Basket #12: champagne carrier

Basket #12: champagne carrier with French randing walls, track border, and twisted handle; buff willow, steamed willow, and red osier dogwood 

Here's wishing you find beauty and happiness in 2021.

What could be better to end the year than making a basket to carry a champagne bottle? 

I had not made a basket since leaving Republic about 8 weeks ago. It was the first time I didn't have to look at a reference video. 

It's also the first time I've used steamed willow, which is the darker willow in the handle, border, and uprights. I received it when I bought the buff willow in June, but I've been avoiding it because it's twice as expensive and takes several days to soak, compared to buff willow's 30 mins.

As before, I'm happy with the base, handle, and walls. Unlike previous baskets, I'm finally happy with the border! 

It takes about 100 wands to make a small to medium sized basket. At left are buff willow, top, and steamed willow, bottom. The base, which I made earlier in the year, uses red osier dogwood as the frame, known to basket makers as the slath. I had planned to use dogwood for the uprights and handle too, but then I discovered it breaks when bent at a 90 degree angle. I've been carrying this base around ever since.

I love the deep chocolate color of the steamed willow. The contrast of the buff willow against the steamed willow is quite striking.

Speaking of a tight weave, I'm so pleased with this French randing. It's an incredibly frustrating stroke for me to make, especially at the union (where one wand ends and another begins), which you can see in the middle. Trying to wrap one wand around another is no big deal, but doing 24 simultaneously is maddening.

I'm not gonna lie -- I often just marvel at the finished basket, turning it over in my hands while looking at it from different angles. I'm in love with the simple twisted handle.

Every previous basket I've made had big gaps where the base meets the walls. I've finally figured out how to avoid that! And that weave is super tight. I had hoped the red osier dogwood slath would provide a nice surprise to those who look underneath, but the color faded to brown.

I like daydreaming while looking at the mess I make during basket making or staring at my basketry tools. It's mostly stuff you can find around any house but there are some specialty tools professionals use that I have yet to invest in. For example, instead of a proper bodkin, I use an ice pick lol. Before the ice pick, I used a Phillips screwdriver.

I was not aware of how much sighing, vulgar muttering, or frustrated guttural noises I make while weaving a basket until Denise called from the other room, "so much for your relaxing hobby." Hah, I've heard the same from her when she makes art.

Why do I spend 6 to 8 hours bending dead sticks? I simply love it. Picking, then soaking wands. The gestural movement. The smell. Overcoming those dreaded parts of the process. Marveling at something beautiful you just made. 

Basket weaving -- and art in general -- seems a lot like life. There's planning. There's things that go wrong. There's those favorite moments you relish. There's pouring a bit of yourself into the moment. Then there's those parts you dread and sometimes avoid. In those most frustrating moments, you ask yourself, "why the fuck am I doing this?" But you push through, sometimes stopping to breathe. Other times finding a rhythm that's hard to describe because it's at once uncomfortable and satisfying. And just like that, you made it.

We made it through 2020. That uncomfortable, frustrating year we'll never forget. And some beauty came out of it. Here's wishing you a healthy and prosperous new year.