I grow my own willow, locally and on the Gower peninsula. Willow is harvested annually in January or February, each rod being cut by hand (often in poor weather!). Willow is also planted at the same time, with a bare rod being pushed into the ground.
At the time of cutting, willow is sorted according to length, because it is an old craft this is still in feet. From one stool, rods can vary from 3 – 9ft in length. The willow is then tied loosely in bundles and stored under shelter, but in an airy spot to allow them to dry.
Willow shrinks longitudinally (like spaghetti) when it is dried. If you weave with it when it is freshly cut, this shrinkage leads to a loose weave. It can be woven when it is semi-fresh, and this gives the most vibrant colours. It reaches a magic point after 6 – 8 weeks when it has done most of its shrinking but is still flexible.
Once willow has fully dried (so it is a snappy stick) it then needs to be re-soaked to make it pliable. A rough rule (temperature and willow variety change this) is immersing it in water for a day per foot of its length. So 5ft willow takes approximately 5 days and then several days of mellowing before it can be used. It then stays in a usable state for 3 – 5 days. It cannot be resoaked (unless it is buff willow – a commercial process which removes the bark).
Before soaking, willow is graded again according to thickness as even the same length rods can vary greatly. The thickest willow is used for the base stakes, the thinnest for the base weavers, the second thickest is used for the side stakes and the rest for the actual weaving. In addition, older/thicker willow is used for handles and making hoops for frame baskets.
There are thousands of different varieties of willows and this gives the different colours. Different varieties also have different uses and properties – they have varying soaking times and behave differently when weaving.
So each rod is handled 4 times before I come to weave with it – when it is cut, graded by length, graded by thickness, chosen for soaking. Basketmaking is a slow craft. No machine has been invented that can weave a basket. Each basket, once the willow is prepared, takes a minimum of 4 hours to weave, and larger ones can take several days.
Willow baskets are either stake and strand or frame baskets. Stake and strand baskets have base and side stakes which are woven onto. Frame baskets are constructed around a pre-formed frame of thicker willow or wood and the then ribs are added to this structure and this is woven onto.
Willow is a European plant. In many parts of the world, there isn’t an equivalent material that is long, slender and pliable. Coil baskets are woven using soft fibres (long leaves) that are bundled, coiled and stitched. I make baskets using this technique, using a mix of invasive plants, weeds, recycled material and twigs. I also use soft rush (harvested from slow-moving rivers) and willow bark (stripped when the sap is rising in the spring) to weave using a checkerboard base and twining technique.
