Making basket #8

This is the process I follow to make a basket. I could only photograph up through the completion of the base because the walls are a race against time since they dry out easily, becoming brittle. This basket will be a growler carrier. 

First, I pick the material.

From left, 12 red osier dogwood rods for the accent, 50 of the thinnest buff willow rods for weaving, 24 medium buff willow rods for the uprights (basket wall frame), and 3 of the thickest rods to make the base.

Next, I soak the material. 

Soaking makes dried rods easy to bend. The red osier dogwood takes about 24 hours but the buff willow only takes about 30 mins -- it's been processed by boiling and peeling the bark. What's left is very light and readily soaks up water.

Let the material mellow

After soaking, rods need to mellow overnight in moist fabric to make sure the moisture is evenly distributed. The buff willow is so porous that it must be kept wrapped in moist fabric or it'll dry out and break instead of bending. I spritzed it repeatedly while I worked the basket.

Measure the base

Since I'm making a basket to hold a particularly sized growler, it's important to make the base the right size. I leave a margin that I'll trim after the uprights are set.

Cut the rods to the right size for the base

Cut 6 rods an inch or two longer than base.

Split 3 rods

Using a knife, I split 3 rods so the other 3 can slide through making a cross shape called a slath.

Sharpen the other 3 rods

Sharpening the ends of the other 3 rods makes it easier to slip through the slits cut into the first 3 rods.

Slide the sharpened rods through the split rods.

This part always gives me anxiety: please don't break, please don't break... I use a screwdriver to widen the split and shove the sharpened sticks through the gap.

Finish the slath, making sure the natural bend in each rod faces the same way. This makes the ends touch the surface and the middle part, where the rods intersect, is held up in the air. 

This makes the foundation of the basket. Each rod has a natural curve. Aligning all the rods so their curves match is key to making a base that doesn't wobble.

Start weaving the base.

Thread two weavers through the gap.

Form the initial pass.

Wrap the weavers over and under, alternating all the way around twice.

Once the weavers have been wrapped around the slath twice, 8 of the spokes are bent outward to form an evenly spaced framework on which to weave the base. The end result looks like this.

Notice how the base has a conical shape. That's what keeps the basket from wobbling.