Greenwood Crafts by Edward Mills

Author:Edward Mills
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781847977250
Publisher: Crowood
Published: 2014-07-10T16:00:00+00:00

Fig. 5.17 Randing and knotting on alternate rows.

Keep moving round the basket in an anticlockwise direction, always picking up the bottom rod, until you get back to the beginning when you will have to thread the ends of the last two rods under the first two to make the pattern complete. Then French rand back round clockwise and alternate these two rows until the rods are used up. As you work remember to use your rapping iron to hammer the rows down tight and pay close attention to keeping the stakes vertical and just slightly tapering inwards. You should keep the stakes tied together at the top until the first set of weavers are used up.

Traditionally, creels have a window known in Gaelic as an t-áis (pronounced ‘on tawsh’). Before you create this, it is a good idea to have a strong row of three-rod waling. Insert three rods, butt first, into the gaps between a/b, b/c, c/d. Take the first rod and go in front of b and c and behind d. Rod 2 goes in front of c and d and behind e and so on, always moving in an anticlockwise direction and always in front of two behind one. When you are halfway round the basket, stop and set three more rods off butt first and do the second half. When you are back to the beginning, you can continue over the top of the first set of three until the rods are finished, then do the same with the second three.

The eighteen rods to make the window are now inserted, each pushed down vertically into the weave to the right of the stakes. Bend the rods over to the right, aiming to have the window no more than 4in (10cm) deep, take the rod in front of one and behind the next stake (French randing). When you have gone all the way around the basket and you are happy that they are all at the same level, then do your knotting row as described before and continue alternating until the rods are done.

TWISTING HAZEL

To turn a 90-degree corner you may need to twist the hazel a little to separate the fibres within the wood, allowing them to move against each other and not break. This twisting makes the rod look a little bit like rope. It is one of those techniques, like riding a bicycle, that takes a bit of practice and perseverance; it also needs a firm grip and some strength to get the rod to twist. A tip is to use gripper work gloves that give you a better hold on the rod and to get your best hand up close to the part you want to twist; with the other hand find a kink in the rod that will allow you to get a better purchase and use it almost like a starting handle to get the rod twisting. If you find you do not get on with this, Joe says ‘just make the corners rounder’.

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