Patricia Baskets - Free newsletter of handcrafted baskets, basket patterns, and basket kits made in the mountains of northwest Pennsylvania near Cook Forest State Park.

Updated 9/1/08

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December
2006
Newsletter

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Patricia Basket's Newsletter

December 2006 Volume 7, Number 1

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See the " Snowflakes" Pages

*Free Pattern*

German Stars
also
Box Made from Greeting Cards

Click here for the Free Pattern Page.

German Stars

Box

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Antiques and Collectables

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Newsletter

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Items will be listed randomly as I have time to do so.

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From the Editor

When I retired, I did say that the Newsletter would be published sporatically. In actuality, additions to the newsletter have been very slim.

I have been playing catch-up during the last year since my retirement. There were so many kits I had saved for "when I had time", so many vacation and grandchildren's pictures that needed attention, so many books and magazines I had put aside to read at a later date.

I'm amazed to see that I am not caught up at all, but a lot of progress has been made. And life cannot be all catch-up. There are new things to do; discovering Pittsburgh's neat places, wonderful ballet's, and lots of knitting.

But I will keep the Newsletter and Free Patterns Pages up. They will contain favorite stories, hints, techniques and patterns. I hope you enjoy them.

I still don't have baskets and kits for sale, but as I go through the few things I have kept, I am coming across things that I do need to get rid of. Therefore, I am adding a "for sale" page which will cover everything I do have left. I still have a few snowflakes, but am running out of some colors.

For all of you out there who said "You can't retire; you'll hate it", I have to say "It's heaven".

A Basket Story

Many of you know I have taught a lot of children basketry, both for Young Audiences of Cleveland, Ohio, and in the "School House" at Shaker Woods Festival in Columbiana, Ohio. This is the story of how I learned to make my first Children's project that got me interested in teaching children. It happened about 15 years ago.

I was sitting at a show in Chardon, Ohio, selling baskets, and weaving in between sales. Soaking in the pail beside me were some coils of colored #2 round reed.

A small boy came up to me and watched. Pretty soon, he said, " I can make a bracelet out of a stick".

"That's interesting", I said. My thoughts were not so bland as I said to my self, "Sure kid. Get lost".

He continued to watch, so I said, "Why don't you make one for me".

"I don't feel like it now", he replied, and wandered off.

Pretty soon he was back. He offered, "I'll do it now".

"What will you use for a stick". I felt this would stump him, you can't bend a stick into a bracelet. But he was smarter than me.

He pointed to the wet #2 in the water, and volunteered that that would do.

I took the "stick" from the water and handed it to him. Then I watched in amazement as he made a circle and tied it, then measured it to my wrist. He carefully wound the reed around the circle, giving form to the shape, then bent the reed back and wound the other way, giving bulk and texture to the forming bracelet. He did this several times, decided it was done, cut the reed and hid the end in the weaving. He had indeed made a bracelet from a "stick".

I put it on, and asked him where he had learned to do this. He told me he was 7 years old, and attended "Latch Key School", for kids whose working parents were not home after the school was finished. He learned to do it there, and now passed it on to me. Little did he know how that simple lesson meant to me. It opened a whole new world to me and my basket making. I added some pony beads to his bracelet, and have taught it to hundreds of kids.

By the way, the reason I teach children, made the CD on Children's Basket Projects, and why I tried to promote others to offer classes to children was given to me when I read the by-laws at the first state organization I joined, the Association of Michigan Basketmakers. The important phrase was "to promote the craft of basket making to others". I really took this seriously, and have taught thousands of children in the Cleveland Schools, hoping to pass on the "message" to children.

Why Take So Many Classes of the Same Basket?


1st Nantucket Class	2nd Nantucket Class	3rd Nantucket Class

Why take so many classes of the same basket. The answer is to learn to do it well. Of course, each class was fun, but I learned many different things from different teachers. Listed below are the 7 classes I have had in Nantucket Basketry. Would I take more if I could? You bet.

1. 1988 - First Nantucket Class in Michigan. Barb Clough (Peterson) was one of two teachers. I was fascinated with producing this basket and fell in love with the process. I wanted to make more right away, but couldn't find the exact same materials. For some reason my mind was not open to the fact that there are all kinds and shapes of Nantucket's. I certainly needed more training.

2. 1989 - 2nd Nantucket Class at Cook Forest State Park. The teacher was from Concord, Mass. We used a plastic mold. A full year had passed, and now I learned that a Nantucket basket could have a different shape, knobs, handle and base. The teacher also taught me to make hinges, but I never got the promised mold to make a lid, so the basket has never been finished.

3. 1991 - 3rd Nantucket Class with Jim Rutherford at a convention. Jim taught me once and for all how different Nantucket's can be. This was a one-day class, and we were able to finish because the spokes were larger so there were fewer of them to weave around and the weavers were bigger so there were fewer rows to weave. The spokes came shaped as did the handle and rims. The escutcheon pins were larger and I liked the look. The best thing I learned here was how to thin the cane for overlaps. Jim's method was easy and quick and I have used it ever since.


4th Nantucket Class	5th Nantucket Class	6th Nantucket Class	7th Nantucket Class

4. 1991 - 4th Nantucket Class. This is a 5" basket with a flat woven lid. This is the only class I don't remember taking, but the distinctive part is the flat woven lid. I think the lid is very pretty, but I don't particularly like the way it fits.

5. 1993 - 5th Nantucket Class with Martha Wetherbee. The basket was a vase done from black ash with a Nantucket Base. This is the first Nantucket I did that had Ears instead of Knobs. The lesson I remember most vividly from this class is that you have to unscrew the base before trying to get the basket off the mold. I actually cracked (and had to repair the base) because I tried to force the base from the mold, and had forgotten to unscrew it from the mold.

6. About 1994 - Tapestry Basket class with Elizabeth Geisler using a Nantucket Base. The concept of tapestry weaving was totally new at this time. Elizabeth and her husband Charles taught this class at a convention and I was fortunate enough to be able to take this class. They had started the basket, setting the spokes and weaving about 1" with cane. The rest was up to the student and was entirely untraditional.

7. 1996 - 7th Nantucket Class using a tapestry pattern with Elizabeth Geisler. Elizabeth had refined and expanded her tapestry weave into a Nantucket purse. This basket quickly became one of my favorite Nantucket's.

From Sept. 2002

One of the Greatest Rewards a Teacher Can Have

On September 6, 7, and 8 I did a show in Pittsburgh. It was put on by the Pittsburgh Guild of Craftsmen, and is one of the finest shows I do. There is an art center adjacent to the show grounds, and I always go to see what's new on display. Imagine my surprise to see some work by one of my recent students, Ceres Uhlir. And what a wonderful surprise it was. Ceres was doing wonderful coiling on beautiful vases. She was working with round reed, waxed linen and beads, and doing a superb job. There is no greater reward for a teacher than to see a student take your lessons to a higher plane. That's what teaching's really about. Congratulations, Ceres. You're doing a wonderful job.

The Pittsburgh Art Center is on 5th Ave. and Shadyside in Pittsburgh (Shadyside).

Editor Note: Over the years, there have been several students whom I have seen at shows, caning and rushing, selling wonderful baskets, and being artistic in ways I would never have imagined. There can be no greater rewrd for a teacher.

Amusing Gourd Story

It was a great class. I was teaching an Elderhost'l class locally, but had people from all over the country and one man from Canada. He happened to be very active in his church choir, and he led us daily in singing old, old songs. Some of you may know them: Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile; Marzy Dotes and Dozy Dotes, and Little Lambs Eat Ivy; Down in the Valley… I don't know all the names, but you get the idea. We sang while we worked.

There was a lady in the class who was 96 years old. She was a delight, and aside from being a tad bit slower than some, she was having a great time. She sat next to the Canadian gentleman, and the two of them became great friends.

This was a class in natural materials, and one of the projects was learning to work with gourds. We were doing the basic gourd project, washing and cleaning the gourd, cutting the top off, making a design, woodburning and staining the design, and finishing the rim.

Not long after cleaning the gourds, while everyone was figuring out the designs they wanted, the lady piped up, "Teacher, teacher, there's a face on my gourd."

I thought she was seeing something in the mottled design left by the fungus on the gourd. Something akin to people seeing shapes in clouds. I was moving from one student to another, helping each one as I went. "I'll be there in a minute", I said.

But she was impatient, in another few seconds, the repeated, "Teacher, teacher, there's a face on my gourd."

"I'll be there soon", I promised.

But she wouldn't wait. "You just have to see this. There's really a face on my gourd."

So I skipped ahead and went directly to her and indeed, there was a real face on her gourd. I couldn't believe it. The eyes were perfectly visible, as were nostrils at the bottom of the nose, and a line for the mouth.

"Oh my goodness", I exclaimed. Taking a better look, I was amazed. "If I had seen this gourd first, you would never have gotten it." We all laughed at that.

Even if I had seen it first, I wouldn't have seen the face with all the dirt on it. I think that who ever grew the gourd took a knife and scored the lines of a face on it. At the end of the summer, when the gourd grew around the score lines, they scarred over and had the lines and shape of a face.

She decided to decorate only minimally, so as not to spoil the look. Some red was lightly brushed on the cheeks, and the rim was pine needles lashed with waxed linen. At the front, she put some short pieces of linen hanging down like hair. Then, because it was finished so fast, she took the top and made a hat with an orange feather. She then named it Paddy. But, that's not the end of the story.

All during the class, I kept saying, "If I had seen it first, you would never have gotten it", and everyone laughed. Thursday was show and tell night. We all had dinner together, and all the classes had a table on which to display their work. The show and tell was after dinner.

As I was eating, I heard, " Will Pat Yunkes please stand up". We had been singing and joking all week, and I wasn't sure what to expect.

So I stood up and turned around and there was the Canadian Gentlemen, standing and holding the gourd with the face. The lady was sitting next to him, and both were facing me. He proceeded to tell everyone the story, and all got a good laugh at it. I was a little embarrassed. Then, they presented the gourd to me, "because I wanted it so badly".

I accepted it with grace, I hoped. I later tried to give it back to her because it was so unique, but she gave away everything she made in the class. She said she truly had no room for all these things, she was just having fun.

I used to give basket lectures with baskets from my collection. I took this gourd to every lecture I presented, and told the story. Now, I just love to look at it, and remember the story.

The Cook Forest Sawmill Center for the Arts no longer holds Elderhost'l. I miss it.

Sources of Income for Basket Makers - Repair Work

Continuation of a series on Sources of Income for Basket Makers

One of the best pieces of advice my account ever told me was "Don't do repair work". Do I follow that advice? Almost never. People come to me with these wonderful stories of how this basket belonged to "my grandmother, and it's all I have to remember her by, and it got crushed when we moved to our first home". Or "My husband and I used this basket for picnics when we were courting, and it's just so worn out". I am such a softy for a good story that I always tell them to bring it to me and I will look at it. I also tell them it will be expensive to repair a basket, but they don't care.

Only twice have I turned them down. Once was an imported basket that arrived by mail, and it was crushed beyond repair. Since I had told her on the phone that I could repair it, I felt obligated to eat the shipping fees to send it back. The other instance was an oak basket with the handle and part of the rim chewed by a dog. This was brought to me at a show, and I was able to refuse to repair it on the spot.

I should have turned others down, as the problem is that you look at a basket, give them a high estimate, and spend so much time on the basket that you always lose money. The problem with older baskets is that as they age, they get very dry. When you want to add something, like a row or two of weavers, or insert a corner spoke, no matter how much you dampen the area, more rows or spokes break. It's like a domino effect; no matter how careful you are, it happens.

Newer baskets are easier because they haven't aged enough to get dry rot unless they are kept in the sunlight or near a fireplace. When you evaluate the repair work, it may be easy to slip a weaver in over a broke one, but if you are replacing a handle, broken spokes, or a worn corner, you may have to tear out so much area that it would often be easier to create an entire new basket.

I like to make repairs with the same material the basket is made from. Oak, ash, and caning are the usual materials, and often I need to special order sizes and thickness. And of course, there will be a big difference between the color of your material and the original basket. One of the rules of repair is that the difference in color is OK, and that the new material will eventually age and match the basket. After all, "In olden times", that's all they did. But I hate to see a basket with a lovely dark patina with a very light patch showing the repair. So, I usually touch up the repair with some stain or dye. I'm not very good at following rules.

But I still repair some baskets. It's never the money, as I usually lose there. It's the heartfelt gratitude of people who appreciate the fact that you have saved something dear to them. That's worth something.

Free Patterns and Technique

Some of our favorite free patterns and techniques are now on the "Free Patterns" page.

Hints of the Month

Less Hair on Baskets and Caned Chair Seats

Cane and reed are cut from the same stalk, so this hint is good for both. Both grow on the same stalk, and growth has a direction - up! Look at the piece of reed or cane you are going to weave with, and find a hair on it. If you cannot see one readily, bend it over your finger, and one should pop up. You want to weave with the reed being pulled in the direction that has the base of the hair sliding through. Pulling against the base will encourage the hair to separate more, and you will have a more hairy or frayed basket.

Cleaning dye pans between colors

When dying several colors, it's difficult to get all the dye out of the pan when rinsing. The result is sometimes getting a color you don't want on a section of the next color you dye. The solution is getting a spray bottle of Dawn Power Dissolver and using it on your pan after you rinse it. You won't believe the hidden dye that comes out.

Neat Basket Making Tip - Pony Tail Bands

How do you secure a bundle of reed that you have re-coiled and want to put away neatly? You can borrow your daughter's pony tail band, or visit a flea market and buy packages and packages of them. They are little pieces of elastic with plastic balls on each end that you can wrap around your coil, pull one ball through, and wow! It's secured.

Making a "Collar" or Base for a Gourd or Round Bottomed Basket

If you are working on or displaying something with a round bottom that just won't sit well, you can easily make a collar to rest it on. The easiest way is to get a cardboard tube, and just cut it (I use a table or jig saw) to the length you want. Where do you get such a tube? Try a building supply store. They use them for pouring round columns of cement, and they are very cheap. For smaller tubes, try a fabric store as they sometimes roll material on tubes. Another small tube is polyurethane pipe, available at any story that sells hardware.

Twist Ties - Neat Basket Making Tips

Sometimes you want to identify a spoke for further reference, as a starting point or, in the case of a Nantucket as the ones where you will drill your handle holes. An easy way is to simply put a twist tie around the spoke. You can weave it in if you want and easily remove it later.

Another good use for twist ties is to secure the rim. I usually use clothespins to pin the rim in place, but they often get in the way of my lasher. An inexpensive way to fasten the rim on tightly is to use twist ties. They can be twisted tightly to hold everything in place, and easily removed for adjusting the rim or when finished.

Questions

Lashing in Tight Areas

Question: What do I do when I am lashing a basket, and I come to a spot (usually at a corner) where the lashing material simply won't fit in the space?

Answer: Usually, you can take an awl, insert it into the spot, and move the spokes on each side over a little, thus enlarging the hole. However, sometimes the hole simply isn't large enough. If you take a scissors or a knife and insert it into the hole, you can make a slight cut

on the spokes, just enough so that the lasher will fit into the hole.

Feet on Appalachian Baskets

Question: I am looking for some "feet" to use on egg and Appalachian baskets as I am now 75 years old with macular degeneration of the eyes causing visual disabilities. I have made and taught basketry for many years but now have to do with magnifying tools and feel and can no longer make the egg baskets which sit properly every time. My ability to "eye-ball" is gone but I still prefer these baskets and refuse to give up a craft I love so much.

Answer: I have two suggestions for putting feet on melon baskets. One is to take a wooden bead, and just attach it with #2 round reed where you need it. The second is to take a piece of 1/4" flat reed, and insert one end through the weaving where you need it, and wrap it into a circle. Make a second layer. I use this method on some of my antler baskets that don't sit right.

Curling Baskets

Question. How can I get really good looking curls on my baskets? The reed I use has hairs on it, and sometimes cracks when I pull it tight.

Answer. If you are using reed, make sure the hairy side is inside the curl. Choose your piece carefully, some pieces are thinner than others and are more supple. If you want really good curls on baskets, use black ash, curling grade. This material is so supple; you can actually curl a relatively sharp point with it. See my new pattern, porcupine points. The trick to using black ash is not to soak it. Just wet your fingers and run them over the ash, or dip it quickly, and use your fingers to "squeegee" the water off. Some maple strips also curl well and is cheaper than curling ash. Ask your supplier if their maple can be used for curling.

Where Does Reed Come From

Question: Where does reed come from?

Answer: I wrote a small article on this some time ago, and have reproduced it below.

RATTAN, CANE and REED

Cane and Reed both come from the same plant, or vine, the Rattan Palm. It grows in the rain forest areas of Southeast Asia. Much of the rattan was once imported from the Philippines, but they now use this raw material themselves, preferring to sell baskets and furniture they make from the vine. North Vietnam and Hong Kong had some of the finest reed, and were large exporters in the 80's and early 90's, but it became difficult to obtain because of politics. Now most of our rattan materials come from China.

The plant has long thin leaves, with masses of huge thorns around the vine. It will grow to the top of the jungle trees, often 150 to 200 feet high, and normally 200 to 300 feet long. Some individual plants reach more than twice that length. Like bamboo, the rattan plant has "joints" or internodes.

Natives cut the vines into 20' lengths, and pull it through a "V" slash they make in a tree or a V-shaped notch to rid the vine of it's leaves, thorns and outer bark. They then take it to a place where it is cured, fumigated (usually with sulfur) and processed into cane and reed. It is then imported into this country, and sold through many distributors, both in their stores and by mail order. It is also often available through craft stores and individuals who teach basketry and caning.

The whole rattan vine itself is often used in furniture making and basket making. The method is called wicker work, and this terminology also refers to most basket making using round weavers.

Cane, sometimes called cane peel, is the outer part of the vine, and has a hard shiny surface that is impervious to dyes. We use it most commonly in weaving the seats of chairs, called caning. But it is also used in other parts of furniture as a decorative function.

Nantucket Lightship baskets also uses caning as weavers. The sailors who originally wove the baskets had easy access to the material from the whalers who sailed to all parts of the globe.

Reed is also known as rattan core. After the caning is stripped from the plant, the inner core is then run through machines which cut the vine into several shapes: flat, which is flat on both sides; flat oval, which is flat on one side and slightly rounded on the other, round, half round; which is flat on one side and slightly rounded on the other; and oval oval, which is slightly rounded on both sides.

The earliest known wickerwork and caning was done in China, but it was in Europe (Great Britain, France and Portugal) where it flourished in the 18th century. European ingenuity soon turned caning into a fine art and caning appeared in all sorts of fine furniture.

The first wicker factory was built in Massachusetts in the 1850's, and soon they built a manual, then a power loom for the weaving of sheet or machine caning. This loom is only capable of laying the cane for the first three steps of caning; employees then stand by the machine, and finish the weaving. Because the process is so labor intensive, it is now done in factories in the Far East.

Care of your rattan products. Do not keep our rattan baskets or furniture in hot dry places, by heaters or in direct sunlight. Annually, rattan furniture and hard caning surfaces should have dirt removed with a soft brush, then oiled with a mixture of 1 part boiled linseed oil to 2 parts paint thinner or turpentine. It is recommended that you restore moisture to baskets by lightly misting reed, as dipping in water will serve to raise hairs. The bottom or porous surface of caned furniture can be sponged with warm water. This will serve to tighten the cane as it dries slowly. Painting or varnishing seals the pores in the wood, and is not recommended except for the top or shiny surface of caned furniture, and the outside of Nantucket Baskets.

Sources. Much of the material on this fact sheet comes from "The Caner's Handbook" by Bruce W. Miller and Jim Widess. It is a beautifully written, well-illustrated source for anyone interested in caning. Instructions for several methods of caning are included. Additional facts come from several years of reading about and practicing caning.
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c 1999 Patricia Yunkes, HC 1, Box 37, Cooksburg, Pa. 16217 Phone: 814-927-2249
c 2006 Patricia Yunkes, 600 Chatham Park Dr., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15220

Do You Have a Question You Want Answered?

With the help of my crystal ball, I will try to answer any question related to basket weaving. Perhaps you want to know where to obtain something, or how to do a technique. Just send your question to me, and I'll give it a try.

Ordering Information - Options

I use Pay Pal on my web pages as a secure online ordering site because after installing it, my sales increased immeasurably. All push button and shopping cart sales go through Pay Pal. If you are not comfortable using Pay Pal, you have the following options: 1. Call me with your order: 814-927-2249. 2. E-mail your order to me: patsbaskets@pennswoods.net. 3. Go to the column on the left side of any web page and click on order form. Print it out, fill it out, and put it in the mail to Patricia Baskets, 4686 Forest Rd., Cooksburg, Pa. 16217.

Support This Newsletter

Do you enjoy reading this newsletter, using the free pattern, or learning from the neat tips and techniques? Is the section on antique baskets interesting, and does the amusing story amusing to you?

Have you bought a new pattern for yourself or a friend's anniversary? I encourage you to do so. Because by buying one of my patterns, you encourage me to keep publishing the newsletter. It takes me several days to put it out, and sometimes it's very late. I apologize, but sometimes there just isn't enough time to get everything done. But I love doing the newsletter, and hope that people will support me in this endeavor. So, look over my web pages, and order a basket pattern. In advance, I thank you.

How Do I Get the Newsletter?

By signing up for it at conventions, shows, through the web page, by e-mail, or by ordering something from my web pages. If you want to order it, you can do so by sending your e-mail address to patsbaskets@pennswoods.net and asking to be put on the Newsletter mailing list. I will notify you when a new one is posted.