Design-A-Basket Series: Part 2

Last time, I showed you how to take a round basket pattern that uses a wooden base and convert it to one with a woven base.  

I neglected to tell you, however, that my example used an odd number of spokes.  

When weaving around a vase, bottle, or other glass container, it's so much easier to do a continuous weave, and to do that, you  must have an odd number of spokes.  Certain weaving designs, such as some twills, also require the odd number of spokes.

To do this is simple.  In most cases, when you have finished twining the base to your desired diameter, just pick one spoke and cut it right down the middle all the way to the edge of the twining.  VOILA!  You now have an odd number of spokes.  This split spoke should be considered the back of your basket.

In my example, though, the spokes are 3/16" flat reed....a little bit too skinny to try splitting down the middle!

So what I did was simply add an extra spoke.  

I twined until I had enough space to add another spoke, then laid it between two existing spokes and caught the extra one in the twining, continuing until my diameter was achieved. 

The extra spoke only needs to be about half the length of the regular spokes, since it doesn't have to reach as far.

That's all there is to it!

Now let's just for a moment go the other way, and say you have a slotted wooden base but you don't have a pattern., or you lost it, or somehow accidentally burned it to a crisp, or the dog ate it.

How do you figure out how many spokes to use, and how long to make them?

It's easy!

First, let's figure out how many spokes you will need

Let's say I have a 6" diameter round base and I want to make a basket bowl but have no pattern.

Just follow the steps below:

Step 1:  Measure the CIRCUMFERENCE of the base.  NOT the diameter!

You want to take your measuring tape and basically wrap it around the edge of your base.  That is the measurement you want.

(See my diagram below)

For my 6" diameter base, the circumference came out to 19".

Step 2:  Multiply the circumference (19) by the spacing you want between spokes (I'm using .25 or 1/4" in my example)

19 x.25 = 4.75

Step 3:  Round this number (what you got in step 2) up to the next highest number.

4.75  --->  5

Step 4:  Subtract the number you get in step 3 from the circumference:

19 - 5 = 14

Step 5:  Divide the number you got in step 4 (14) by the reed width you are using (.5 or 1/2" for this example)

14 divided by .5 = 28

(I never realized there was no "divided by" symbol on my keyboard until just now!)

That's it!  You have just figured out how many spokes you need to go around your slotted wooden base.

It doesn't matter if your base is square, round, or rectangular...the formula is the same.

The length of each of your spokes would be the desired height of your basket plus 3" (for tucking at the rim)

So if I want my bowl to be 4" deep/high, my spokes would be 4+3, or 7" long!

Tomorrow, I'll be showing you how to convert a wooden base pattern to a woven base pattern for rectangular and square baskets, so stay tuned!

Meanwhile, as always, if you have any questions, just ask!