Weaving is Weaving.

Doesn't it stand to reason that if you can weave a basket you can weave wicker? It's the same thing only different materials. Therefore the basketmaker in this shop weaves his own furniture as well as the baskets. Maybe he even takes special orders for custom furniture from time to time.

Anyway, this morning I went to my wicker supplies with the urge to make a planter to go in the basket shop. Look what I found! I have a chair, some tables and a couple of plant stands already mostly made. The basket maker has been busy, but not finishing things. True to form isn't it?

I decided that I wanted an old looking plant stand so of course I started another piece. It is second from the left with the green ribs. It will be the same color as the table behind it.

The thread is some that I dyed years ago when I was doing custom stuff for Pam Throop. The color is called Khaki and I am not even sure if Rit still makes it. I have just enough left of that particular ball to make the plant stand.

This is basically all you need to do miniature wicker. I have white glue, #28 covered wire for the ribs and #18 covered wire for the legs. There is also a piece of 3/32" walnut cut for the bottom of the planter. I didn't put the pin vice in the photo. I usually use a mini mite or the pin vice with the two different sized bits to drill the holes. Larger holes go in the corners and an odd number of smaller holes go around the edge of the board.

Then I spend a lot of time getting that nasty covered wire through the holes and gluing it in place. That is the part I dislike most. The cloth frays at the end of the wire and I sometimes don't get it glued around the end of the wire for shoving in purposes quite right and it comes apart even with the glue on it. Most irritating. You have to hold your tongue just right or it just doesn't work. Then you have to line them all up and make sure that you have enough length on each one. You have to chop off the feet evenly so that it will stand up straight. Sometimes I pre-cut the wires to the correct length and sometimes I don't. It just depends on the mood I am in on any given day.

When the glue dries I start in one corner of the top and loop it around each wire for two rows. Then I start weaving. This particular thread is #20 crochet cotton. I wax it as I go. I sometimes use #10 Cebella if I want to do something a little faster.

Here's a closeup of what I am doing. I want it to look old and beat up. As you can see from the ruler,I have done 16 rows of weaving(4 rows of loops and 12 rows of regular weaving) and it still hasn't filled a quarter of an inch on the ruler next to it. This is the finest thread that I use. It takes forever to do the weaving with this.

It will be worth it when I finish. Most people doing wicker these days use waxed linen thread. I couldn't find any that was fine enough for my taste. I guess I am just picky. I started using the crochet cotton years ago and am used to it. The linen feels sticky to me and the few pieces that I did with it when I started just grabbed dust and dirt and hung onto it for dear life. I finally just discarded them and started over with the cotton. To each his own. This is mine.

I guess that I should get back at it if I want to finish this. It will probably take at least all of today and a little of tomorrow. Wish me luck. Oops! I forgot. After that I have to make geraniums. That will finish off tomorrow.

See you then!