I often get asked about what the best willow varieties are. I really can never give a straight answer to that. Willow will grow different in every location, depending on climate, weather conditions and soil composition. My advice is to start growing a wide range of varieties for a few years and try them out …
This is another fun project. You can make these baskets in any size. They are handy because they are an easy and nice way to store a variety of things. From vegetables in the kitchen, to little bits and bobs in the bathroom. This basket it started by weaving the base as usual, then the …
Basket making is one of the oldest crafts. People have been weaving vessels for collecting, storing and transporting goods and food for thousands of years. I have been fascinated with basket making for more then 15 years now. I work in particular with willow, an easily grown material here in Ireland, Northern Europe. It grows …
How to weave a basket? Basket making for beginners. Read More »
Weaving can be done with materials other then willow off course even though willow is easier to work with on many levels. But sometimes it can still be fun to use different textures and try out what else is available in your local area. In this video I weave a simple Catalan platter from wild …
How to make a Catalan tray from foraged materials Read More »
Some autumn snippets, thoughts and musings on making, slowing down and letting the willow guide what I make. I also explain what the willow disease, mentioned in the previous video, is and how I will handle it from now on.
It all started about 5 years ago when we brought willow home from a friend with strange looking black nodules on it. I had never seen it before and did not make much of it. It looked quite harmless, a little like a gall. That next year I noticed some on our own willow as …
This summer I was inspired by our berry bounty to make a small berry basket. I have made a video tutorial for you so you can make one too. This explains each step in the process.
Would you like to have a look at how we grow our willow? This video shows you our different willow beds. We have some on terraces, planted through a membrane. Some in deeper beds with no weed suppressor, and more in the vegetable garden.
Watch me crank a willow rod, twisting the fibres until it is as flexible as a rope, and make it into a handle.