John C. Campbell Folk School - JoAnn Kelly Catsos - 2015

So another wonderful week at the John C. Campbell Folk School and my class with JoAnn Kelly Catsos has come and gone. I just hate how fast the fun times have to fly by. This trip though I added on an extra day at the start and end, which made for two nice bonus days. The weather was a bit dicey this time too, so the extra day at the end helped miss driving home in the snow.

Even with the iffy weather many beautiful baskets woven. We just didn't take any extra time walking to and from the basket studio and the dining hall.

My Mom asked for a monopod for Christmas so she could take sunset photos on the beach, but I accidentally got her a selfie-stick instead. So, my mistake was my gain and my torment to my fellow basket weavers.

I wove four intricate miniature baskets and finished up a few others that I brought with me that needed to have their rims lashed. Every year I give my Dad a basket for Christmas, so this past Christmas I had planned on giving him a Birkshire Backpack. I had made one a few years ago when JoAnn Kelly Catsos and planned on making on making a second one for him. Of course I didn't get the second one done, so I had to give him mine. I finally had time to reweave it. JoAnn's baskets are so perfectly proportioned that in photos it is hard to tell how big they are. This shot of the business card sized basket in the snow would almost make you think it was a full-sized pack.

While I have woven so many of JoAnn's baskets I had never made Steve's Fishing Creel. I just need to attach the tiny hand-tied fly and fleece to the basket and it will be complete.

This lidded cathead has always been one of my favorite Shaker designs and one I have woven in many sizes. This 2.5" version is by far the smallest and the most challenging, but well worth the effort.

This is a 4" version of JoAnn's Snowflake bowl, but with dyed stakes. I just love this pattern and love the contrast of the white weavers to the chestnut colored stakes and rims.

If you have been to the John C. Campbell Folk School or you have read my posts about my trips there you know that on the last day they have a "show and tell" where everyone gets to share the accomplishments from the week. It is always so exciting to see what has been going on in the other studios (I never seem to make it out of the basketweaving studio).

Here's a picture of my four completed baskets.

And here is a picture of our happy class. The weather may have been frightful, but inside it was so delightful.