Willow Weaving is something I have wanted to try for a long time, and I'm very fortunate that my friend makes woven baskets and has started passing on her wonderful skills.
We decided to make a rectangular trivet style using some of the easier-to-bend types of willow.
The first step was picking the willow we wanted to use for each section. It turns out I am not the best at picking similar-sized circumferences of each willow length! There a lot harder to tell in the mixed bundles then you think.
The initial rectangular frames were pre-done, and my friend started by showing us how the first piece of willow is navigated into position.
Each stand weaves and wraps around 3 times before a new length of willow is woven in the opposite direction.
We snipped the ends as we went for easier manoeuvring as we turned the trivet in our hands as we weaved.
Beginning to take shape here now! It gets harder to weave in and out as the structure becomes more solid and rigid.
I was pleased to see it finally taking shape and that I hadn't had too many saggy turns on the sides.
Next were onto shaping and tying off the ends.
Once the ends were tied off, we cut off the ends of each piece of willow flush against the frame. Tidying up the pieces made them look more finished.
I was so impressed with how they turned out! I thought my first attempt would be to lose to be useful, but I was pleasantly surprised.
I found the whole process very therapeutic and would happily look at doing this again.
You can see in the last image all the different tones and colours of the willow you can use as well
