The Basket Persy Made

One of my "sometime" hobbies is making baskets. Ten months ago I ordered materials for making a mini bread basket. They came in a small box about 9" by 4". I put the box aside as I was busy with other projects at the time. Since it was January and grape vine pruning time, that may have been my preoccupation. Frequently I would move the box to a new spot and even onto the sun room which is not used in the colder months. I really wanted to get to it but other things ruled the day. Eventually I decided it was time to look inside the box. I discovered that everything was in order and began to read the directions. Well this will be a breeze I thought. So, I set it aside again and thought it would be so easy I would get to it another day. Months later I picked it up again.

There was nothing to deter me so I decided to just make this plain little bread basket. After all it was just simple weaving. After a few days I decided to put up a card table as it was not going as well as I had planned. This was taking longer than I expected. and I needed to set aside a special space to keep the work handy. Actually, I honestly believe the directions were incorrect. The directions had pictures along with each segment but the pictures always excluded the big problem I was having. Finally I just replaced two of the weavers that I had been told to split and turn under. It went much better after I did it my way.

The next big problem appeared when I really did not read and follow the directions. Such a simple deletion, but it threw things way off. More reverse weaving and a new start was in order. This went on for several weeks. I would put it aside when I felt tired as I wanted to enjoy the project.
Eventually, I got to the rims of the basket and the small handles at each end. I had given up on perfection and just wanted to get the thing done!! So, now it is and I never again want to use these directions to make a basket.
However, I do have another box of basket making materials that I have set aside , unopened, on the floor of a closet. The directions for the next one I have in mind is in a basket book I have used over the years. This one is called Amy's Basket and can be made in several sizes. I will need help I feel sure, for I could not have ever finished this little bread basket without the help of Persy. Who is Persy you may ask, well that is what I asked my husband after he told me that Persy had helped him finish a difficult task. His answer was Persy Verance. It is amazing how much Percy has helped me finish chores over the years. Things like painting the outside of my house. I did that in Maryland and again here in Georgia. Somehow it seems to help to know I am not doing it alone, but have Percy beside me. And sometimes he even talks to me!!

Happenstance

Yesterday was a wasted day. My sister and I opened a box containing all the materials needed for making two potato baskets. We had the instructions for making said basket having made some years ago. However, the hoops I ordered for these for today were 20 inch ovals and not 10 inch rounds which the directions were written for. But in my usual fashion, I thought we could still make them so after a day of weaving and taking out weaving and trying to change the formula for cutting ribs we simple said "it ain't gonna work" and dropped it all. She had wanted to make them so much and that is why I had ordered the materials in the first place.

After sleeping on it last night, I remembered I had one egg basket which I had started years ago and for some reason had abandoned it along with all of the materials for finishing it. So, I thought she might want to finish it. But our day got side tracked with us trying to find some Stuart Nye jewelry online. I simply could not get the site to accept the information we had to put in. Another road block in our search for something she wanted. She was not feeling well, so I thought I would just finish this other basket for her and mail it to her when she got back home in Ohio.

I had to give it a test run so I soaked the part of the basket I would be working on, the part called the "ear", in some warm water and also the weavers I would be using. At first it was a bit tight, but I kept at it and used a small screw driver in place of an awl used it to make it extra tight as I went along. Pretty soon I had gone down six rows of weaving and it was looking pretty good. I switched to the other side and did six rows and then I knew it was a keeper ! I may not finish it before she leaves but it has really sparked an interest I have always had in baskets and I find myself thinking about what I might make next.

In the afternoon, my sister wanted to look at some old family pictures so we went up
onto the balcony room and I found a large cloth tote filled with old pictures. We had a great time looking at old family photos. I reached for one zip lock bag to see what was in it and I was so surprised to find a lot of letters written to me by my husband way back in 1948 before we were married. I did not even know that I had those letters. It was the summer before we went back to school in Richmond,Ky. We both had one quarter to finish to graduate. I read a few of them and not wanting to keep my sister from viewing the other pictures I put them away and I will return to them at my leisure.

When I get up each day it is like a whole new adventure for me. I never know where it will lead me.When I greeted this day I certainly did not know it would take me into the past, for an unfinished basket or for some long lost letters.