baskets – Page 3

Glorious Summer

July 21, 2011 | 2 Comments

Pandora 2011 botanical gardens 004 — herb garden on board Pandora

This is the extent of my gardening on board (well, almost)! Rosemary, thyme and a bright red geranium! I have no idea how my gardens at home are faring in the 90+ degree heat of the past few weeks, but this little pot makes me quite happy!

A visit to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay with a good friend was a perfect summer day. These gardens sit on 128 acres that border the shoreline of Back River. The idea for the gardens started in 1991, and the land was purchased in 1996, with some of the founding directors using their personal homes as collateral for the land purchase. The grand opening occurred in 2007! There is a wealth of inspiration here, and most plants are clearly identified. There are tranquil spaces, such as the Meditation Garden and the Waterfall garden along with several quiet woodland paths. And then there are spaces that are strikingly beautiful such as the Children’s Garden and many perennial borders.

Pandora 2011 botanical gardens 024 — One of several mazes in the gardens

Pandora 2011 botanical gardens 016 — Birdhouse at edge of Cleaver Event Lawn and Garden

Pandora 2011 botanical gardens 019 — Really large bonsai planter

Pandora 2011 botanical gardens 026 — So many daisies!

Pandora 2011 botanical gardens 043 — Path through the Vayo Meditation Garden

Pandora 2011 botanical gardens 033 — Pond in the Children's Garden

And here is the winning idea I took from my tour: a wall of plants! It is made by filling wire baskets with soil, then stacking them and framing them into an attractive wall. This wall of plants not only saves space, but also makes a good screen to block unsightly views! I want it!

Pandora 2011 botanical gardens 006 — Herb wall

This example of a planted wall is filled with herbs. You can see one of the wire boxes in the lower left on the ground next to the wall. They had walls planted with annual flowers and one shade wall planted with ferns.

Today the wind is howling so we will sit on our mooring in Boothbay Harbor. I am going to work on my Nantucket purse and remember my wonderful day in the gardens!

Life is what happens…

June 10, 2011 | 4 Comments

…when you’re busy making other plans….

In the midst of my weaving, spinning, basket making, bobbin lace, knitting and gardening my life has taken a sharp turn.

I was so busy getting two Nantucket baskets ready for weaving while sailing in Maine in July and August… enthusiastically looking forward to a week of weaving at Vavstuga later this month… admiring this year’s crop of weld blooming magnificently and watching for indigo seeds to sprout in the garden. I’ve finished a blanket for a good friend recovering from hip replacement surgery and have recently started Deborah Newton’s ‘greenhouse tank’ from the current issue of IWKnits.

Then Life struck. My father died unexpectedly on May 19, and now two other family members have passed as well. I had to move my mother from her home to mine, a great distance away, and then into assisted living. I am buried in legalities and paper work, and somehow my projects seem like a whim from a distant past.

Still, it is a beautiful spring here in NJ. My peonies and foxglove and iris are blooming profusely, and my cat entertains us with his annual boost of spring energy as well as doing double duty enduring our attentions not only for him but also for our recently deceased dog. That’s life.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — the lion lies down with the lambs

In the midst of my grief and what seems like endless paperwork a friend sent this anonymous saying:
“Being happy doesn’t mean life is perfect. It means you’ve decided to see beyond the imperfections.”

So, I’ve returned to working on my Deborah Newton “Greenhouse tank” and to my large Nantucket basket. I’m juggling my time visiting my mother and getting her new apartment furnished, searching for all the paper work to file my father’s taxes for last year, and getting ready for a week at Becky’s Vavstuga! If you want to follow the basket making procedures go to my basket link above.

Weaving Baskets…some progress

May 15, 2011 | Leave a Comment

Nantucket baskets may 2011 — Nantucket purse (cherry), and small ebony Nantucket basket, both in progress

I now have four basket projects in varying stages. I need so much hand holding to make any progress that I fear none of these baskets will actually be finished any time soon. Still, slowly, I’m learning a few things.

Here is one gem I learned this week from my basket guru/teacher. At home this month I had started weaving the ‘straight away’ on my Nantucket purse (on right in photo), and one quadrant of staves had begun to go off on an angle. It was quite unsightly, drawing my eye right to the asymmetry of the weaving. I was yanking hard to straighten those particular staves every time I came to that section of the basket, but it was not improving! So I put the basket aside to wait for help from my teacher. I thought she would tell me to un-weave, but she had a different suggestion!

It turns out I should never leave the basket ‘au naturel’ while I’m not working on it. When I put it aside for any amount of time I should spray the staves with water, put on the heavy rubber bands, and then position all the staves as best I can. The next time I weave those staves should stay straight, or certainly straighter. At the end of weaving I spray and re-band for the next time. It works! I’m thrilled that I didn’t have to un-weave anything and that I’ve managed to keep the staves straighter now. It’s certainly not a perfect basket, but I am happy with it!

I finished lashing on the rim of the tiny Nantucket, but the day came to an end before I could attach the handle. Sigh... Why does time go so quickly at our monthly basket workshops? I have the handle hardware assembled and waiting to be attached. I don’t want to peen the handle rivets without some hand holding, so I just have to wait ’til June.

Lastly, I will spend some time this month shaping about 120 staves for a larger round Nantucket basket that I hope to weave while sailing in Maine this summer. It occurred to me that weaving a basket could be a wonderful boat project. However, due to my inexperience and lack of confidence, I want to have all the staves shaped and steam bent and in place around the base of the mold before I head off into the sunset to weave it by myself! I’ll start working on those staves today.

baskets5.2011 — 10" round Nantucket mold and "Japanese Wave Weave" covered vase

(Basket #4 is languishing, waiting for its rim. It’s the tall cylinder that is a glass vase enclosed in basketry, woven with cane, waxed linen and beads in a pattern called Japanese Wave Weave.)

I really thank my stars that I have such a great teacher!

Basketry

March 25, 2011 | 2 Comments

4″ Nantucket basket with ebony base and maple rim.

It’s so wonderful to know craftsmen and artists in various fields. If not for the basket makers I know I would never have had the wonderful experience of learning from Anne Lima.

This little basket took three days to make, and I have a long way to go on the finishing. My reward for finishing this basket will be to attach the beautiful maple handle with ebony inlay!Ann Lima is a wonderful basket maker and teacher from Matapoisett, near New Bedford and Cape Cod.

She is the daughter of well known basket maker Gladys Ellis, who designed the “Matapoisett Basket” which combines a number of traditional basket techniques with stunning results!

Anne brought a tray of scrimshaw with her, made by a man whose name I must learn! I had to have this little gem for a future basket.

Yes! I’m smitten….

New Projects

November 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Don’t most of us return from summer travels full of ideas for new projects? It’s hard to implement all the new ideas that crop up from even the shortest weekend away from home. There is something about a change of scenery that always makes me start brewing up ideas for what to do when I return.

On top of spinning, weaving, and knitting projects that I’ve dreamed up, I am also currently taking two new classes. Once a week I take a bobbin lace class from a group of women who are expert lacers. I’m so lucky to live in an area with an active guild of lace makers. They are a gold mine of experience and help. I’m on my third lace exercise now, and terribly smitten by the process.

This weekend, at the annual Lace Day (with classes!) I learned how to move my lace up in order to keep weaving beyond the length of the pricking card. What you see in the photo is my re-attached weaving. Now I can continue down the length of the card to make the little lace edging longer.

Once a month I drive up into the hills of Putnam County to a basket maker’s house where we work on Nantucket Lightship baskets. I’m making a medium size oval, and I’m quickly discovering how much more effort it takes to place the staves in an oval than in a circle! I may never get the staves ready, so I truly may never weave this basket. The camaraderie is wonderful so as long as they can put with my inexperience I will be going back!

The top photo is my basket in progress. I have more staves to shape, and you can see that the staves change shape as they get into the sharper curves of the ends of the oval. The basket in the lower photo is what I’m striving to achieve and was made by one of the women in the group!

Beading and sewing are two other areas I’m dabbling in this fall. These small projects are destined to be Christmas presents. I haven’t focused on making the the majority of my presents in at least a decade. Right now it feels good. I might not be so chipper when the deadlines get closer!

I pruned back my bay tree in order to bring it in the house since we have dismantled our greenhouse this year, in preparation for possibly selling our house. I’ve saved all the cuttings and am drying small sprigs as well as individual leaves. These will be gifts also, to all my cooking friends. Look out, Martha!

The leaves are mostly down here, the clocks have turned back, we had a killing frost recently. It’s time to cozy up in the nest and keep the fires burning, both in the furnace and in the creative process. I’m ready…