{"id":6551,"date":"2021-06-12T09:31:02","date_gmt":"2021-06-12T07:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/?p=6551"},"modified":"2021-11-09T17:14:52","modified_gmt":"2021-11-09T16:14:52","slug":"wild-basketry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/wild-basketry\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild basketry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rabbit holes. Round, inviting, enticing. What’s down there really? I’ll just have a peak. Ooh, this looks interesting, I’ll go just a tiny bit longer. Ooh, this looks even more interesting, i’ll just\u2026 Well, I guess you know how this continues. I have found myself a new rabbit hole in wild basketry. Spoiler alert: This post contains no spinning whatsoever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lately I have been slightly obsessed with baskets. There are so many and they are so beautiful. I don’t see them much here in Stockholm, so I become the child in a candy store when I see them on Swedish eBay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"One
One of my recent basket purchases, an antique birch root basket filled with willow birch, cordage and future basket and cordage material.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have also found a very special niche of basket making, using foraged materials. Instagram profiles like Jeanette Gray<\/a> and Suzie Grieve<\/a> are truly inspiring, as is Sally Pointer<\/a> with her excellent YouTube videos where she goes “hedge bothering”, looking for suitable fiber plants. They all make the most exquisite baskets of materials I have never heard of before in a basketry context \u2013 cattail\/reed mace, dandelion stalks, daffodil leaves, ivy, hops and honeysuckle just to name a few. Just the thought of using weeds and garden plants for weaving makes my heart sing (again).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cordage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Since I have no basket making skills whatsoever I have been foraging some of these plants and practiced making cordage. It is a good start for getting to know the fibers and how they behave. So far I have played with dandelion stalks, rhubarb skin, spider plant and crocus leaves. Making the cordage is magical. They spiral down from my hands in all shades of brown and green, changing as they dry. All the materials feel and behave differently and it is such a joy to be a beginner in this beautiful world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n