I am fortunate to encounter a number of very skilled people with a great deal to share. As a result, I find myself attending a variety of workshops/classes to try to increase my bushcraft skills. It seems my goal in life is to do a lot of things badly. 🙂
I recently attended a workshop in pine needle basketry. This seemed appropriate for the season, as many pines are losing their needles. It is also a resource that many of us can find, even in urban areas. Canary Island Pines are planted in my area as a landscape plant. Palms with pinnate leaves make great weavers, and are also common landscape plants.
Pine needles are not a great material for basketry. My understanding is that most native peoples used other materials. Pine needle baskets were made in Southern California and in the Southeast US. The basket is made by coiling a bundle of pine needles. The weaver is threaded around the outer coil and sewn through the inner coil. This is done by threading the weaver through a hole poked in the inner coil with an awl. New pine needles are inserted into the end of the coil to keep the bundle a consistent size, or taper as desired.
Below is my poor attempt at a basket. It is only about the size of a large coaster. But in the limited workshop time I wanted to start one, practice stitching, and learn how to end one. You can see in the picture several places where needles protrude from the coils. This is because I inserted the new needles on the side of the bundle instead of in the center. Inserting them in the center keeps this from happening. I kept the size of the bundle consistent by keeping a short 1/4″ tube threaded on the end of the coil. I inserted needles to keep the tube full at all times. This was an easy way to keep the coils sized consistently.
Has anyone ever tried this before? Anyone have pictures of their work? What materials do you use? Any tips or tricks to help us beginners?
Originally posted: 9/9/12
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