June 21, 2010

On May 27 & 28 I visited Carol’s house for another weaving lesson. We focused on technical details such as placement of stitches, with the goal of weaving evenly-spaced, straight stitches that will give her basket a clean, professional look. We also evaluated how Carol was prepping her sedge, which she reported was having a tendency to break when she was weaving. I recommended that she not trim it quite so thin so it will still have the strength needed for weaving her stitches without breakage.

I also needed to even out the shape of her basket start, which had become out of round since my last visit. By the time I left the following day, Carol’s basket was back on track, she was busy preparing more sedge & ready to continue on her own again. This is hard & meticulous work!

Carol Bachmann cleaning sedge material for weaving. Photo by Linda Yamane.

Though Anissa & Arianna were preparing for their last day of school the following day, they brought out their baskets to work on them for awhile. Both girls were ready to begin bringing up the walls of their baskets, so we talked about what they need to do to shape their baskets. Everything they’re doing is preparing them for the day they begin their first baskets with traditional Ohlone basketry materials. Good work, girls … and have a great summer vacation!

Left: Arianna Garibay. Right: Anissa Ashcroft. Photos by Linda Yamane.