How To Prepare Willow For Basket Weaving

Drying and Rehydration Of Willow

Willows must be stored in a dry place or they will become mildewed. For the same reason, any watered material left over from a particular job should be thoroughly dried before being stored away.  Before beginning work a rough estimate should be formed of the material likely to be used within the next two days.  Then that amount only should be soaked in water, which is used to , render them sufficiently pliable to be worked with.

Brown rods should be left under water for between two and ten days days, depending on the type of willow.   They should then be allowed to lie under a damp cloth for another day to get mellow. In common with white and buff rods, they will remain covered till needed for immediate use.

White and buff rods require only from a quarter-of-an-hour to one hour under water.  The time varying according to the size and hardness of the rods. Boiling may be resorted to in the case of brown, but not buff or white, for which cold water is used.  After removal from water the white or buff rods should lie for at least an hour under the cloth before being used.

During their use you will find that white and buff rods quickly dry and it will be necessary from time to time to dip the unfinished part of the work in water, or use a sponge or small piece of cloth to swab it occasionally.  It is quite unnecessary to work with wet hands or material, and after applying water, the hands should be wiped and the rods allowed to drain before work is resumed.

Basket Weaving Techniques : The God’s Eye Knot

The God’s Eye

The God’s Eye knot is used in basket weaving to join a pair of sticks or hoops together.

In this weaving tutorial, Irish basket weaver Brendan Farren demonstrates the God’s Eye knot being used in the construction of an Egg Shaped Frame Basket.

Methods Of Willow Basket Weaving

As a basket maker your most essential tool is your hands and specifically your left thumb. Ordinarily, the majority of weaving is performed from left to right, the right hand manipulating the rod which is being worked, and the left hand following up with the thumb in front and the forefinger at the back or inside of basket.

The exception to this rule is when we are weaving rectangular bottoms and lids and sometimes in the sides of baskets, e.g., baskets with band holes and dog baskets which have an opening in side, work is done from right to left, in which case the positions of the hands are reversed.

Particular attention should be taken to the importance of using correct pressure with your thumb when placing the rod in position and holding it firmly against the stick or stake while it is being woven to the front or back . It is incorrect to work the stroke loosely and then by pushing and pulling to attempt to tighten it afterwards, as it will have been kinked in the wrong place. When a kink is formed, the rod permanently loses its resiliency in the part that has been kinked.

The methods of weaving covered in this website are Pairing, Randing, Slewing and the Three Rod Wale.These are the most common methods used in willow basketry and as this book is intended to get you started on your weaving journey as quickly as possible,we will not cover any of the other advanced techniques in detail.

It is strongly recommended that you practice these techniques by following the video links included,to facilitate your learning and creativity.Basket weaving cannot be learnt from a book alone and the videos are designed to provide you with a learning experience akin to attending a live weaving class.

Basket Weaving Techniques : Three Rod Wale

Three Rod Wale

Waling is worked on the same principle as pairing, and is always begun with tops. It should always finish with the tops also, as to finish with butts would be likely to leave an unsightly gap.

To begin a wale in the sides of a basket, lay in the required number of rods in adjoining spaces.  Take the left-hand rod, carry it over the others, behind the stake against the front of which the right-hand rod lies, and out to the front again.

This stroke is repeated throughout the waling, taking the left-hand rod each time. When the butts of the rods have been reached, new butts are inserted close alongside the old ones, the latter being left on outside and the new ones on inside of work.

Basket Weaving Techniques : Slewing

Slewing

Slewing consists of working two or more rods together one above the other, before and behind alternate stakes.

Slewing is worked continuously round and round the sides of basket, and an odd number of stakes is necessary. Two rod slewing is begun with a single rod in the same way as for randing, and when this rod has been worked for half its length, a second rod is laid in above it, and the two worked together.

When the lower rod runs out, its top is left on the outside of the basket, and a third butt is laid in above the other rod,between the same two stakes, to make up the two again. In a similar way a fourth butt is laid in when the second runs out, and so on.

Three-rod slewing is begun in the same way, but a second butt is added when about one-third of the first rod has been worked, and a third rod when about two-thirds of the first has been worked. This gives the three rods.

Basket Weaving Techniques : Pairing

Pairing

Pairing is used mainly in round and oval bottoms. It is not suitable for siding, but it is sometimes used in place of a top wale. Pairing is carried out by taking the left-hand rod of the two over the other, behind the stake, and to the front again, repeating this with each rod alternately.

Basket Weaving Techniques : Randing & French Randing

Randing

Randing is begun by laying the butt of a randing-rod between two stakes so that it rests against the left hand one on the inside, about half-an-inch being left to be cut off later.

The left thumb is now used to hold the rod in position against the front of the right-hand stake.The rod is grasped by the right hand in a manner similar to that used in holding a pencil, and at a point about 2inches from the right-hand stake. 

Now, still retaining the pressure with the left thumb, lift the rod and pass it between the two stakes, pushing it round the back of the next stake with the right thumb, and catching it and bringing it to the front again on the other side of this stake with the forefinger.

When the first rod has been worked to within an inch or so of its top, which is left outside, a second rod is laid in,not where the first finished, but in the next space to that in which the first butt was laid. In other words, the second butt will rest against the next stake to the right of that against which the first butt rests, on the inside of basket as before.

The top of the second rod will finish against the next stake to the right of that, against which the top of the first rod finished, and so with each new rod.

French Randing

French Randing has a more pleasing and regular appearance than ordinary randing, but is more difficult, regarding bringing the basket out to the correct size.

The method of starting the randing rods is entirely different from that used in ordinary randing, all the butts being at the bottom of the rand (it is sometimes started with tops, but the principle employed is the same in both cases).

This is accomplished by laying the first butt behind a stake and carrying it in front of the next and behind the next as in ordinary randing. The second butt is now laid in to the left of the first, worked one stroke, and then dropped like the first, and all the other butts are started in a similar way, each being worked one stroke and then dropped, the first one being lifted to allow the last one to be put in.

The work is now continued by working a rod one (or two) strokes, dropping it, working the one on the left one stroke, dropping that, and so on, randing to the right, but working to the left in picking up each successive rod. This is continued until the tops of the rods have been worked out.

If the depth of the particular basket will allow, a second French rand may be worked, or the remainder of sides completed with ordinary randing. It is more usual, however, not to mix the two kinds.