Preparation of material - Extras Edition
In last month’s journal entry, I discussed the preparation of material. There is a lot to consider and a lot of information to take in, so I spared you the overwhelm of cramming everything into one long piece. I have instead decided to add an additional entry to look at some of the other considerations and areas for adding interest.
The discussion last month around soaking and preparation was made on the assumption that the weaving material is fully dried, brown willow. If you attempt to weave with dried willow, it will invariably snap, hence the need to soak it prior to use. It would be reasonable to ask the question why bother to dry willow if you only have to soak it to be able to weave with it? The answer is that willow shrinks as it dries. It is perfectly acceptable to weave with freshly harvested willow (known as green willow), but as the basket or woven object dries, probably over a period of several weeks to a few months, the willow will shrink, and the piece that you laboured over to get just right will end up being less tightly woven than at first. This is fine if you are just wanting to get some practice, or the harvested material is simply irresistible, but for myself, and most weavers, the preference is to use willow that has been dried. Once dried, it does not expand again when wet, so the soaking period allows for a return to pliability, without re-expansion.
It is also possible to weave semi-green willow. This, as the name suggests, is willow that has been harvested and allowed to dry partially, but remains pliable enough to weave without cracking or snapping, and also without soaking. As it is semi-dry, the risk of shrinkage is also lessened. There’s a bit of a “perfect window” for this, and it is not something that I do, as I am happy to wait until it is completely dry - but it is an option.
I mentioned briefly last month that white willow has its own set of rules with regard to soaking, as do buff and buff noir (both varieties that have been boiled prior to having their bark stripped, so that the tannins are released and dye the willow a darker colour). The soaking times for these are significantly shorter – hours rather than days, although the mellowing time is the same. Most retailers of weaving willow provide information regarding the soaking and preparation of material, so if in doubt, have a check with the company you bought from.
As if all of the above isn’t enough, it is possible to steam willow. This is an additional step to take, so for many people possibly not worth the bother (although it is possible to buy willow that has been steamed), but it is absolutely one of my favourite things to do and therefore, to my mind, very much worth discussing.
The process of steaming willow involves doing exactly what it says – putting the willow in an environment where it can be surrounded by steam for a period of time. This can be done in several ways. As far as I can tell anecdotally, the most common way of doing this on a small scale is by using a wallpaper steamer, connected to a bag or tube containing the willow. My method is based upon a design developed by Hanna Van Aelst[1], in which I have a large, long wooden box lined with surplus polytunnel plastic, into which I put my willow. This has a pipe running from a hole in the underside which connects to the top of an old metal beer barrel, containing water. The barrel sits upon a fire grate, which upon lighting, warms the water to boiling point. The water lets off steam which is piped to the box containing my willow. I usually let the fire run for approximately an hour from the point at which the water starts boiling, before letting it burn itself out. The willow remains in the box overnight, allowing maximum time to absorb the water.
Apart from the fun of playing with fire, (I jest, I obviously take managing the fire very seriously), why would I go to all this trouble in addition to soaking the willow? Most of the time I don’t. I often do not have the time for this extra step, and I don’t always want to work with steamed willow. But sometimes I have both the time and the inclination to steam it, and I always love it. Steaming often changes the tone of the willow, making it much darker than its original colour. If you want to weave with dark willow, or introduce tones that differ from the rest of your willow, then steaming it is an excellent way of adding colour interest. Additionally, and for me perhaps most appealingly, steamed willow has an amazing smell. For a craft that is already very tactile and appealing to the senses, adding an olfactory note deepens the experience. I don’t think many people realise how amazing willow smells, but something about steaming it and bringing the tannins out enhances its scent, which I find enormously satisfying. Finally, steaming willow can change its texture also, making it delightfully smooth and waxy to weave with. For these reasons alone, if you are a weaver, I would highly recommend steaming willow at least once to experience these changes.
There are additional benefits of steaming willow too. If you have soaked willow that you are struggling to use within its perfect timeframe, steaming can extend the usable weaving time, giving 1-2 weeks of weaving, rather than 3-5 days. Using the same principle, it is also possible to soak more material, then steam it, as you have a longer window of use. In each circumstance, the willow must be soaked first.
When looking at a finished piece, it is impossible to discern all the choices that went into making it the way it is. Hopefully, looking in detail at the preparation of material gives you an insight into some of the decisions that have to be made, even before a single stroke of weaving is undertaken.
[1] Preparing willow for basket making: Steaming <https://www.youtube.com/results?app=desktop&sp=mAEA&search_query=steaming+willow>