Such a gorgeous day again today at the Butterfly Art Studio. The weather was beautiful and the weavers keen. All the structural set up for a frame basket happens at the start of the day. I think it can seem a bit overwhelming for a beginner.

These guys were fab, their perseverance really paid off as they all achieved lovely shaped baskets. They were able to spend the afternoon peacefully weaving with a mixture of willow and rush.

Just over a week ago I spent a day with my Basketry mates, the Basketry Collective, learning the Burkina Plait from Nadine Anderson.

We started with paper string to practice the twists involved that hold it all together and then very quickly moved on to rush. The rush was such a beautiful green harvested this year by Nadine, it was a real treat to be using such lovely material.

Although I’ve done a lot of plaiting I was completely new to this and thoroughly enjoyed getting to grips with the technique. That is one of the lovely things about Basketry, there is always something new to learn.

I finished the bag off with a few rush flowers and a leather strap. There is definitely room for improvement and I hope to keep practising over the coming weeks.

A basket woven with hops to celebrate harvest. Autumn is one of my favourite seasons, the other being Spring!

These hops grow wild in my garden along the hedge but next weekend you have the opportunity to come and help with the hop picking at Star Wing Brewery.

This is the second year the brewery is running this event. I’m really looking forward to it. Last year there was a real sense of people coming together, it was great fun.

It starts at 2pm, The Ludlum Pikes are playing from 4.30pm followed by a hog roast at 6pm. Then Mick the Baker and his band are playing from around 8pm. As well as all of that Old Empire Motorcycles will have some bikes out for folk to look at.

Hope to see you there!