On the screen is my son’s business website.

Part 2 of making baskets in my son’s business colours

This time I grabbed the power cable off the old air compressor to use its white coated wire to make a purple one (with a Sharpie pen).  Unfortunately it was a thicker wire (as a compressor is a heavy duty sort of kit!), so I found the unmatched diameters of the wires caused some frustration. I wove and UNwove the sides several times before getting a tight enough weave.  I then tried one more time with a thinner power wire and documented the tips and steps I have learned along the way. I use the same process as willow baskets but have to alter some techniques to suit the wire.  Wire is lovely at bending and staying that way but it cannot spring back the way willow can.  Sometimes you want that natural tension to keep ends in place.  Also, wire ends can be sharp when clipped so I have adapted some techniques to minimize the number of ends in contrast to using willow.

3 kinds of wires

  1. In the centre of the base is CAT 5 green & white Ethernet wire that has been untwisted into two separate strands. This was the thinnest, so I could get a tight weave at the start.
  2. Twisted green & white CAT 6 Ethernet wire is used next to finishe the base and weave up the sides.  I also used it for the stakes.
  3. For the purple accent, white 18-gauge wire salvaged from an old power cord was coloured purple with a Sharpie. Even though it is a permanent marker, it could use a little touching up because you rub against it quite a bit when weaving.

Upside-down close up of three kinds of wires.