going down another rabbit hole......

that amythefibergoddess is full of surprises. she has quite a history with creative expression. i don't know why i'm still surprised when she tells me that 'i've done that'. this week it was baskets. the real deal baskets (not those wimpy, commercial ones). she gifted me with a stunning round one for my birthday this year. i've been using it to transport my little hansen spinning wheel and it is just the cats pajamas! well, when she bought it, there was a conversation with the basket weaver about classes, materials,techniques. as a result, we had us a basket weaving class. amy ordered the basket pieces and marcia and i fell in line. just like every art, there are levels of quality, tools, styles..... and we wanted to do it right.

we cut our reed the day before so it would be ready to go. linda (the basket teacher) was absolutely amazing! while guiding us along, she shared basket history, techniques, styles and all sorts of awesome stuff. when i say guide, i really mead guide. as she kept telling us this was "your basket" and there are  no "basket  police", so if she put her hands on it to demonstrate.... she ripped it all out so we were forced able to do it ourselves.

marvelous marcia was zipping along, amy has done this before, so i was the remedial weaver.

of course, i just couldn't follow the pattern. i wanted a different pattern and color. linda generously offered her santa-sized bag of reeds to borrow from....

my hands were busy keeping up with these two! after lunch, the final lashing....

same kit, same direction.... three distinctly different baskets.

just love mine!!! i may need another ......