Ivy

English ivy is really tough. Once, I put a bunch into a black plastic bag, waited weeks, and then put it into the compost. It started growing again in the compost. But, boiling for four hours does kill it.

Bones

After boiling about a hundred feet of ivy, I stripped off the fleshy part of the vines. The tough inner core, or skeleton, is only about 20% of the diameter of the original vines.

Soak

The vines dry stiff, but a good soak gets them pliable again.

Bottom

I got a book from the library, "Basic Baskets," by Mara Cary. It has great instructions for making your first basket, starting with ten pieces as the stakes, and doing a simple twining weave to make the bottom of the basket.

Up-setting

After forming the bottom with a simple twining weave, I switched to a three rod wale weave when it was time to up-set the stakes to make the sides of the basket. The three rod wale puts a bit more material on the outside of the basket, forming a slight rim around the bottom edge.

Weaving up the sides

I liked how the three rode wale weave looked, so I kept using it. Because my vines varied quite a lot in diameter, I think a three-strand twining weave probably smooths out the variation better than a two-strand twist.

Shaping

As I wove up the sides, I stretched and shaped the basket so that it sits mostly flat on its bottom, and the sides curve up.

Done

I finished the basket by weaving the stakes together to make a top rim.

New life

Although I'd harvested and boiled down quite a bit of ivy out of my tiny yard, there was still a lot of live ivy left. I transplanted some into the basket.

Growing out of a basket of bones

Now I know how to make baskets, and I have a new houseplant.