't imagine being a basket slob. Perhaps others, but not me. I do manage to keep my basket stuff neat and tidy a tall times in between designing, weaving, cutting for classes, and chasing my 22 mo. old, 5 and 1/2 yr. old, and 2 yr. old yellow lab puppy (Chester). I guess some of us are just blessed with that special "Martha Stewart" ability to pull everything together in a 1/2 hr. time slot!!! NOT! I, too, managed to scrape off at least the topmost layer of crud from my basket room over the weekend. I'm always amazed at the little gems that are resurrected from beneath the "mulch". Have a great remainder of winter, everybody!! %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: BH&G publication Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 20:04:21 -0500 From: The Horners To: davidc@iei.net Hi all. Last episode, Lois of Hawaii, mentioned a Better Homes & Garden publication that had an article about a basketmaker in Canton GA. I gotta get that publication because Canton is half an hours drive from here. I checked BH&G's webpage, and they made no mention of it. Can you give me any more info on it? Is it a magazine? Where did you buy it? What is the actual title of the publication? Country Style?? is that all there was. Any details will help as I go searching through bookstores. Thanks in advance. Karen Horner in Georgia, where it has been windy, but not real cold today. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Weavers Words Date: Mon, 18 Jan 1999 18:14:00 PST From: "Alice Edwards" To: davidc@iei.net Hi Everybody, I'd like to start with a quick note of congratulations to David - 909 members, WOW! Diana Macomber - HOORAY!! - Glad the pattern is finished for the goose pattern. I will be writing to order it soon. I'm not sure I have enough experience yet, but am fascinated by the pictures. I don't want to risk it not being available later when I want it. Thank you and the others for sharing your memories of Theresa Ohno with us. For those of us who never met her, it helps make her 'real' instead of just a name. She sounds like a wonderful person. Jayna - I hope you find your camera soon and send in pictures of the wreaths. Your story reminded me of all the things I've had to hunt. The worst is if I take off my glasses, and leave them somewhere I don't usually put them. I have to get my husband to help hunt, since I can't see well enough to spot them at any distance. Pat Moritz - Glad to hear you are surviving all the snow that hit St. Louis. Congratulations on being accepted for the juried basketry seminar. Judy Mullins - Hope you are back in the basket making mood again. I have noticed that orders seem to make it harder to 'be' in the mood, at least for me. Occasionally it helps if I pick out something I especially want to make for after I do the basket(s) I am supposed to be doing. Sort of 'bribing myself' I guess. Kathi Calvert - Good to hear from you again. Thanks for the advice about wood bases. I've several I haven't got around to weaving yet. Maybe I'll get them out and start soon, have several other baskets I need to weave for people first. I can identify with the withdrawal pains when you haven't got to weave for quite awhile. I try to balance weaving what I want, with weaving some orders for other people so that I'm not over-run with baskets. No fireplace at our house, but curling up with a basket book, or patterns is still a great way to relax when I don't have enough time to do any real weaving. Lois - in late March maybe a general spring theme would work with flowers, leaves and such. Easter is early April, though like Christmas it doesn't involve everyone. But for most of us spring means flowers, bunnies and chicks and baby animals. All that stuff. It would here in Kansas and Missouri, but I don't know about Hawaii. Hope you enjoy the mainland. Thanks for letting us know about the magazine article and for sharing to tattoo idea. Sandy Atkinson - Glad Nicole is home from the hospital. Hope she is starting to feel better. Congratulations to all of you. Pam - I also tend to slob tendencies, and since I don't have a separate basket room the family room and spare bedroom tend to suffer. If I need the guest room, things have to be organized, packed and stored in the family room, after putting up and straightening the stuff on the table in the family room where I have been weaving. It has helped as I acquire more organized storage for the supplies, but I have quite a ways to go yet. I do think it helps to have ways to store things that allow easy access when you want it and are handy to put things back. If I could just figure out a better way to do this. I use 10 gallon(?) 'Sterilite' brand plastic tubs to store unopened rolls of reed, since they are deeper. Since I need several they are divided by type, flat or round reed, and size. I have one tub that stores the large sizes of round reed and the flat oval that have been opened since they are bulkier. It sits on top since the lid won't go on. Then I use a couple of 10-gallon Rubbermaid containers for open reed. Each size has it's own 2 gallon zip-type plastic bag. This probably wouldn't work in real damp climates because of mold problems, but it does work here. I label the bags with a permanent marker so I can tell the size at a glance. Some sizes have two bags, one for weavers and the other for reed to use for cutting stakes. I keep natural reed in one and dyed reed in the other tub. When I am through with that size reed I just coil it up and put it back in the bag. If I am using a lot of larger reed like 5/8" for something like a step basket, I do sometimes keep it in a plastic grocery sack while weaving. If I cut stakes for a basket to make later, or open a kit to check it out before I start it I just pop them in a zip bag until I need them also and put a sheet of paper in telling what type of basket. And I do keep a roll of #2 round reed hanging from a curtain rod so I can grab it easily for twining bases, or whatever. Judy Mullins - Although the tobacco leaf can be handled with some safety, I don't think it is necessary to smoke the tobacco for the nicotine to be dangerous. It is my understanding that both smoking and 'chewing' release the nicotine, and that it would/could be released when you soak or infuse it for the stain also. I don't know how poisonous tannic acid is or how strong the tannic acid concentration is in walnut stain. I do know that books on dyeing and staining all warn you never to use the same utensils for cooking and to be careful. I also know that pure nicotine is a very strong and dangerous poison, but I have no idea how strong the concentration would be in homemade stain. I would suggest caution. Remember you are all in my thoughts and prayers. Happy Weaving Alice Edwards in the Kansas City Area %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Places to visit Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 17:12:54 -0500 From: gatsby@larck.net To: davidc@iei.net This summer, my husband and I, are going to Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee for vacation. I already have a visit to The Country Seat on the agenda. I have advised my husband to bring a book, I WILL be awhile. Do you have seats inside for waiting husbands? What I want to know is other places between the Country Seat, Dayton Ohio and any place in Kentucky and Tennessee. We haven't got the route in those states mapped out yet. I would love to know about any basket supply stores to visit. Thanks David for getting us all organized into this "newsletter". It's greatly appreciated as evidenced by the increase in membership. Dot in Maine where we're out of the deep freeze for awhile! %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: [Fwd: lahsing] Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 20:37:41 -0500 From: roman@tm.net To: davidc@iei.net Well, the Indiana Convention classes are out. Boy am I thrilled to receive the one I wanted. Yeah. Come on March Lashing: Here is not a new way of lashing, but one that new weavers might like to try. If you are a right hand weaver, clothespin the pulled tight lash. Insert the end of the lasher through 2 or 3 spokes loosely. Let go of the end of the lasher and pull the slack of all 2 or 3 together at one time. When the slack is almost out then pull and tighten each individually from left to right. There seems to be less hand gripping on the method and less damage to the lasher also. Hope it makes sense. It works better on average to bigger baskets. Well Purdue is getting beaten by Ohio State. My hubby is PU and a bear to be around when things aren't going well. To make matters worse I'm IU grad and we know what happened last week. Silent chuckle. Kristin from SNOWY Michigan. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Weavers Words Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 00:05:48 -0500 From: "Russell & Leslie Johnson" To: Hi David and Fellow weavers I do hope everyone is surviving the weather this winter. We have had so much snow and I hate it! It looks nice but that is all I can say about it. I will be glad when spring arrives here in Michigan. I have been cleaning instead of weaving, but I wanted to comment on the new photos on David's page from Rae Hunter. By the way, Ray thanks for posting the photo's of the baskets you sent me, I am a little slow on getting mine developed. The baskets are wonderful Rae & I especially like the love seat your husband made, such talent you both have! I hope to be done with cleaning & taxes and back to weaving by mid February then maybe I will have something to contribute...in the meantime I love reading about all your tips, tricks, trials and tribulations. 'Til next time, happy weaving from Leslie in snowy Michigan %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Weaving weekend Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 21:54:33 -0800 From: "Marc L. Ames" To: "David Collins" Thanks to Susi Nuss for the miniature basket kit connection. And wow! what a great site. Visit her basketry.miningco.com sometime when you have plenty of time to browse around. My husband is in Pittsburgh on business this week, and may try to take a side trip to Philadelphia. Are there any don't-miss basketry outlets or traditions from your area that he might bring home to me? He does try hard to please me, but I thought I might give him helpful hints with a little help from my WW friends. Please e-mail me so I can pass on your suggestions to him via our daily telephone call. On his last business trip (Detroit I think) he talked to the people at the company he was visiting. They assured him they would take care of it and ship something out here. Well, "something" arrived, but it was more of a container for the local jams and spreads they sent. The basket was a disappointment, despite the well-meant intentions. We just completed a relaxing four-day weaving weekend at Deception Pass State Park on Whidbey Island. 30 folks from Washington State enjoyed good food and camaraderie and sharing and trading and weaving techniques and stories. There were a few beaders and a wood carver present to round out the creative group. We hope it will be the first of many annual January events. We even came up with a name that sums it up: WWW.calm (for Winter Weaving Weekend). I will send David a couple of photos so you can all see what you missed. Sharle Osborne brought the swap baskets she received from Anna in Tasmania and the one from Bert Comstock - Hey, you're becoming famous! Well, notorious anyway. It was wonderful to see them in person, and they were widely admired. Seven people made the English Flower basket as seen in the photo I sent earlier. It was the easiest class I never taught -I just brought the patterns and canes, offered suggestions here and there, and answered questions if they got stuck. We all had a great time. Time to do animal chores in the dark and rain. Happy weaving everyone, from Kay Harradine. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 2 I. 75 Date: Wed, 20 Jan 99 19:54:40 PST From: pywoodbury@worldnet.att.net To: "David Collins" References: 1, 2 Hi Weavers Earlier I printed the name and address of Pat Levitte for those of you who were interested in the Wee Wishes. I have since gotten the permission from her brother to print his name and address. He is the handle designer behind all of Pat's famous designs such as the Pigeon River Purse and Bag Lady Basket. For those of you interested in any of Pat's other designs and would like a catalog for her designs send a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope to Basket Handles Slufoot, Bob Teller, 24495Dayton Rd., Armada, MI 48005, 810-784-5952. Bob also specializes in making kits for teachers and basket designers for those of you interested. Pam %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% If for any you would ever like to cancel your subscription, simply send me a message with "unsubscribe" as your subject.