Sunday, August 29, 2010

They Make Baskets from Pine Needles?

pine needle basket, lidded

"Patience and pine needles" are what's needed to make these baskets, says Judy Mofield Mallow. For those of us without the patience (or perhaps the pine needles), we're lucky enough to have many folks who make beautiful baskets for us. The one above comes from Teri Thompson, who makes a wide range of pine needle baskets. [via Pencil and Leaf]


pine needle basket

This pine needle basket comes from Sustaining Art; it's approximately 3" in diameter.


pine needle basket, lidded

This is one of the many pine needle baskets from Funny River Trading, "handwoven using needles from Ponderosa pine trees."


pine needle basket with beads

And this lovely pine needle basket, adorned with beads, come from the Etsy shop called, appropriately, Needles to Baskets.


pine needle basket

And this cute pine needle basket comes from another Etsy store, Peacox Creations.


pine needle basket

So far, all the baskets I've shown have been made in the United States - but of course, such baskets are made in other parts of the world, too. A Thread of Hope sells fair trade baskets from Guatemala, including this one.




And finally, moving up north, you can get these pine needle baskets by Ojibwe artist Donna Salo from the Museum of Anthropology at The University of British Columbia.

Related Posts:
Baskets: When Plastic Bins Just Won't Do
Baskets Made by African Artisans
Two Beautiful Blue Baskets

4 comments:

Bonnie said...

My grandmother started making pine needle baskets about 50 years ago. They wintered in Florida and she learned how to make them while she was there. Even though she's been gone for several years, I still have several of her baskets.

Jeri Dansky said...

KentuckyGam, I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother - but what wonderful things to have as mementos!

The first basket maker I listed also comes from Florida; she makes the baskets from "local Florida Long Leaf pine needles." I'd never associated Florida with pine needles before!

JustGail said...

I'd bet that baskets have been made from almost any fiber that is flexible and readily available, but still sturdy enough to stand up to everyday use. Sweetgrass (also from the southeast coast) is another one that's not commonly found any more. It's easy to forget that baskets were vital to the survival of those who made them, and still are in some parts of the world.

Jeri Dansky said...

Good points, JustGail. I've come across a number of notable sweetgrass baskets - maybe that will become another post!