Let's weave!

At the beginning of November we went to Nirvana to do a natural fibre weaving course. As there is a lot of natural weaving material to be found around our place, we were eager to learn which fibres we could use, and how to weave baskets, fences, etc.

It was great fun and we were fired up to gather our own materials and use them in some weaving magic.

We weren't able to finish our baskets on that day. That had been nagging at me, though. So, a few days ago I cut back our watsonia (great weaving material!) and dried the leaves.

A stinking hot day was forecast for today so I decided that would be a perfect day for staying inside and finishing our baskets.

Gather the dried watsonia leaves the day before you want to do some weaving, bung them in the bath tub, soak. I read that they were to be soaked for only 5 minutes, but I left them in longer (about 15 minutes). However, I could have left them in there a lot longer as they were still a bit too brittle for my taste the next morning. I kept spraying them with water and re-wrapping the leaves.

Anyway, after their bath, wrap them in a towel overnight.

The next morning, grab a comfy chair and the leaves wrapped in towels.

Get out your basket and start weaving.
Here we are! First one done! I love the different colours of the watsonia leaves.
Different view. (Can you tell that I am really proud of the finished product?)

The interesting thing about watsonia leaves is that when you cut the green leaves off, they will dry to a green colour. If you let them dry on the plant, they turn a magnificent mahogany-ish colour.

Then on to Flower Gnome's basket.

*phew* Done!
What an enjoyable afternoon! It is very satisfying to create something with your own hands from material gathered from your garden.