Pine needles can be purchased in
some craft stores but they are quite
expensive. The ones I have seen for
sale in my area are from the
Long-Needle pine that grows in the
Southern United States. In the
Seattle area a mature Ponderosa
produces good needles for basket
weaving. They can be found in
parking strips, around public
buildings and in private yards. In
Eastern Washington there are large
forests of them.
The needles are between ten and
twelve inches long. The best time of
year in temperate climates to
collect needles is in the fall when
the trees have a large drop at the
end of summer. If you are in an area
where they don't get moldy and
black, they can be collected all
year 'round. Find them where they
have not been stepped on.
A large mass of pine "straw" can be
collected or the needles can be
picked up individually. Lay them
with the sheath ends in one
direction. Wash them in warm water
with laundry soap and a couple
tablespoons of bleach. If the
needles have a little mold on them,
the bleach will remove it. Lay the
needles in a flat shallow box and
put them to dry in a warm room. When
dry, bundle them together with
rubber bands and keep them in an old
mailing tube or a cardboard tube
that comes inside paper towels.
Raffia can be purchased from craft
stores. Some raffia has been
fire-proofed. It is shiny and ravels
easily and is hard to work with. The
fire-proofed raffia is usually sold
at gift or paper supply stores.
Large craft supply stores, such as
Michaels or Ben Franklin in the
Seattle area, are excellent sources.
Also in Seattle is Weaving Works in
the University district that has
good raffia and several books for
sale on basket weaving. Two books I
would reccomend are, Pine Needle
Raffia Basketry by Jeannie McFarland
and Fragrant Basketry by Katherine
L. Armstong. The best book I have
found is Basic Pine Needle Basketry
by Judy Mulford. It is listed as
"out of print" on many "books in
print" but I found it through the
Caning Shop in California or
Royalwood in Minnesota.
Copyright © 1997 Marian Gee
|