120 Honeysuckle Rib Basket

Description

This medium sized rib basket is woven with vines and shoots that make it very sturdy.  The Willows are harvested by “coppicing”, where one-year shoots are cut back to the ground each winter.  This method produces longer and more flexible shoots as the plant grows older each year.  The God’s Eyes are the white diamond-shaped designs at the intersection of the two rings, which function as anchors for the ribs.  These are made with Honeysuckle vines that have been boiled for two hours and peeled.  The shiny green cordage is made with Rattlesnake Master leaves.  These plants are tall-grass prairie natives that were once commonly found in Missouri.  The leaves are hand twisted into 2-ply cordage and used as weavers.  The Daylily cordage is hand twisted using the leaves of the common garden varieties.  Akebia is a Japanese vine that is also known as Chocolate Vine or Five-leaf Akebia, and makes a very flexible weaver.  All the materials for this basket were gathered and prepared entirely by hand, from the standing trees to the finished basket.