Two Pine-Needle Baskets

Day 257: Pine-needle basketry is not easy on the fingers, so it's been slow going. I have yet to make the lids for these two (or at least for the taller one). They are both 3.5" in diameter and are worked in fern stitch (aka V stitch or wing stitch) except for wheat stitch on the base. Fern stitch is simply wheat stitch with a second diagonal stitch travelling the opposite direction. It's been twenty years or more since I did any pine-needle work, and my hands are not as strong as they used to be, but almost every day I put on a row or two. In between sessions, I wrap the pine needles in a damp towel and put them in the fridge to keep them supple.

A Proper Basket Base

Day 243: Recently, I decided to pick up pine-needle basketry again, a craft I have not done for at least 25 years. I didn't have the proper thread to use for the stitchery, and the gauge I had cut from an old ball-point pen was really rather larger than I wanted. I made a 5" trivet using 8/4 cotton rug warp, and while it was good to have the practice, it is by no means a thing of any beauty. I ordered some waxed polyester thread and then began searching the house for anything I could use for a smaller gauge. The gauge is used to control the diameter of the coils. As the weaver reaches the end of one bundle of pine needles and the gauge begins to feel loose, more needles are inserted until the gauge is snug. The ends of the needles are concealed in the center of the coil as work progresses around. Any stray points can be clipped off when the basket is finished (and there will be a few). The pen I had cut to make my first gauge had an internal diameter of 6 mm. I wanted to reduce that by 1-2 mm. I must have tipped out the contents of every drawer in the house in search of suitable gauge material before a liquid-soap dispenser caught my eye. The tube on the pump had an internal diameter of 4 mm, perfect for the job. The stitches I have used in this flat basket base start with plain wrap to form the center, followed by several rows of split stitch. After a few rounds, I switched to V-stitch. The outer round shown here is an increase row with new V-stitches being added between those of the previous round. I will continue working V-stitch until the base is as wide as I want, and then as the edges of the basket are brought up, I will change to the decorative three-pronged fern stitch which is so characteristic to pine-needle basketry.

A Fragrant Craft

Day 237: The last time I did any pine-needle basketry, the internet had not yet come to this area. There was no Amazon, no Etsy, and I was working with a small handful of needles I'd gathered during a trip to Eastern Washington. I'd only picked up enough to make a coaster-sized disk before I was forced into retirement by lack of supplies. Recently, I found a source for Loblolly needles, about three times the length of anything growing in Washington. I thought, "Well, why not?" and ordered a one-pound bundle. I'm a bit out of practice, but I haven't forgotten the principles. What did slip my mind was how delightfully fragrant this craft can be. After soaking in hot water for half an hour, the needles become quite pliable. I prefer to make a wrapped center as a base for the stitching, which here is cotton rug warp. It's not the material I would have preferred, but I had it on hand. In the future, I'll use waxed polyester cord or synthetic raffia for durability. When making pine-needle baskets, it's advisable to employ some kind of gauge to keep the coils uniform. In this case, I'm using a 1.5" long section cut from a ball-point pen. The diameter is very close to that of a soda straw and a good size for this project. By now it should be obvious to my readers that getting started in pine-needle basketry requires very little outlay, and if you have a pine tree nearby, you can probably start without spending a dime. You only need pine needles, a sharp, large sewing needle, some cord or twine and a gauge, and you can have the scent of Christmas in your home at any time of year.