Basket Weaving - Facts about Twining

Twining--A basketry technique using two or more sets of elements in which one set encircles the other.

Did you know that the first use of 'twining' was probably to hold twigs and sticks together to construct shelter walls?

Twining has also been used in ancient times by people as they spaced out twined rows to make traps and fish nets. They spaced their twined rows closer together to make lightweight baskets.

Stiff twining materials include: reed, rattan, cane, ropes, stiff grasses and stems of plants.

Flexible materials for twining include: cords, twine, jute and yarn among others.

I use twining on most every basket. On round or oval baskets I use twining to form the base. On square or rectangular baskets I use twining to stabilize the base and this keeps the base's shape. On some baskets, I will use twining on the sides for an interesting visual element.

You can begin by crimping one piece of material on itself and twining with just that one piece. You may also twine with two pieces of similar elements. An interesting technique is to use two pieces of the same size reed but have they dyed different colors and twining with the two colors. This is very pretty.

Enjoy twining and Happy Basket Weaving,

Nancy