Basket weaving with Willow - photo by Rowena Blair
Many years ago, when my hands did not shake as much as they do now, one of my favorite hobbies was to make small wicker baskets and I used to sell them for special occasions like Christmas, Easter or other happenings. It was very difficult for me to make these baskets not only because I did not see, but above all because I already started having an ON and OFF shaking and I had little sensitivity in my fingers. So, this made everything more complicated and required a greater effort to do simple things like weaving. Let’s get on with this story, I will try to remember the events as they happened, that taught me a lesson.
The procedure was that I first put the long branches of a weeping willow tree, in the sun shine so as to get well seasoned and when I wanted to use them I had to first soak the wood in a bathtub the whole night, in the morning the wooden strands could be bent without breaking and ready for weaving. In this way I made small baskets, some I got painted red and others green and they all had golden finishing touches that is a gold handle and a gold base. Everyone said that they look very cute.
I then half filled them with white straw and put a few small chocolates on it, then I wrapped the basket with transparent paper and closed it with a big red bow on the top of the handle, these were especially made for lovers’ day, which falls on 14th February, Saint Valentine’s day.
It was custom to give these chocolates to every woman to show them our appreciation and love. So, as things go, an old lady from my local church saw my baskets, she immediately ordered twenty. The problem was that she wanted them all the same size and I realized that I could not get two baskets to look alike, no matter what I did to them. I put them in water upside down, with weights on top and many other things to try and get them to look the same, but to no avail. They just came out different. Nevertheless they were in any case very beautiful and when the lady came back to collect her order she was not at all disappointed. She bought them all and said she would send her friends who would also order my baskets. The hairs on my neck stood up straight and a shiver went down my spine.
The effort I put into making these baskets was priceless. The work required great skill and patience, sometimes I had to undo the whole basket which had taken several hours of work and sweat. So I understood that no price could ever compensate the passion and the effort that only making one of these baskets required.
If ever I should make baskets again, I would make them only for pleasure and not to sell, that is because I think that something belonging to the sphere of art, if made to sell, doesn’t ever come out as well as if made only for passion and pleasure.
I hope to be able in the future to do this activity again, but I will only give my baskets as gifts to my friends as a token of my love for them.
About Mauro
I got my inspiration for this website from the song called “Imagine”, and so I decided to go on this adventure. I have always wanted to put up something like this where my friends and I could express our memories and dreams for the future. Share them with us, because if many people dream the same dream it will certainly come true.
Wow! I didn’t know you used to weave baskets! They sound beautiful!
Wow! Can just imagine the amount of work you put in. And yes one can’t really put a price on something you’ve done with passion and effort. Do you still have one around somewhere with a chocolate or two?