Half of these sticks need to be split at their centre using a knife.

Weaving the base: The base is woven with a ‘pairing’ weave. To begin, you’ll be weaving clockwise around each of the four ‘arms’ of the slath to hold it tightly together.

Insert the tips into the split of the slath as shown.

Now, bring the weaver from the back up and over the next arm, and the top weaver down behind.

Rotate the slath as you go (anticlockwise) so that the handling is the same with each stroke. This will help a lot.

You will need to continue in this way until you have completed two rounds.

Continue weaving around and around...

Splice in new weavers as shown, simply adding a new weaver alongside the old one and continuing. Butt ends are replaced with butt ends and tips with tips. After replacing one, weave ahead at least a few moves before replacing the other. The protruding stubs should be trimmed after completing the base. Note, you can weave quite far towards the tip end (the thinner end) of a weaver, leaving only about 4" (10cm) before replacing it.

You are aiming for a base which is either flat or ‘crowned’. Crowned means that the underside will be slightly concave. Crowning the base makes it stronger and also gives the basket a rim to sit on.

To do this, when the woven area is about 3" (7- 8cm) wide, hold and flex it as shown, pushing the centre in with your thumbs. Turn the base around a little and repeat. Weave another row or two and then repeat this procedure again. The crowing can be worked toward or away from you as you weave. Monitor the shape as you go, you don’t want the crowning to be too extreme either.

Note: While weaving, if you end up with one weaver working towards its tip end and the other working towards its butt, when you replace one of them, add the new weaver in so that it evens things out.

Continue weaving until the base is 8.5" (22cm) wide. It is preferable to finish with tip ends. Lock them off with a single move, threading the weaver which would go next, between the weavers of the previous row. This will keep the other end held in too.

The weaver ends should now be cut off very close to the weave. However, the ends must still be resting against a spoke, or have no way of flicking out to the other side of the base.

Base complete. If yours does not look like this, that is totally normal for a first attempt; do not feel hopeless. If you are not satisfied you could always weave another now that you know how...

At this stage, you now need to insert new rods into the weave of the base alongside each spoke. These will then be turned up vertically, giving you ‘side stakes’ around which to weave. Use your medium-thick rods for this. Remember, the stake material must always be thicker than the weaving material.
 

Before we start, you should notice that each willow rod has a natural curve in it. The outside of the curve is known as the ‘back’, and the inside is the ‘belly’.

A basket of this size with spokes spaced as they are will require two side stakes inserting next to each spoke, a total of 24.

In order to insert the stakes, you will need to ‘slype’ the butt end of each, that means to make a long point. This can be done with a knife or a skilful snip of the secateurs. The cut surface should be on either the back or the belly, and not sideways. Be consistent.

While holding the base with the concave side facing down (the underside), push the bodkin deep into the weave beside a spoke as shown. Remove, and then insert a stake belly side down into the weave as far as it will go. Repeat on the other side of the spoke. In this way, insert two stakes next to every spoke.

Inserting the stakes belly side down means they will be bent up against their natural curve, which will result in straighter sides. Note, Inserting the stakes back side up instead, gives sides which bow out more like a bowl.

All the stakes inserted.

The stakes are now bent up, known as ‘pricking up’. To do this, make a kink in each one slightly away from the edge of the weave, about 5mm (3/16"), no further. Use your thumb nail as shown. Let the rods relax back until you’ve kinked them all, then bring them all up in one go.

The base spokes can now be trimmed back level with the edge of the weave, ensuring that their ends are now further back than the turn-up of the stakes.

1. Take three similar rods and cut them to the same length. Start with the tip ends. Insert them a couple of inches deep (5cm) into the weave of the base on the left hand side of three consecutive uprights, as shown.

Note, for the first round, you will be weaving not on the side, but on the edge between the base and the side.

2. Begin by taking the leftmost rod over two stakes, behind the next and out to the front, as shown.

3. Now take the next leftmost rod and weave it in the same manner; over two stakes, behind the next and out to the front.

4. Continue in this manner around the basket, always weaving the next leftmost rod. Note, the rod in use must always pass over the top of the other rods.

See in the photos how the uprights are starting to be spaced more evenly by pulling and holding them in place while weaving around them.

Once you’ve gone around the basket once, switch to working with the basket upright on a flat surface such as a table.

When you come to your ends, leave at least some length on the outside as shown. Add new rods in one by one starting with the left one as usual. The old end is pulled back slightly and then the new rod is simply inserted alongside as shown. Weave the new rod one stroke, before replacing the next, and so on... Note, when inserting a new rod, the end must go in far enough to be held behind the stake so that it can’t flick back out once woven.

Finish when the rods come to their tip ends and the pattern cannot continue. Squash the weave down to make sure it is firmly seated. Note, by both starting and finishing the waling with tip ends, the pattern fades nicely in and out.

All the ends are cut off about half way between the stakes.

There are many types of weave which can be used on the side of a basket. Being as this is your first, it’s good to keep things simple and do a ‘randing’ weave. With randing, the weaver/s simply goes around the stakes, in-front, then behind, in-front, then behind, and so on...

If you had an odd number of stakes then you’d weave with just one rod going around and around (obviously joining in new rods when necessary). However, because you have an even number, two rods need to be used, one ‘chasing’ the other.

Before you begin, place some kind of weight inside the basket, this will hold it steady and give you more control.

When weavers run out, add in new ones as shown. Join butts to butts and tips to tips. Note, trim some off tip ends so as not to weave with incredibly thin material.

By now the stakes will most likely be supported. Undo the tie (or remove the hoop). If they now lean too far out, re-tie temporarily.

Weave 3 1/2" (9 cm) high or a little more if you wish. Firm down as you go.

When that’s done, weave a band of three rod wale on top. Same method as for the upsett, except the tip ends start simply resting behind the uprights as shown.

Before moving on to weaving the finishing border, ensure the weave is firmed down and level on top. Push on the weave with your thumbs.

To complete the basket the upright stakes are turned down and woven into a border. The kind detailed below is a ‘trac’ border. There are many possible versions of this, you will be starting with a fairly simple one.

In preparation, a kink needs to be made in each stake slightly higher than the top of the weave. This ensures that each rod will bend at exactly the right point when turned down. The space below the kink allows room for woven rods underneath.

It is very important that the kink is made at the correct height. In this version, it is made at the height of three rod thicknesses. As a measure, hold three rods (off-cuts as thick as stakes) on top of one another, then bend a stake over them to the right as shown. Let the stake stand back up again, then do the next, and so on... Take care in getting them all the same. You may find it less fiddly to bend them over something else of equal size.

Each stake is woven in the same manner. To begin, take one down to the right in-front of two uprights, behind the next, then out to the front as shown.

The next stake to the right is then woven in the same manner, and so on...

Ensure each stake is fully down before taking the next.

When only three stakes remain upright, they continue to be taken in the same pattern, except you’ll now need to thread them into place under the already woven stakes where you started.

If you find it difficult to see how they should be threaded, look back at a complete portion and use it as your guide. Also remember that each rod lies on top of the one before it.

When complete, trim all the ends off with a slanted cut, making sure they still rest on the outside against an upright.

The last stage is to trim off any other excess ends anywhere on the basket. This is called ‘picking off’. Make slanted cuts so they lie as flush as possible. Ensure they are not cut back too far, which would allow them to flick out to the other side.

You covered some really fundamental techniques and principles in this project. If you feel that you need more practice to remember them, you may want to make a second attempt. If you like, you could always use different types of willow to spice things up a bit.