Every basket ever woven is built from four movements, and once your hands know them, the forms in this book stop looking mysterious. This crash course teaches the movements first, then spends them on real baskets: a table mat, a gathering basket, a twined storage basket, a willow garden basket, and a market basket with a handle.

Caleb Mercer begins with materials, because reed, cane, and willow each ask for different handling. You learn to choose, soak, and prepare stock properly, set up a safe workspace with a short tool list, and keep tension even so sides rise straight instead of wandering.

Inside, you will find:
Choosing your first materials: reed, cane, and willow
Tools, soaking, and preparing stock for weaving
The four movements of weaving, drilled in order
A woven table mat as your first finished piece
Building a round base, shaping sides, finishing borders
Gathering, twined storage, and willow garden baskets
A market basket with a handle, plus finishing and care

Each project states its materials and the movements it practices, so you always know which basket matches your current skill. A full troubleshooting guide answers the beginner classics: gaps, lopsided walls, broken weavers, and borders that will not close.

The course suits complete beginners, gardeners who want baskets they grew into shape themselves, and crafters thinking about gifting or selling, which the final chapter covers with plain advice on practice and pricing. Gardeners especially will get daily use from the gathering and garden forms, which are sized for real harvests, tool carrying, and mudroom duty rather than decoration, and the willow chapter shows how to select, cut, and season material close to home so a sound basket can start from a hedgerow as easily as from a supplier.

Four movements, honest materials, and baskets that carry real weight. Weave the table mat first and feel the pattern click.