I am adding something new to my crafting repertoire! I took a basket weaving class over the weekend and made my very first basket!
It was really very slick and somewhat intense. My local Botanical Garden is offering all sorts of adult education classes and the basket weaving caught my eye (I would also like to learn fabric dyeing if I can squeeze it in). I didn't exactly expect that I would complete a whole basket in the afternoon session.
We started at noontime (notice I was sitting by a window and you can see how the sun/shadow moved over the course of the day!). A little over 5-1/2 hours later I was putting the final touches on the top.
And voila, I brought home a completed (save for the little 'herbs' tin plate that can be attached) basket. I think it turned out pretty good for a first attempt. Of course now that I know how the whole process works, I can see all kinds of things I would do differently the next time. Centering the handle and making sure the right side of the reed is facing in or out and tension, why is it always so complicated to get tension just right?
What I like about this is the 'instant' gratification. Granted it took almost six hours of focused work to complete the basket but it is nice to walk away from a class with a completed basket. Now I am inspired to do more. I hope to take another class in the fall and will be perusing basket weaving books, which I have already started requesting from the library.