When you have completed this rug you may want to make others with patterns woven into them. Draw the pattern on the canvas with a soft lead pencil and it will be quite easy to work.
[Basket Weaving]
[CHAPTER III]
BASKET WEAVING
The rattan of which the baby's go-cart and mother's armchair are woven came from a far-away forest in India. Troops of monkeys may have swung upon the very pieces on which your baby brother is bouncing, for the rattan hung from tree to tree in long festoons. One day some brown natives cut it down and stripped it of its leaves. It was then packed in bundles and sent to this country. The hard, shiny bark cut into strips has been woven into cane seats for chairs, and the inner part or core of the rattan was cut by a machine into the round strands that you see in wicker furniture.
It takes a man's strong hands to weave great armchairs and baby carriages, but boys and girls can make charming little mats and baskets as well as tiny chairs and tables for the doll's house, and other interesting things. Dealers in kindergarten supplies sell the rattan in different sizes, from No. 00, which is as fine as cord, to No. 7 or No. 8, which is almost as thick as rope. You will only need the medium sizes, Nos. 2, 3 and 4, for your weaving, with some raffia—the soft but strong fibre that the gardener uses for tying up his plants. This you will also find at the kindergarten-supply store. A pair of shears, a yardstick and an awl are the only tools you will need.