Merry Christmas and a little about 2011

Dear Friends,
A very Merry and Blessed Christmas to each of you.
It is my hopes and prayers that 2011 treats all of you with good health and many joyous days.

You've noticed, I'm sure, that this blog has quieted down.  It is my fault as both my time and interests have been pulled in other directions.  I hope you understand.

I'll be taking a hiatus from this blog for a while posting only when I find something pressing or worth your time to read.

This blog will remain open and I do read each and every comment.  You can always e-mail me anytime.

Like I said, I'll post from time to time so I hope you do pop in once in a while to see what is going on and to say hello.


Thank you for all the wonderful e-mails you have sent me and for those of you who have sent pictures of your baskets, thank you as I have loved seeing your work.  You can e-mail me a picture any time and know that I'm cheering you on.

My life at this time is full, blessed and busy.  It is good.  I'm keeping the household running as smoothly as possible.  Please continue to keep our sweet Emily in your prayers.  If your church has a prayer chain, I would truly appreciate it if you would add her name to your list.  She is a good kiddo and manages to babysit, work a few hours a week at a concession stand and attend school with good grades.  She does this all in pain and it is very discouraging for her at times as she doesn't see an end in site.  We're pursuing with treatment through a pediatric infectious disease specialist but it is soooooo sloooowwww.  They question is it really Lyme's disease.  It puts us back at square one for a while as they do more testing, but God is great and I know he has big plans for that little girl.  I often wake up in the middle of the night and pray for hours for her and all who are suffering.  Even so, life is good and precious.  God bless you for remembering her.  Our other children are fine and busy with activities.  Mike has a good job so we have much to be thankful for.

Be sure to take some time with your family and remember the real reason for the season that Jesus our Savior came to earth to wash away our sins so that we may have life everlasting in His holy presence. 

Merry Christmas,
With love and blessings to each of you,
Nancy

Basket Weaving Tip - Balancing the Weight of your Basket

Good morning Friends,
In watching my YouTube videos you have heard me say as you weave each row, rotate your basket approximately 90 degrees when you start the next row.  This is with basic start-and-stop weaving (not continuous weaving).  The reason I say as you begin to weave the next row to give your basket a 90 degree turn is to do the starting and stopping in various areas of the basket, not all in the same area.  The location where you start-and-stop adds just a bit more weight to a basket and can add a very tiniest of bulge with the extra thickness of reed.  Your basket will sit better if the weight of the reed is distributed around all sides of the basket. 

There is one exception to the rule-of-thumb above.  When you are weaving a wall basket, you may do all you start-and-stops on the back side of the basket.  This way, the front side of your basket will be perfectly flat and pretty.  Any extra weight or even slight bulge will never be noticed on the back side of your basket.

One final note...As you do your rim, on the inside and outside of your basket, do make sure the overlap is in two different areas of your basket.  I usually place my overlap on opposite sides of the basket again to balance the weight and look.  If I know one side of my basket will be facing outward where most people will view it, I do not place the outside overlap on the viewing side of the basket.

In the photo above, where I have my arrows, is where I've overlapped the rim.  As you look at this basket head on like this, you do not notice the overlaps, as both the inside and the outside pieces of rim overlap in the direction to the BACK side of the basket.  This way, you do not see the cut end of my reed which happens to be 1/2" flat/oval.
This is just one more simple basket weaving technique to give your basket that high quality you're after vs. one that is rapidly mass produced.
One more thing.  This is my Kitchen Counter Basket and I have the free pattern for you HERE.
Happy Weaving Everyone,
Nancy