Don't Put All Your Eggs In One Basket! Quiz

Answer: Egypt

Unfortunately the materials that are used in basket making do not stand up well to the test of time. Natural materials and fibers decay constantly, so it is very difficult to even say how long people have been weaving baskets. The oldest remains found to date have been carbon dated 10,000 to 12,000 years ago in Faiyum in Upper Egypt.

It makes sense that the craft of basket making would begin in an area where people were able to grow a surplus of food. What else could they use to store the surplus? Not Tupperware! Baskets! Ancient people were even able to create fine, tightly-woven baskets that could hold water!

Answer: Reed

Don't get me wrong! Oak, maple, and ash make great baskets, but they are much too expensive to buy for someone who is just starting out. Reed, or rattan core that comes from a tropical vine, is the best material for a beginner to use; even though the price has skyrocketed in the past three years, it is still an affordable material to use. Manufacturers strip the outside of the plant vine, and that becomes the cane material that is used in weaving chairs.

The core of the vine is processed into many different sizes and shapes - round, flat, oval, and so on.

Many other natural plants and vines, such as honeysuckle and willow, can be used to make nice baskets.

Answer: Soaking the materials

Of course the material must be pliable before it can be woven, and some materials have to soak for days and days before they are flexible enough to use without cracking. My materials do not, however, need to soak that long. The amount of soaking time necessary usually depends on the type (round, flat, flat oval), and the size (1/4", 1/2", 3/4") of the materials. Soaking the materials is a bit risky; oversoaking can ruin the fibers, and undersoaking can cause breakage in the middle of construction. In addition, as some carnival hoops and handles that are made today are glued, and they can come apart if soaked too long.

As far as the other choices, I always recommend that materials that don't have to be a specific length are not cut before assembling. Everyone's basket is different, and on some, if I specify a certain size, and it ends up being too short, the materials are wasted. As far as dyeing is concerned, it is not crucial that the basket be colored. In that respect, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some like the natural color, and others will want to dye it.

Answer: Twill

Although the decorative beauty of this type of weaving cannot be denied, the twill design also helps to make the basket more sturdy and tight. Many of the early basketweavers favored this design. They couldn't have holes in the bottom of the basket that would allow items to fall out.

Coiling involves the wrapping and sewing together of bundled materials in spiral coils. Native Americans in the Southwestern U.S. favored this type of weaving, as did many African tribes. Wickerworking involves weaving the fiber into rigid materials that usually turn into baskets or furniture. Although used in ancient times all around the world, this style became popular in Victorian times because it was believed to be more sanitary than upholstered furniture. Today in North America, the terms "wicker" and "rattan" are normally used interchangeably. Randing is what the typical under/over pattern of a single weaver fiber is called. Many decorative baskets employ this technique.

Answer: Butt Basket

The egg basket is one of the best-known agricultural baskets made. It is a made with two intersecting carnival hoops, and ribs that are proportionally spaced apart. Although there are many variations, the curvilinear basket is best for transporting eggs. The two bottoms and curved sides hold eggs in place perfectly; they are also, upon viewing the bottom of the basket, shaped somewhat like a human butt!

Answer: Willow

Wickerwork baskets date back to Anglo-Saxon times in Britain, and they were always made with the sacred willow. The baskets made with willow were used as ritual containers. According to Robert Graves in "The White Goddess", the words wicker, wicked, witch and willow are all derived from the same stem. Evil spirits were driven out by witches using willow rods. And the broom that witches ride on Halloween? It was made with the same willow strips!

Answer: True

Really, this statement is true from ancient times to the present. Appalachian baskets are rich in historical heritage, with the ideas coming to America with colonists from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and other European nations. Besides their bare hands and baskets, the people had barrels, wooden boxes, and cloth sacks that they could use for storage and transportation. Of those items, baskets were the cheapest and easiest to come by, and they were used as storage containers, heavy baskets for agriculture, measurement containers (there was a time when a bushel basket was expected to hold an exact bushel), and house baskets.

In this picture, circa 1950s, baskets are used for planting potatoes, but these particular baskets would have no value when it came to harvesting and storing the crop when it was time. The potatoes would rot if they touched the floor in a cellar; potato baskets were made with ribs that did not all directly touch the floor. This allowed for some air flow, and enabled farmers to store their valuable crop for quite some time.

Answer: Upset

The picture shown is for a flat bottom basket that will be made in the randing style, with a simple under/over weaving pattern. The bottom of the basket is made with stakes or spokes; after they have been placed in the correct pattern, it is time to upset them by turning up the spokes and creasing them along the bottom edge of the base.

These upturned spokes will then also become the sides of the baskets as horizontal rows called weavers are woven into place.

Answer: Peach Basket

The story is that in 1891, as a physical education teacher at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, Naismith was given the job of inventing a game to provide his students with an "athletic distraction" to help them mend their rowdy ways during the long, cold winter when when they could not play outside.

The original game of basketball as invented by Naismith used a soccer ball and two peach baskets; eventually, in 1906, the baskets were replaced by hoops and backboards, as it took too long to retrieve the ball from the basket after each score.

Answer: Basket Weaver

A basket maker is a person who begins with the tree, bush, or plant, and renders all of their materials by hand. This is a very long and arduous process that begins with choosing just the right tree, called a pole, and using an ax along with other tools to make stripes called splints. In addition to splitting and preparing their own materials and forming the correct shapes and sizes, these sturdy people also fashion their own hoops and handles.

In the true sense of the word, those ancient and historic people who began making the first baskets are basket designers. Most baskets that are used today are variations of older ones, although there are a few people who design new types of baskets.

A basket weaver is a person who takes materials that are already processed and uses them to make baskets. And, of course, a basket case is - well you know the answer to that one!