bottle pouring basket

Belgian ale basket

bottle basket with French randed weave

Katherine recently made some baskets for beer and wine bottles. She was contacted by someone involved with an east coast beer distributor looking for a traditional wicker basket for pouring lambic beers. He sent along a couple of photos that were only a little helpful. But the basket did seem very similar to wine bottle baskets Katherine had seen in France, and fortunately several years ago a friend had gifted her one of these baskets made in France at the Cooperative de Vannerie in Villaines-les-Rocher.

small wine bottle basket

French small bottle basket

She used this basket as the model for her baskets. She decided to weave two versions – one with a French randed side weave (photo above) and the other with a slewed side weave (photo below).

wine bottle basket

bottle basket with slewed side weave

The baskets came out quite nice, and the beer guy thought they looked great. But those Belgian ales aren’t cheap either and that’s where they’re putting their money for now.

Here is a recent one made for a birthday present.

lambic beer pouring basket

P.S.: We are no longer making the bottle baskets. You can find inexpensive, made in China lambic baskets here: Handwerk baskets They look poorly made but might work for you at the price offered.

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Basketmaking class

Katherine held her last willow basketmaking class of 2009 this past weekend December 5-6. She ended up with a great group of nine students plus friend and helper Alex Keggan. The projects were two small colorful baskets that were great for beginners or people wanting to practice basic skills. Originally we posted the class as an opportunity to make gifts, but after all the weaving we think most people were going to keep their baskets! I have posted a link to some photos from the second day of the class. Don’t forget that you can sign up for our mailing list to be informed of next year’s classes by sending an e-mail to news-subscribe@dunbargardens.com. Or you can just check our website for updates.

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Baskets in the barn

willow baskets for sale

willow baskets by Katherine Lewis

We have a nice selection of Katherine’s willow baskets  displayed in our barn at Dunbar Gardens right now. If you’re in the area, come by for a look. If not, enjoy the photo! If you’re curious about buying a basket, you can always check our website for the baskets we have currently made for sale here. Baskets can always be made to order. Check out this page on our website for more details. If you want to know where we are, here is a map.

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Baby basket

bassinette

Every few months Katherine gets a request for a bassinette. Usually the parents make the request during the pregnancy, so that the basket is there when needed. This one was made at the last minute, but came out quite lovely. This bassinette was ordered by a good friend as a thank you gift. It was ordered for a couple who had a very small baby girl born a little early. The friend figured that the baby would be able to use the basket for quite a few months so she went ahead and asked Katherine to make it. It was her thanks to the family for their helping hand to her own son who had moved near them for work. For a look at another bassinette see this earlier blog post: Bassinette.

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