Preview of Some Current Projects

After the big push to get the Etsy shop opened, I need to take a breath and get back on track in the other parts of my life. I've got tons of ideas for tutorials and basket patterns, just not a lot of time to get them written right now. But I do have several projects in the works, the primary one being a basket I'm designing for a friend, which will hold a box of tissues and spare rolls of TP in one of their bathrooms.

Another friend gave me a basket to repair a little while back, that belonged to her grandmother. It's a beautiful, traditional Norwegian basket of a type that I'm told used to be made by the blind, although they no longer make them in Norway, where my friend is from. I'm waiting on spring so I can stain the reed to make the repairs on the basket's handle and base.

Damage to the handle of the Norwegian basket

I've also been drafting some designs for twill baskets: one in a chevron pattern that can be scaled for use as a desk or kitchen organizer, and another in an undulating twill that will make a gorgeous tray that can be displayed on a table or hung on the wall.

I'm thinking of making the chevron basket in bright lemon yellow on a natural reed background, and debating between red and royal blue for the undulating twill tray. The bathroom basket I'm designing will have teal accents, and I've also been waiting for an opportunity to finish dying the reed for a colorful Southwestern-inspired tray (yet another project in the pipeline!).

Dye I've been dying to use for a while now...

Finally, I've already got the reed prepped for a pair of wall baskets in the Choctaw tradition, which will be two different sizes and colors (a larger one in dark green and a smaller one in burgundy). Once I get these woven, I'll stain them in a light golden oak, the color of my cracker basket.

Hopefully I'll have some time in the next week or so to finish the Choctaw baskets and dye the reed for my other projects. Stay tuned to see how they all turn out!