Tuesday 23 April 2013

More baskets, and a Kindle stand

My younger daughter and I had planned to share a basket-weaving session on her last visit, so I put some willow to soak in our outside bath.  Unfortunately, she arrived during the cold snap and the willow was frozen into a gigantic block of ice, so no progress was possible.  She wanted a display basket, so I set about something smaller than my previous log-bearing efforts.  This is what arrived:


Actually, she wanted two (the point of the original idea for joint making) so with a few calculations and a lot of guesswork I set about making one slightly bigger so that they can be stored together:


By no means perfect, but adequate.  That's almost the end of the brightly coloured willow from Devon, and almost the end of this year's total crop, so it's time for a break from basket-making.

We continue to try to help father-in-law deal with his increasing difficulties in manipulating things.  Unable now to hold a book and turn the pages, a Kindle has been a great acquisition for him and he reads avidly.  Lately the issue of holding the Kindle while fiddling with its controls has become a problem, so I thought I would have a go at making a stand for it which will allow easy access to its edges and therefore its buttons.  This is to be regarded very much as a prototype.  I'm posting it to him this morning and look forward to his feedback.