Large Willow Basket Workshop

Learn how to make containers with willow so you can begin to replace some of the plastic in your life with a much more beautiful, strong, and sustainable material. This workshop is part of a series of willow weekend workshops and is open to folks of all weaving skill levels, though those with prior basketry experience may be able to pick up the concepts more quickly. In this three day workshop participants will make a large round willow basket with double rope handles. These baskets are great for laundry, storage, and organizing items in your home. It's also simply a beautiful work of art to adorn your home space with! Participants in this class will learn and apply the following techniques:

*making an round slath

*tying in the slath

*crowning the slath

*pairing weavers

*upsetting the basket

*staking up the base

*slyping rods

*waling

*applying a false foot

*creating flow on the sides

*using a french rand weave

*pricking down the stakes

*making a four behind two plain rod border

*making twisted rod handles

This class requires focused attention and will likely leave your hands feeling tired and sore by the end of the weekend. It will all be worth it when you go home with a beautiful willow basket and the knowledge of how to make more of them!

DETAILS:

Location: Private Residence on Sugar Creek Road, Weaverville, NC 28787 (tba)

Date:

Friday, June 14th 10AM-4PM

Saturday, June 15th 10AM - 4PM

Sunday, June 16th 11AM - 3PM

Snacks and tea will be provided at the workshop. Participants will need to bring their own lunch and water. Bathroom facilities are rustic. A limited number of discounted early bird tickets will be available on a first come, first serve basis. There are 8 spots for this workshop. We will need at least 4 participants to sign up for this class in order to have the workshop. If the class fills up, there will be a waitlist in case of cancellations.

Ticket Options:

Early Bird tickets: $350 plus eventbrite fees

Standard tickets: $400 plus eventbrite fees

Sponsor tickets : $450 plus eventbrite fees (this ticket helps provide scholarship funds for equity and reparations efforts and folks with financial barriers)

Scholarship tickets: There are scholarships available for folks with a very low income and folks of the global majority. Send an email to freawild@gmail.com for details.

Partial Trade Tickets: If you have a trade offering, please propose it in an email to freawild@gmail.com. No work trade is needed for the workshop, but Frea is open to other goods and services offered. For instance, she loves wild food and childcare in wooded settings...

Refund Policy: Cancellations prior to fifteen days before the class date will receive a full refund. Cancellations within the fifteen day window before the class date will receive a credit that can be applied towards a future class minus a transfer registration fee of $15.

Credit: Frea was originally introduced to willow basketry in 2014, when she harvestesd some wild willow and made a basket with it using books from the library as a guide. She was reintroduced in 2022 when she took a class with Tyler Lavenburg at the Firefly Gathering. After that, she became completely smitten with willow and has been wildly weaving with it ever since.

Frea Forager (pronounced FREE-yuh; she/her) is the craftswoman behind Wild Earth Crafts. She is pro Palestinian and 100% against our govenment's funding of the unforgiveable genocide of the Palestinian people. If you support the actions of the Israeli military, please do not register for this class as it will not be the right fit. Frea has been deeply affected by witnessing this atrocious genocide and it has helped awaken her to her own complicity in white supremacy and the ways she benefits daily from having white privilige in an overculture that favors whiteness. She has recently helped start the Liberation Book Club (@theliberationbookclub) to help raise awareness, reduce harm, and stratigize ways to work towards collective liberation for all. She has been foraging and weaving with various grasses, vines, sticks, and other wildcrafted materials since 2015. Please send any questions and inquiries to her at freawild@gmail.com. #FreePalestine