I mentioned in the last post, Three Men and a Plane, that Erich and his co-pilot Kyle returned the next morning to help Granny make basket handles while they awaited their plane's repair.
Here's Erich and Granny getting started bending the long strips of wood that had been soaking--and hopefully becoming pliable--in a large trash can of water. After measuring how long each strip should be to make certain baskets, Erich bent and stapled each handle together per Granny's instructions:Some of the work was trial and error while other handles went together a bit easier:
Erich really worked hard all morning and made 22 handles by lunchtime:
Kyle helped while Granny sat and rested just a bit:
Let's take a break and feed these hungry guys some lunch and have Granny lie down awhile before teaching a basket class in the afternoon.
Okay...rest time is over and down in the basket shed Granny gets to work showing Erich how to lay out the strips to make the bottom of a "Granny" basket. Yes, that's what it's called...really!
Below, he's woven a couple of inches, and it's looking more like a basket! Good job!
Time to lace up the top of the basket...and sometimes your mouth becomes a third hand to hold your weaving strips. He definitely learned this trick from Granny:
And when you're all done...you put your name on the bottom of the basket with the year you made it and pose with the basket teacher!
Erich wanted to leave his basket the natural color rather than dipping it in Granny's barrel of walnut stain. He'll take his very own handmade basket back home to Texas. A great day's work!
And while Erich was busy making a basket, Kyle was looking over all Granny's baskets she's made to sell at Dayton Days this weekend. He purchased one to take back home to Ohio that he picked out from this group:
And there are more here:
This week we'll be busy with last minute details getting ready for Saturday's show. If you see anything here you like, just let us know....or stop by to see us in Dayton!
~Deb
