Meet the maker: Isle of Wight basket maker Heather Knowles

Weaving her way

Heather Knowles Isle of Wight Basket Maker

By Tracy Curtis Pictures Julian Winslow

The craft of basket making is ancient and versatile, and Heather Knowles has a passion for it. Her skilled work promotes the idea that baskets should have their place, as natural and beautiful works of functional art, to be used time and time again – a far more sustainable option than the plastic alternatives that have pushed this craft aside.

In recent years, she’s held willow workshops and open studios, taken commissions for interactive feeding toys for animals, wine glass carriers, log baskets, animal sculptures and set up a website to showcase her work. She adds, “I also love restoring old baskets. There are usually family stories behind these, which mean someone loves them enough to want to keep using them. They may seem like little jobs, but they all mean a lot to me.”

Heather started basket making as a hobby but, after attending a basket

“The more you chill out, the better it comes. You get totally engrossed in what you’re doing, and it’s really good for your mental health.”

making course, she became addicted, “I wanted to learn as much as I could. I travelled to the mainland for more courses, and thought I was getting quite good, but it’s only by doing the baskets time after time that you really pick it up.” A stint with famed Irish basket maker Joe Hogan gave her the confidence, experience and push she needed to join The Basketmakers’ Association, and become the Island’s only resident basket maker. Heather sources her willow from Somerset, explaining, “Basket willow

“I’d like to teach traditional, sustainable skills like coppicing, growing vegetables, skills that are simple and useable.”

is different from hedge willow, which is more likely to crack and break. The willow I use requires different preparations to produce different finishes, and comes in a wide variety of beautiful natural colours.”

To make the willow workable, Heather soaks it in a trough. This takes time, and she needs to start preparing a week in advance for workshop students to make their own basket and handle. “Soaking the willow enables you to work with it, but it can still be tiring on your hands because you’re concentrating, and tend to grip things harder. I try to teach techniques to make this easier. There’s a skill to it, and a rhythm. You can’t be in a hurry. If you’re not patient, it’s probably not the craft for you. The more you chill out, the better it comes. You get totally engrossed in what you’re doing, and it’s really good for your mental health.” Heather also loves telling people about her craft’s history. How different areas create different baskets for their needs, with the materials around them, incorporating their own patterns and using them with pride. Lobster pots used to be made of willow, so Bembridge and Freshwater’s pots would be made with the same

functionality, but in their own local style. Willow was also widely used during the war, for medical baskets dropped from planes, and to protect bomb canisters from bumping. Once lockdown hit, the talks and classes she’d lined up disappeared overnight, so Heather took the opportunity to pursue a dream. “As time went on, I started thinking life can be so short. I’ve always wanted a studio, where I could hold my workshops, plant my own withy beds, store materials, and give visitors an insight to basketmaking. Eventually, I’d like to teach traditional, sustainable skills like coppicing, growing vegetables, skills that are simple and useable.” After securing a four-acre plot last year, Heather is gradually going through the processes and hard work required to make her dream work. She’s already planted her first withy beds, and held workshops, saying “It’s a big job I’ve taken on, but I really do love it, and if I don’t do this now, I never will.”

Delightsof the season

From hearty slow-cooked comfort food and afternoon teas full of detail and decadence to sailing the fermented seas of small-scale independent breweries: the following pages will inspire and ignite those autumn taste buds.

Autumnal afternoon teas – our favourite places to enjoy this quintessentially British pastime: page 56-58 Autumn feasting: heart-gladdening casseroles, soul-lifting seasonal salads, and late-season fruit pudding favourites: pages 47-53

Discover the history behind Isle of Wight doughnuts, a local speciality: page 54

Take a voyage of craft beer discovery, with Cowes’ Lifecraft and Sandown’s Boojum&Snark: pages 60-61