Garden Basket - Oval with Handle

This is my second basket, colorful and textured, sturdy and useful, and the aroma of the wood is therapeutic. It is more complex, bigger and stronger than my first simple round basket. A garden basket, or market basket, is oval in shape (long and narrow) and has a handle, making it convenient to carry at one's side and to hold fresh produce from the garden or the market. Again, the actual weaving took me two full days. Most of the material is from shrubs and trees around the house, from Cindy's orchard and the precious willow from the river bank. The 9 bottom sticks are willow, woven in reverse pairing with 32 rods of willow and cotoneaster. Long red dogwood rods were used for the 28 stakes, which become the border, and were reinforced with 24 short maple sticks. The other 4 stakes are reinforced by the handle. Pale green spindle adds 2 strips of contrast: the base whaling or triple weave (12 rods) and the middle four-rod randing or 2-ply weave (16 rods). The side weavers of dark reddish-green are cotoneaster (28 for French randing or slewing weave near the base, 32 for the four-rod randing just under the plaited or braid border). Thanks to Cindy for the apple tree cuttings that became the two bows of the handle, which were wrapped together with 3 rods of spindle and 2 of dogwood. My fingers are sore, but my pride and satisfaction are dancing joyfully.