Whatever Floats Your Boat

The willow coracle project we've been following had a successful launch party in July. 

Organizer Poppy Hatinger reports that 12 paddlers test-paddled the boats, and then they were off to the races -- three heats, semi-finals and a nail-biter of a finish.

Did intimate familiarity with the construction of these vessels provide an edge in the competition? Pshaw! The victor was Karen Tembreull's teenage daughter Abby, who competed with a cast on her broken wrist and a smile on her face.

By all reports, the event was a blast, the boats were a gas, and the builders are planning their next vessels.


You can read more about their project here and here.

Coracle Project Update

Here's an update on the Upper Michigan coracle-building project we first reported on last fall. Poppy Hatinger says their first version, made by sticking the stakes directly into the ground and woven with French randing, dried just enough under the snow over the winter that some zip ties had to be tightened. It should dry more now that (we hope) warmer weather is on the way.

The group worked on a second coracle over the winter. Instead of sticking stakes directly into soil, this one was built on a wooden jig.

The seat is enclosed in the weaving on this version.

 

Spring Fever

With 16 inches of new snow here last week, my own thoughts of spring have been put on ice for a while. Not so for Poppy Hatinger, who lives even farther north than I do. Last week she sent in two pictures of recently completed garden projects woven from her wild willow harvest before it gets too dry. 

This way, she says, at least "something will be blooming" in her garden.

Winter Willow & Summer Dreams

Now that we've passed the winter solstice and the days are getting longer again, willow growers are thinking ahead to the next season. Here's some inspiration from Upper Michigan basketmaker Poppy Hatinger, who shared her willow coracle project last month.

Poppy sent two images of her Abby's House project. It's a living willow structure she named for her granddaughter and built in hopes of sharing time together looking for clovers and caterpillars.

Above is a picture was taken during the summer of the year it was planted.

 

This was taken the next summer.

 

This is another living trellis project. Poppy didn't note when it was planted, but did say it needs to be trimmed three or more times a year to keep it under control. 

Finally, Poppy sent an image of a trellis in progress using a pizza box jig idea she picked up in a lecture I did a few years back at the Association of Michigan Basketmakers conference. (You can read more about the technique here.)

The snow depth in our area is much deeper now than when Poppy took picture above. Below is my own Scarlett O'Trellis, which was built using the pizza box jig, in a photo from last year.

Here she is today.

Scarlett guards my front flower bed in the winter. She's (usually) tall enough for the snow plow to see to know when to push no farther. 

 

My west willow bed guards has a winter job, as well. It acts as a snow fence to protect the house from blowing and drifting snow.

Are you shoveling snow, watching it rain, or enjoying a beautiful winter day with a couple extra minutes of daylight? Wherever you are, happy holidays to all from Donna, Jo and Joanna!

Coracle Project

A group of Upper Michigan basketmakers have a willow coracle project under way. According to Poppy Hatinger, the group brainstormed with Jo Campbell-Amsler during the Association of Michigan Basketmakers conference, and decided to make three of the craft.

The first was woven from fresh willow this fall before the ground froze. The frame will spend the winter under weight (and probably covered with snow). In the spring, they will remove the plastic cable ties used to preserve shaping as the willow dries, and lash the joints with basswood bark cordage made by one of the project participants, Karen Tembreull. Then they will cover the frame with canvas, and paint the canvas with waterproofing.

A second coracle will be made this winter using a wooden jig. The third will be woven using dried and resoaked willow for comparison with the first one woven from fresh willow.

As the project progresses, we hope they'll share updates. And this correspondent definitely wants to be on hand when they launch the fleet!