Louie

I took a basketry workshop today. The teacher is June Ward, a Makah Indian from Neah Bay, and she taught wrapped twining, which is a technique they used to create patterns on their baskets. Above is an example she brought. The spokes are cedar bark, the wide flat weavers are beargrass. The pattern part is the wrapped twining, which is also beargrass but thinner, with some dyed parts to create a pattern.

 June and her mother pre-wove the bases for us, so we were able to start right in with the weaving.

Got my first row of a cedar bark strip with regular twining using raffia,

and my second row of a bear grass strip. The third row is the wrapped twining - she had us use a different grass which she called chabup - slough sledge, or carex obnupta. It is much more flexible than the bear grass, which made it easier to learn the technique. She also had beargrass, and those adventuresome students who wanted to could try it. Beargrass also involves a lot of preparation before you can use it. Most of the students tried it , at least a little, except for me - I just stuck with the chabup.

I got the rim started, but haven't finished it yet, so I will have photos of the finished basket soon! It was a good class, and I am glad to finally learn this technique! Thank you, June!