Pine Needle Baskets

This basket is 8" tall from base to the top of the pine cone.  The maximum width is six inches. 

If you click on any of these images you will see a larger one.

On the large picture  you can easily see the artist has used the presence or absence of the ends of the needle bundles for artistic effect.  

If you look closely you can also see needles which have been dyed with at least three colors.    The colors are well chosen and add to the beauty of the basket.

The card reads "This Pine Needle Basket was created from the needles of the long-leaf pine of S. W. Florida by

Gisela Damandl

Not that you can see any difference, but this picture is rotated 180 degrees from the first one.  That way you can be sure there is no hidden damage.

Notice how carefully the thread stitches are placed.  The distance between the rows was carefully measured and the spacing is consistent.  

This basket was woven by a really skilled artist.

This part of the basket is five inches tall.  The opening is four inches in diameter.  

You can see how the ends of the needles are used for effect in the red band around the mid-line of the basket.

The lighting was hard, but you can see the circular ring that was used to start weaving from.  

There are a variety of ways to start weaving a pine needle basket and you will see several of them if you look at all the pictures on the sites.  

In this basket the artist used a small plastic ring as her starting point.  

In this picture you can look closely at the bottom of the basket.  The plastic ring at the center starting point with rows of stitching going our from there.

This is a really well made lid.  Sometimes the lid is just a cap that sits on top of the base.  In this basket the lid actually has a woven lip that overhangs the base part and extra stitching that keeps the lid in place.

Showing you the 180 degree rotation again.

In this closeup picture you can see detail of the stitching and the ends of the pine needle bundles.  You can also get a close look at the dyed needles.

Here you are looking down into the basket lid and can see how the pine cone is glued in place.