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basket weaving

How to Weave a Basket With Honeysuckle: A Beginner’s Guide

A beginner’s step-by-step guide to preparing honeysuckle vines and twining a small basket, from the crossed-spoke base to the finished rim.

By ThatPainter Team 4 min read
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You can weave a small honeysuckle basket by twining flexible vines over and under a cross of spokes, widening the base, then bending the spokes upward to form the sides. Washington State University Extension’s EM4770 guide gives a beginner-friendly sequence. First, though, identify your vine and check local collection rules: “honeysuckle” refers to different plants, and Japanese honeysuckle is invasive in many regions.

Choose a suitable material and gather responsibly

There are two material paths in Washington State University Extension’s EM4770 guide: gathered honeysuckle vines or commercial basket reed No. 1 or No. 2. Use gathered vines only when you can identify the species with confidence, have permission to collect, and local guidance allows it. If any of those conditions are uncertain, commercial reed is the named alternative.

Honeysuckle is a common name for multiple species, so do not treat one identification as universal. The University of Maryland Extension describes Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) as an introduced vine invasive in much of the eastern United States and several other areas. Its features can include opposite leaves, finely haired green young stems, older woody stems with peeling brown bark, and flowers that open white and age yellow. Shiny black berries ripen in autumn. These features are not a complete identification key for every region; check with a local extension or natural-resources authority before harvesting. Follow local rules and avoid transporting berries or other viable plant material.

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Japanese honeysuckle can spread by twining growth and berries, smother native ground plants, and girdle woody plants. The Maryland guidance discusses hand-removal for small infestations along with removing berries and monitoring for regrowth, but that is not universal removal advice: appropriate control and rules vary by location.

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When and what to collect

EM4770 recommends collecting in winter, when sap is not running and there are fewer leaves. Choose long, straight vines about the diameter of a rounded toothpick. The guide favors growth running along the ground or hanging over ditch banks over tangled vines climbing trees or fences. Take only material you are allowed to collect.

Prepare the vines and tools

For the guide’s method, gather honeysuckle vines (or commercial basket reed No. 1 or No. 2), a dishpan or bucket of warm water, and scissors or a sharp knife. Basketry or sturdy craft scissors are an optional convenient choice; the guide also permits a sharp knife for cutting and trimming.

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  1. Remove leaves from the gathered vines.
  2. Place the vines in a pot, cover them with water, and boil for 30 minutes, following the EM4770 preparation instructions.
  3. Rub off the softened bark with a towel or rag.
  4. Trim and smooth rough spots, then coil the prepared vines until you are ready to weave.
  5. Cut an even number of 10–14-inch pieces for spokes or ribs. EM4770 says six or eight are usual, though other even counts are possible. Set aside two or three long pieces, coiled, to use as weavers.
  6. Just before weaving, soak the spokes and weavers in warm water for 20–30 minutes, as the guide instructs.

These boiling and soaking directions are the cited guide’s method, not a universal rule for every honeysuckle species or other basketry material.

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Weave the basket base

Twining forms the basket by wrapping long weavers over and under grouped spokes. Arrange the spokes as two equal groups crossing at right angles, then temporarily tie the intersection with string so it stays in place.

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  1. Take one long weaver and fold it around one arm of the cross, leaving two working ends.
  2. Pass the ends alternately over and under successive spoke arms, keeping the crossings snug and the weave even.
  3. Continue around the cross for two or three initial rows, the number suggested by EM4770.

As the base grows, divide each spoke group in half and spread the spokes evenly. Continue twining around them to enlarge the base. You can separate spokes down to singles or keep them in pairs; whichever arrangement you use, keep their spacing regular so the base stays balanced.

Raise the sides and finish the rim

  1. When the base is the size you want, wet the woven area and gently bend the spokes upward to establish the basket walls.
  2. Continue twining around the upright spokes, maintaining even spacing and a consistent weave as the sides rise.
  3. When the basket is large enough, tuck the ends of the weavers into the woven section.
  4. Fold each spoke over and push it down alongside the next spoke to finish the rim. If a spoke will not pass through the weave, the guide suggests opening a space with a nail, ice pick, or similar tool. Work carefully with any sharp implement.
  5. Remove the temporary string after the weaving is secure.

The EM4770 sequence is a practical starting point, not a promise of a particular finished size, strength, durability, or completion time. The result depends on the material and how the basket is made.

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A specific Cherokee basketry history

Honeysuckle basketry has a documented place in Cherokee craft history, but it should not be presented as the universal or ancient material of Cherokee basket making. Western Carolina University’s profile of Cherokee weaver Lucy George says that rivercane and white oak were historically the materials used by most Cherokee basket makers; honeysuckle was less common before becoming more popular in Cherokee basketry during the twentieth century.

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George wove flexible honeysuckle over a more rigid white-oak framework, used hickory handles, and colored baskets with dyes made from plants and bark. She learned from other weavers and later taught basketry. The profile quotes the Indian Arts and Crafts Board’s 1970 brochure, Basketry by Lucy George: “Active as a basketweaver for some 40 years, today Mrs. George is widely renowned for the perfection of honeysuckle basket weaving and the richly patterned designs of all her baskets, which are both decorative and utilitarian.”

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Sources

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