It feels a wee bit cheeky calling this a ‘basket’ as it follows none of the traditional conventions of basketry… There’s nothing neat, structured nor particularly repeatable about it. As I’m notoriously rubbish at sticking to a set recipe or pattern, this really shouldn’t come as a surprise!

I’ve been hankering after a spot of weaving following my dabble with dried dandelions and had some still-pliable stems left over from my Woven Willow Wattles.

I had no particular plan in mind, but followed the organic nature of things that seem to suit my sensibilities. ‘Free form’ I’m told!

Pulling one stem through at an early stage in the game, it got caught, forming a loop.

A leg!

I made a few more, and thus, my basket became upstanding!

At some point, I’ve since forgotten the moment when, a handle seemed the ideal addition, and another loop sprang into action!

With the bare bones complete, the basket looks more nest-like than basquette!

And once ‘fleshed out’, it hasn’t lost it’s character – toy pushchair?

All said and done, I begin to wonder about its purpose…

 

Veg basket?

Egg Basket?

Toy Basket?

…or maybe even hanging basket!

Still unconvinced that it’s purpose is yet known, it is currently home to this herd of curlews!

Spot the cuckoo?!

As a precursor to my woven willow basket, but following my willow wattles, I read up a wee bit about using dried dandelions… Their first flush is pretty past the picking stage now (if you can find them at all), but we’d cycled past a phenomenal patch of clocks a few weeks ago. And noted the spot – a verge beside a busy road (which was blissfully quiet due to the lockdown).

Though I’ve epically failed to evidence it in this shot,

I’d never seen longer stemmed dandelions!

Their clocks had flown, so they were perfect for picking.

Hot sunny days on end were the ideal environment for drying the stems, which seemed to accentuate their pinky-purplish hue. Though I lost some through crispiness, most were still flexible. I used cherry suckers (which sounds like a good title for something) for the structure. I like the contrast of pink and green, though not sure how long it will last.

And the basket itself is really just decorative – unlike proper, functional baskets of old, as listed on the Woven Communities in Scotland site!

Incidentally, ethnobotanist Jennie Martin suggests that you can eat dandelion seeds – something we hadn’t tried before. I’ve tried all other parts of dandelion, preferring the polleny flowers to the taste of the anti-nail-biting, face-screwing milk, but can attest to their ‘diuretic benefits’… As a child, my friends and I would make special ‘potions’ with dandelion, daisy, beech and hawthorn.
It’s quite likely we won’t try the seeds again, though they have a good (if tiny) ‘crunch’.

A wee while ago, Malcolm gallantly helped me to collect lengthy bramble stems, as I had a notion of weaving something useful with them. Unfortunately I didn’t get beyond the ‘thinking about removing the jaggy bits’ stage! I’m keen to try making cordage with nettles, as I’ve known for a long time about their fibrous strength (and love their leaves for eating!). Watch this space…