Taming Wild Horses

I once heard a basketweaver describing a basket she was making was like “taming a wild horse.”  That's how I have felt with my cap in this process of turning the top down to move into the body.  My teacher tells me you have to be the “boss” of your sticks and let them know what you want them to do.  Through experience one learns how to control and manage the sticks by applying just the right amount of pressure and pull without breaking the sticks, weavers and overlay material.  It is a delicate balancing act, with many trial and errors and mistakes.

 

I tore an entire row out (hours of weaving) so my teacher could help me tame my basket.  She helped me rein it in, turning the sticks down to form the body of the cap.  I learned so much today by watching my teacher with her years of basketweaving experience.

My beautiful teacher with the beatiful rosebud plant

outside our classroom.

 

I'm beginning to turn my cap down.

 

Completed the top of my cap

I finished the pattern to the top of my cap, which represents our “childhood” years.  At this part of the cap where it will now start to turn down, a stick is added which goes around the circumference of the cap.  It’s then wrapped with an overlay material.  I have chosen to wrap a willow stick with bear grass.  This technique adds strength to the basket as well as a 3-dimensional depth in the pattern.  I was very excited to get to this point in my cap, as now I’m moving into the next phase or a new section of my cap that traditionally represents adulthood.

 

Following are pictures of my progress.

 

This is the completed pattern for the top of the cap.

 

Adding and wrapping the "divider" stick, which

adds strength before turning the cap down.