{"id":112,"date":"2011-10-03T13:44:20","date_gmt":"2011-10-03T13:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/?p=112"},"modified":"2011-10-03T13:44:20","modified_gmt":"2011-10-03T13:44:20","slug":"a-tisket-a-tasket-i-made-a-little-basket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/a-tisket-a-tasket-i-made-a-little-basket\/","title":{"rendered":"A Tisket a Tasket, I Made a Little Basket"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A-tisket a-tasket
\nA green and yellow basket
\nI wrote a letter to my love
\nAnd on the way I dropped it,
\nI dropped it,
\nI dropped it,
\nAnd on the way I dropped it.
\nA little boy he picked it up and put it in his pocket.<\/p>\n

Maybe it’s because I’ve been in the garden today, harvesting tomatoes, that I thought of this song.\u00a0 That’s\u00a0 a leap in logic.\u00a0 Stay with me.\u00a0 The scent of tomato leaves always makes me think of my grandfather.\u00a0 He grew tomatoes almost every year of his life, and I can remember playing in his garden as a child, and the smells of rich earth and tomatoes, always make me think of him.\u00a0 My grandfather was always full of silly songs and nursery rhymes.\u00a0 I’m not sure he knew how to relate to his grand-kids when we grew up, but when we were kids, he was the best.<\/p>\n

But I digress. I’ve been on a basket kick this week. I’ve finally gotten around to processing the pine needles that came down during hurricane Irene. This is my first one.
\nI soaked the needles in warm water before working with them, and I left the end caps on the needle bunches. I was hoping that it would add a decorative texture. I’m not sure that it works though. The center is a wrapped coil, and the stitch is an interlocking stitch. There is a good tutorial here at nativetech.org <\/a>. There aren’t as many tutorials for basket making as I would expect.
\nWhen I was first taught coiled baskets, the instructor provided us with long leaf pine needles. Those are soooo much easier to work with. If you want to learn this technique get your hands on some. Still, the shorter needles work fine, but you end up adding a bunch with almost every stitch. It’s a lot of work.\u00a0 I dried these needles in the shade, which leaves them greenish.\u00a0 I have some that were sun bleached that I will try later.\u00a0 This one is going up for sale on ebay. Half of the final price is going to be donated to the Red Cross. (Sort of a thank you to the universe that we suffered nothing worse than a few downed limbs during hurricane Irene.)<\/p>\n

The next one is more of a bowl shape.\u00a0 Creating the curve of the basket is a lot like creating pottery vessels, only much slower.\u00a0 That makes it much easier to not make mistakes.\u00a0 Of course, undoing your weaving is a lot more difficult than reforming clay.\u00a0 This one used a slightly different stitch, a V-stitch.\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>I’ve also been working on how I photograph things.\u00a0 The deep window sills I installed in my dining room last fall make a really good light box.\u00a0 I just need to find a way to cover the screws.\"\" \"\"<\/a>This one is a little platter.\u00a0 I don’t know what you’d do with it, but it’s cute.\u00a0 I also found while preparing these photos for posting, that baskets make a great subject for Paintshop Pro filters.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A-tisket a-tasket A green and yellow basket I wrote a letter to my love And on the way I dropped it, I dropped it, I dropped it, And on the way I dropped it. A little boy he picked it up and put it in his pocket. Maybe it’s because I’ve been in the garden […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-baskets"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/author\/admin\/"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2gp05-1O","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":278,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/isnt-borage-an-annual-and-other-lessons-from-a-first-year-garden\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":0},"title":"“Isn’t borage an annual?” and other lessons from a first year garden","author":"admin","date":"December 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"It's two days before Christmas, and I have officially brought in my last handful of tomatoes from my garden.\u00a0 I've been waiting to post that for almost two months, but mild weather and a crop of strong producers has kept me in tomatoes.\u00a0 Many of the ones I brought in\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 6 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 6 comments","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/isnt-borage-an-annual-and-other-lessons-from-a-first-year-garden\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/borage.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/borage.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/borage.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":98,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/pickled-tomatos\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":1},"title":"Pickled Tomatos","author":"admin","date":"October 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"An embarrassment of riches this summer in the form of my very first attempt at growing tomatoes, caused me to have to search out new and creative uses for grape tomatoes.\u00a0Fresh off of pickling the few measly cucumbers that I got off of the vines before they withered prematurely,\u00a0(Still haven\u2019t\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cooking"","block_context":{"text":"Cooking","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/category\/cooking\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/tomatoes.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/tomatoes.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/tomatoes.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":828,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/828\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":2},"title":"It’s that time again…","author":"admin","date":"April 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It's spring break here, and for me that means that my children and my husband are both home for an entire week.\u00a0 That's a really good thing for my garden, but first, unfinished business!\u00a0 Last summer we received from a Freecycler, a porch swing.\u00a0 The fabric was the worse for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "gardening"","block_context":{"text":"gardening","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/category\/gardening\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/20120402-185108.jpg?fit=896%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/20120402-185108.jpg?fit=896%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/20120402-185108.jpg?fit=896%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/20120402-185108.jpg?fit=896%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":288,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/repurposed-christmas-tree\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":3},"title":"Repurposed Christmas Tree","author":"admin","date":"January 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I am always a little bit distressed when it comes time to take down the tree. Here is this beautiful tree that we picked out with loving care, (Actually, I usually leave it to my daughter who has a wonderful eye for symmetry and the correct size for our house),\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "gardening"","block_context":{"text":"gardening","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/category\/gardening\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":292,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/taco-cake\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":4},"title":"Taco…Cake?","author":"admin","date":"January 21, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"My son turned four this last week, and when asked what kind of cake he would like, he responded immediately and definitely, \"A taco cake!\"\u00a0 I have no idea what he thought he meant by this, but this is my interpretation.\u00a0 The \"tortilla\" is sponge cake; the \"beans\", chocolate mousse;\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/taco-cake\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/tacocake.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/tacocake.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/tacocake.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":219,"url":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/how-much-is-that-doggie-in-the-basket\/","url_meta":{"origin":112,"position":5},"title":"How Much is That Doggie in the Basket?","author":"admin","date":"November 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Ok, so I broke down and bought yarn.\u00a0 This is a double whammy for me because not only do I usually spin my own, but I'm supposed to be stash busting right now.\u00a0 Sigh.\u00a0 I couldn't help myself really.\u00a0 There I was, cruising Ravelry for stash busting projects when I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "crochet"","block_context":{"text":"crochet","link":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/category\/fibers\/crochet\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/LittleDoggie.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/LittleDoggie.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/LittleDoggie.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaliastudios.com\/squirrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}