I love to challenge myself to try new things. There are so many mindful craft activities and I love spending my day off listening to Radio 4 and making something for our home. Yodomo recently invited me to try one of their craft kits. Have you heard of them? They have a selection of online courses so you craft at home, from weaving to ceramics, botany and woodwork. They kindly sent me a craft kit to make a random weave basket along with access to the online course.

How to make a random weave basket

The craft kit contained lengths of cane in a tote bag. There was also a list of other everyday materials which I gathered before I sat down to make. The online course was accessed via their website, with video tutorials by Julia Clark.

This was the first video tutorial I’ve ever tried. I love going off to a crafty workshop but it’s so hard to find the time. I think this might be the way forward for me!

Each step of the instructions was on a different  web page so you could see how you were progressing with each step. I gathered my supplies and started work, making a mould to wrap my cane around.

I placed the pieces of cane in warm water which helped them to relax a little and be more mouldable.

Then I wrapped lengths of cane around my block, wrapping them under and over other pieces to keep everything in place. It was harder than I thought it was going to be as my cane kept popping up!

I’m not sure what happened but after a while of playing with the cane I decided to stop and start again, using a balloon to wrap my cane around. I found it easier to make a round random weave basket/ball. When I’d finished wrapping the cane I left it to dry for a few hours, then popped the balloon in the centre and took it out. I was left with a sweet decorative random weave ball.

Thank you to Yodomo for letting me try this course out at home. They offer lots of online courses and kits to craft in the comfort of your own home.