Making my first Kishie
‘Kishie’ is a Shetland style basket, used by Crofters to carry peat and similar hefty materials. Traditionally these were made from any materials to hand, like field rush, grasses or sometimes dock stems. Kishies were never sold, they were made for practical use before baskets became a commercial commodity.
I made my first Kishie while in Portugal, as I’d brought Lois Warpole’s book; KISHIES AND CUDDIES A Guide to the Traditional Basketry of Shetland with me. The book talks about the history, evidence, style and eventually the technique for making a Kishie and I read with avid interest!
Making the Kishie
I’d had my eye of the Round Bullrush growing in a lake just 10 minutes walk away, as the stems were long enough to make the basket. After wading in and cutting handfuls, I hoped I had enough to make the Kishie. I dunked, then wiped clean the rushes and put them aside to read more of Lois’ book.
To my horror, the first step was to make 40 metres of string! I’ve made a lot of cordage (string), but that still sounded a lot to me. Ten hours later, the string was made and I was ready to begin. I experimented with a few plants, and settled on the dying leaves of a Yucca plant growing on the farm I was staying at. The fibres felt strong enough to do the job.
The Yucca plant that I harvested the brown leaves from and my ball of 40 metres of string!
The process of creating a kishie
Once all the preparation was done, which was hard but satisfying work, I got stuck into the making. It’s true that you need strong hands to make the Kishie tight enough to be functional and look good. It’s a wonderful process getting to know plants and a traditional technique in this way. I truly loved the process!
The actual technique itself if quite simple, and bought or found string could be used instead if you don’t want to make your own. As with any creative project, it’s great to make it your own, so I strayed a little from the traditional style, making it into a rucksack and adding extra handles so it could be carried in my hands too. I also added a crisscross design at the top, which I needed to make more string for!
The kishie design
I’m still tweaking the final design, making sure it is strong, comfy and useable. And then I’m planning to learn more by making more of them! Perhaps a kishie style shoulder bag, or something that could be made in a day of two. Do sign up to my newsletter if you want to find out about future courses.
Finally, a massive appreciation to all our traditions, ancestors, our heritage, to all the work, care, skill, resilience and creativity of all those that went before us. May we continue to build a good, sustainable world.
