Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair Recap

On vacation last week, I stopped by the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair in Grayslake, IL.  I had a great time and did a little shopping while I was there.  First up, I took the Weave a Basket class to create a divided tote. We started with placing and gluing reed into the handmade walnut base followed by instructions.  While we were waiting for it to dry, I got to head over to the market for some shopping and over lunch, I stopped by to see all of the llamas.  After lunch, we worked through the rest of the reed, weaving it up the sides of the basket. 

I got it finished in time to take home late in the afternoon. It was slightly damp all night, so it gave me the opportunity to push it into shape a bit more.  I couldn't decide to stain the reed or not, and if I do, I would want it to match pretty closely, so for the moment I opted to leave it au natural.  And I am already putting it to good use with my knitting.  The end pockets are a little small for a ball of yarn, so this might end up being used for paper crafts.  We'll see.