I learned to weave in elementary school: place mats and Easter baskets. I can’t remember if I have done any major projects since then. I used to braid dandelions daisies and lilacs into crowns for fun.
We got into the bulrush leaves and wove some creations. Lorrie took care of preparing them. They dried for about two weeks. Then she soaked them all day. 8 to 12 hours is what was recommended.
Examples of twilling
: On left 2×2; on right 3×3
I shot past the mark again. But I really like weaving. So I went ahead and started making a basket. I just experimented with plaiting. (Another word for the glossary. It means to pass over and under at right angles to each other).
It ended up being lopsided.
One of my classmates used a twining technique. It made maintaining the form of her basket (shown below) much more manageable.
My brother-in-law was recently injured and I was really stressed about whether he was going to survive. I wasn’t able to sit still during the other students presentations, so I just kept braiding. It was fast and mostly mindless.
It got pretty long. I thought I might coil it together into a vessel. But life happened and I didn’t get to it.
Susan also taught us how to make two-strand cord by twisting the leaves clockwise and then twining them around each other counterclockwise. Mine was really tight because I was so stressed.
I was glad to be there though. I really like weaving. I have thought a number of times about going and harvesting all the bulrush leaves before they get chopped down. I think I will make the second little pig’s house.