Above: one of my twined baskets "Pod 2007" for which I used 7-ply waxed Irish Linen Thread. The basket is 12 x 8 inches wide. There are also small brown wooden beads in the in the twining. Basket ©2007 Roz Stendahl, photo ©2007 Tom Nelson. Click on the image to view an enlargement.
Not everyone knows I make baskets. Today I was browsing in Wet Paint (I found a cool book I'll tell you about just as soon as I read it) and up walks a former student, Sue, and we have the best chat about what she's doing, and I get some tips on elder care strategies (though Dick's family isn't as big as Sue's so some of it won't translate but it is always great to hear how other people cope).
Sue told me she started making baskets while she was south for the winter and we started talking about twining (which is what I usually do—my baskets are all made from threads, fibers, wire, trash, and paper, but nothing like reeds because I'm allergic to all that stuff!). I told her I always found a great selection of color and plys at Royalwood, Ltd.
Then I got to thinking that if Sue didn't know about Royalwood, maybe other folks didn't either, so I just thought I would mention it. The great thing about having the thicker threads (7- and 12-ply) is that you can work up a bigger basket pretty quickly. So the next time you want to do some twining you'll know where you can find those thicker threads.
