Читать книгу Basket Essentials: Rib Basket Weaving - Lora S. Irish - Страница 13

Every craft has its own special vocabulary. Because basketry is a folk art handed down from one generation to the next, each region seems to have its own terms for the structural framework of its baskets, basket shapes, and weaving patterns. For example, the weaving pattern that locks the handle hoop to the rim hoop can be called an ear, an eye, or a knot.

Let’s take a quick look at the basic terms used in rib basket construction and how you can apply them in working your own unique designs. Many of these terms are used in other kinds of basket making as well, although some are specific to the rib baskets this book focuses on. Make sure you take a good look at this list of terms before diving further into the book, to avoid confusion later! The terms are presented in a logical order rather than in alphabetical order both to help you understand them and to serve as an introduction to how rib baskets are constructed.

hoop: a continuous circle, oval, or other shape made of wood (or sometimes another material) that is used to form the handle, the rim, and often the spine of a rib basket.

handle: the upper portion of the center vertical hoop.

rim handle: an open, unwoven area along the rim hoop that creates a space for a full hand grip.

rim/rim hoop: the hoop that sits horizontally and acts as the rim/opening of the basket. The spokes are attached to the rim with weaving.

spoke/rib: a foundational piece of a rib basket that is typically attached at both ends to the rim at the site of the ear/knot anchoring the handle and rim together. Multiple spokes/ribs plus the rim and handle form the essential “skeleton” of the basket, before weavers are added. Throughout this book, we’ll use the term “spoke” rather than “rib” to refer to additional pieces that are inserted into the ear/eye (but both terms are accurate!).

spine/central spoke: the spoke or bottom portion of the handle hoop that is placed at a 90-degree angle to the rim, going from one side of the rim all the way to the very bottom of the basket and back up to the opposite side of the rim. Often the handle and spine are made of a single hoop, but the spine can also be made from a separate single spoke in a basket that doesn’t have a standard handle.

weaver: any piece, such as a reed, raffia, or a wood splint, that is woven horizontally around the basket spokes or other parts of the basket. Weavers are what are most obviously visible when you look at a basket, whereas spokes tend to be somewhat hidden.

weaving: adding weavers to the skeleton of a basket in any of a variety of patterns by feeding the weavers over and under the spokes of the basket.

reed: a weaving and basketry material that is made from rattan, a large group of species of thorny, vine-like palms. It is cut in long strips from the stems of the plant and dried.

row: a single weaver (or set of weavers as a unit) woven from rim to rim or from the starting and ending point of short rows.

short row: a row of weaving that does not go from rim to rim all the way around the basket one time, instead only incorporating some of the basket spokes. Short rows are used to compensate for the changing circumference of a basket as the spokes increase or decrease in size.

packing: pushing weavers together to make them lie tightly against the previous rows of weavers.

splicing: adding a new weaver to an existing weaver that is too short to finish the desired row.

ear/eye/knot: the lashing that securely connects the rim hoop to the handle hoop or the rim hoop to the spine of the basket frame. There are a variety of ear, eye, and knot weaving patterns that can be interchanged to create new basket designs.

half God’s Eye knot: a common knot used to bind the handle to the rim (forming an ear) or used in combination with a smaller eye/ear pattern to create the weaving that will anchor the spokes. It looks like a half circle or fan, facing down on the body of the basket where the handle meets the rim.

God’s Eye knot: another common knot used to bind the handle to the rim (forming an ear). It looks like a full circle on the body and handle of the basket where the handle meets the rim. A large God’s Eye knot creates the weaving that will anchor the spokes.