We always enjoy visiting Vietnam. Over the last 12 years, Vietnam always shows us something new and wonderful with each visit. Hanoi has been a favorite city for years.
We visited the village where our Double Wall Nesting Baskets are woven. The picture above captures a basket in progress. It takes Thao Nguyen about 20 minutes to weave a single basket. At age 16, she is already a master weaver and also a star student in school. To watch her weave is extraordinary, it is as if she is playing the piano.
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Loi is another weaver from the same village. She weaved this basket for us while we visited. This is on its way to becoming a double wall nesting basket, but we asked her to stop right about this moment. We're going to use this 'basket in progress' as a demonstration piece at NEST. If you haven't heard of our new retail project check out this post.
You really gain an appreciation for the time and the hand work that goes into each of our baskets when we observe first hand the making of......
Along the way, we stopped at the seashore and found that basket weaving had an impact on the local fishing industry too. The shrimp and squid fishermen use what could be simply called, a large basket as their fishing boat. The woven rattan is hardened with a resin to make them virtually impenetrable. Their skill to navigate these 'bobbing baskets' while also tending to the fishing was most impressive.
