Basket Making
Process
The withies used for weaving baskets are called rods. The stronger sticks used as a framework are called stakes. The ribbon-like material known as skein (made by splitting a rod into three parts) is used for light baskets and for binding handles.
The bundles of willow rods have been stored in a dry place, but are now soaked in water just before use in a soaking trough, to make the rods pliable enough to work.
Soaking times will depend upon the size and type of the rods required. Whites and buffs will take around 30 minutes for smaller rods, or up to four hours for larger rods. Browns - those with the bark left on, may take several days. When they have been soaked, they are kept under damp sacking to 'mellow' overnight, allowing surface water to penetrate the pith of the rods. Humidity is important as dry willow is very brittle.
Apart from frame baskets, all baskets are made from the base up. Firstly, the basket maker makes the base. In the case of oval or round baskets, this consists of the slath, a cross-work of at least four stout willow rods, known as sticks. The number of sticks used can be adjusted according to proposed diameter of the finished basket.
The sticks are cut slightly longer (around 2") than the required basket diameter. They are simply laid over one another, or pared, slyped, in the middle with a knife, half being passed through the slits in the others to form a cross. The cross is bound together with a thin rod , or weaver, and then spread out like the spokes of a wheel.
