Appalachian egg basket

 I went to a basket weaving class last Saturday. I always wondered why it's called basket weaving. I found out. For 3 hours, I was weaving this little egg basket! You'd think something so small wouldn't have taken so long. But it did.

The handle is wisteria, the ribs privet and the rest is kudzu. This was still a little wet when I took these pictures. And I had to wait to snip off all the little loose ends. It's not perfect, but I love it. And I made it myself! If I had thought about it more and not just plowed into it, I would have made the kudzu go the same way. Like use the outside of the vine, not let it get all twisted. You can see how it's light and dark. Some of the ladies had designs where some was light then some was dark. But mine is all willy nilly, just like me. When I make another one, I'll be more careful.

It's just perfect for the 8 eggs my 8 hens lay nearly every day! I don't think it would hold 9 eggs.

It was not a good time to have a basket class, right at the end of winter. Bill said the best time to gather kudzu is in winter. Well, too late now, right? But I can use other materials, like honeysuckle. Which takes dye really good. I have tons of honeysuckle and dye. I will have to boil the vines 1 1/2 hours, then strip the bark. I also have plenty of wisteria and privet too. So there might be some more basket weaving in my future. It really was fun to create something useful from weeds.