Basket Case

I have been going along to basket making workshop on Saturday afternoons since the middle of January and (trumpet fanfare) here you can see the finished result. It is in a style known as un panier du Perche which is a traditional local basket made in this region from sweet chestnut wood and willow. I am currently using it to hold all of our goose eggs.

I now have another on the go and I should be able to finish that here at LPM as we have lots of materials around us. Sadly the workshop is only held in January and February so I will need to wait until next year to get some more tips on expert basket making.

I really enjoyed the course and learned a whole lot more French needless to say. There were about 18 folk in varying ages also learning this traditional skill and the mix led to many a laugh. I will look forward to next year and hope that some of my basket making colleagues from this year will return next.

The course really inspired me and I consequently ordered a few basket-making booksfrom Amazon. Sadly all but one falls short of my expectation as they give you a 'shopping list' assuming that you will buy ready-made materials. I had wanted to learn how to find and make the materials from reeds, bark etc. I ordered a lovely one about Birch and it has some fabulous projects to make from birch bark but alas doesn't tell you how to harvest the bark in the first place. I guess FranticMum will just need to go find out!