Willow

This is a well intended book. It is sort of arts and crafts porn, in that the crafts are quite beautiful, and the information on how to achieve the results are well documented. The problem is that most of us do not have access to willows, nor do we have a place to grow them. But we can still dream about it, and read about it.

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The instructions are step by step, and it looks like a fun hobby to take up, although, as the author points out, in the old days, an apprenticeship would take three to five years.

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So, while the steps are well documented, and the results look quite good, I would think that this might be more a a guide to use, once you have found someone to also teach you how to weave. projects.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Weaving baskets is an ancient tradition. This book shows you how to grow willow, how to cure the willow twigs for basket weaving and teaches you some basic and advanced weaving techniques.

Although I have had the pleasure of learning how to weave baskets as a child, I still learned a lot of things from this book. I'd recommend it for beginners and more advanced crafters alike.

I've always loved willow baskets and chairs/benches, but didn't know much about the process of making them. Though various types of willow cuttings can be purchased from specialty suppliers (a list of resources is included), Crisp gives advice on setting up a willow bed to grow and harvest your own in only a year. The various types of willow are discussed along with how to prep materials for weaving, tools needed and finally, weaving techniques are detailed.

The final 2/3 of the book is comprised of projects, grouped together by the weaving technique used. Projects range from small home decor and tableware items to pieces of furniture and even outdoor screen panels. Each project's instructions are accompanied by photos showing the steps. I especially love the bird feeder made using a spiral weave - so much nicer than plastic ones mass produced! This book has given me a whole new appreciation for the work that goes into creating beautiful woven items.

Thank you to Jenny Crisp, Quarto Publishing Group - Jacqui Small and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. All comments are my own, unbiased opinion.

My review has been posted to my blog & Goodreads.

Review has also been tweeted as usual.

Thank you! :c)

I enjoyed Willow. I always love to learn about crafting and the history of willow is fascinating! I enjoyed learning about the different types as well as the bases for making a variety of creations. Each one is displayed with full colored pictures which help me follow along while trying to create. I love that they instructions are clear and put williow weaving in my own hands.

I admit, I never really gave much thought to willow weaving before this book, which is honestly a bit shameful because wow, what a beautiful form of functional art! The book includes lots of photos showing clear instruction on how to weave willow branches into baskets and decorative items, it also includes a section on how to grow the branches needed for the weaving. I absolutely love this book and highly recommend it to anyone who loves nature and homesteading crafts!

This book covers it all. Everything you wanted to know about willow from growing to harvesting to weaving. Absolutely amazing ! Thanks to netgalley for the free download. This is so amazing! Thanks to everyone for making this book possible. Can’t wait to try making a basket or bird feeder.

This is an excellent resource for those interested in useful, all-natural crafts. The history of basket making is covered, along with tips on growing and harvesting your own willows for crafting. All of the projects included are for practical, highly useful household items (laundry basket, garlic holder, bread tray, and even a small boat).

If i could only use one word to describe Willow by Jenny Crisp i would have to say inspiring.

As Jenny explains, willow work, basket making and weaving is a dying art, it is hard to find tutorials and information on the topic and there are less and less experienced people in the field.

what Jenny has put together here is priceless, the step by step instructions that not only cover growing, cutting and preparing willow, she also brings a modern twist on an age old tradition.

The projects are well explained with beautiful photos too.
This really is a lovely book that would make a great addition to any home , school or library, and will certainly be getting a place in our house.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received this book to review on NetGalley.
I am not an experienced basket Weaver but I did pick up the book with the intention of learning more about the beautiful craft. The book is really informative and well written. I enjoyed the thoughtful explanations of planting, and handling Willow as a material. I also appreciate the references in the back for obtaining some Willow. I do wish a little more explanation was given on preparing the Willow after harvesting such as soaking the Willow prior to using or beating the Willow after the project. I think as a beginner, I would need a little more explanation. Otherwise, I enjoyed the book and the pictures were stunning.

The author tells the reader how to do willow work, basket making and weaving is a dying art, it is hard to find tutorials and information on the topic and there are less and less experienced people in the field. The problem is that most I do not have access to willows so I can only read the book and dream about doing willow work.

Willow by Jenny Crisp

This comprehensive well explained and beautifully illustrated book tells of the willow (salix) used for weaving. There are directions for items to make and examples of items I would love to own. I almost envy the author her three decades of creating wonderful items that people no doubt enjoy and cherish.

I have done basket weaving as a child but this is much different from what we did. I learned about willow and the techniques used to create and would like to someday try weaving with willow should I have the chance. I also have to say I thought about this as a potentially lost skill that with this book one could be able to create useful items should an apocalypse occur ;)

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing-Jaqui Small for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4.5 Stars

Loved this book. I thought it made basketweaving seem fairly accessible (although not sure I'm ready to give it a try) and I loved the series of projects going from easy to difficult. Also the projects are just simply beautiful and the photography to depict them had a wonderful aesthetic feel.

I enjoyed Willow very much. Never had any basket making experience yet found it very interesting. For someone who knows the basic this is a very good book.
It covers the history and how to grow, cut and prepare willow for crafting. High quality pictures are beautiful and shows clear step by step instructions, showing basic and advance weaving techniques. Before this book I had no idea how much work goes into creating beautiful woven items, Now I have a totally different vision.
Many thanks to Netgalley for sending me a kindle copy to read.

A truly beautiful book. Some lovely ideas and projects in this book. An informative book which has a variety of techniques helpful for beginners to advanced. Beautiful pictures of some beautiful projects.

This book gives great insight about how to grow willow and use it to weave baskets. I enjoyed learning more about the history of willow and it makes me want to try weaving willow.

Willow by Jenny Crisp is a beautiful instructional book for growing, harvesting, and using willow to weave baskets, trays, and other home decor. The step-by-step photos are amazing and the instructions seem easy to follow. I wasn't familiar with growing willow, so I learned a lot about that possibility.

Here's yet another craft/art I want to try! Crisp makes the creation of willow baskets, etc. look easy and fun. The photographs are quite beautiful.

The projects in this book are beautiful. The information and instructions are well presented. The pictures are inspirational and I'd love to create many of the projects. I think it would be fun as well as challenging to make many of these creations including baskets and tables. Now, I just need to find out where we'd find out find the willow supplies. OH and while this instructions are there in great detail it will take years of practice to master this wonderful hobby. This book is a place to start.

Willow is a weaving/crafting tutorial on growing, harvesting, and creating objects from willow. Released 18th Oct 2018 on Quarto's Jacqui Small imprint, it's 144 pages and available in hardcover and ebook formats.

Author Jenny Crisp has combined the ancient craft of creating with willow along with more modern design elements. I was impressed to see that this book also includes a fully usable introduction to sourcing materials including a solid beginner section on growing one's own canes. That alone is worth the price of the book.

The book starts with a good introduction to history and craft as well as the section on sourcing and growing materials. The next sections deal with sorting and preparing materials as well as an introduction to necessary tools. The basic techniques chapter which follows covers the different braiding techniques as well as hand care and suggestions for safety. The last 2/3rds of the content are complete tutorials for 20 different projects, beginner to advanced. These are fully photographed and clear and concise including measurements, materials, and necessary tools. The photography is beautiful and clear and fully supports and illustrates the instructions. The end of the book includes a resource page slanted to the crafter living in the UK.

Wonderful introduction to crafting and weaving with wood/willow. The projects are very attractive and most are functional (baskets, vessels, screens, etc). There are some purely decorative pieces included (a simple door wreath, a decorative star, napkin rings, etc).

Probably the best basket weaving tutorial book in my library and certainly the only willow specific one in my library. Highly recommended.

Five stars.

Truly inspiring book on creating with willow. All the projects are well designed and easy to follow. I am a keen gardener and can't wait to make the cloche to protect my plants from marauding possums and wallabies. My two favourite projects are the lunch basket and the breakfast tray.
They would make perfect Christmas presents! 2019?

Plenty of photos accompany this book which makes it so much easier to follow. The short history of the use of willow is interesting. There are four main sections to the book: Working with Willow; Key techniques; Projects, and Resources. Each section is well explained and I thought the projects were really attractive and useful. I think you would need quite a bit of space to grow and harvest the willow, but otherwise I think most people could give it a go with this book to hand. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

This is a gorgeous book that really gets across how much skill and practice there is to willow weaving. It's an appealing introduction to the craft, but I wouldn't expect anyone to learn how to actually make anything solely from this book -- there's clearly a lot of finesse involved that can't be conveyed in photographs and text.

I have three large weeping willow trees in my garden, with their whippy branches I always wonder if I could make baskets with them. It turns out that I probably need a stronger or purpose grown type of willow to make these baskets. Having said that, this book is an excellent book on both growing, planting and harvesting willow. The instructions on making the baskets are fabulous and include flat weave, natural weave, spiral weave, round weave and lastly square weave. Each technique has a number of project to make for the home or garden and are well explained and illustrated.
A very informative book.

Thank you Quatro Publishing and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

Willow is a lovely, comprehensive and easy to understand book with gorgeous illustrations. The book takes the reader through the initial processes of identifying different types of willow, how to grow and harvest it, through to templates for creating many beautiful pieces from napkins rings, bread baskets, shopping baskets, stools to outdoor screens.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and learn from this incredible craft form. It took me back to fond memories of making baskets as a child and has given lots of food for thought.

This is a nice book for those looking to use willow twigs for crafting. The author made some really nice stuff especially the flat mat used with the teapot. I'd love to have that. But one thing crossed my mind during the section of the craft tutorials. I wonder if she ever gets hit or nicked by those willow sticks. they seem quite bendy and me being an Old Country Girl I know a thing or two about a switch. I know it's weird but that is just one of the questions I have that I'd love to ask Ms. Crisp.


She is amazing and her work is spectacular. It really makes me think of all the hard work that goes into those handmade baskets and mats that are hand woven we see inside the craft stores and what not. She grows her willows, soak, and trim them to make her designs. It's really great.

Basket weaving is an art that takes considerable skill, plus lots of patience to insure quality results. I took a beginner's class when we lived in Alaska and thoroughly enjoyed the process but since I had not kept up I had forgotten most of what I learned. This book has beautiful pictures with clear guidance to achieve something that could almost look like Jenny Crisp's efforts! My friends and I had a good time making some of the items and are determined to complete more. Keep practicing and you'll have memories and mementos to share.