Thick & Thin [𝓣𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓦𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓭]

Chapter 44

June 13th–
Hey. Uh– it's me, Fellow. I've never written a little introduction journal entry for this, but lemme take a wing at it. So, Snowflake, Ivy, and Hime came to the house three days ago while all of us were asleep. Now, since today is the 13th, Aunt Kalei told us about some plants in the tropical forest that could be used to make baskets for the luau. And, you may ask, why are we making baskets for June 20th? Well, it's because they're going to be holding an assortment of fruits in them. It's supposed to be some kind of decorative thing for the 20th. I find it kinda fun, weaving baskets and learning other things that contrast with our life in a suburban Italian town. But others, on the other hand...

~~~

"I don't get it."

Snowflake sat criss-crossed on the floor, her tail swaying behind her. Her ears were bent back. Kekoa and Kaimana were sitting in a circle with their friends and family, weaving baskets. Fellow and Allison also seemed confused, having a heap of the plants in their laps. Gidel was busy in the kitchen, munching on some snacks that Noelani had bought from the store. "Once you figure out how to do the corners, weaving a diagonal shape is not that hard to do," Noelani said from the kitchen.

She was cooking some laulau, Kaimana's favorite food. Kekoa sat forward, showing the group his unfinished basket. "Start weaving long blades of grass in the basic weaving pattern," he instructed, doing the steps slowly as he spoke.

Allison and Fellow both did just that as the others slowly attempted to do it. "Create a large weave to form the base of the basket. Then continue weaving. This large flat weave will form the base of the grass basket," Kekoa explained, showing his progress.

Ivy weaved part of the basket and then she showed him. "Is this right?" she asked shyly.

"Yep! Now, to create a diagonal pattern, turn the weave to shape a diamond," Kaimana replied, cutting his brother off.

Skylar and Hime watched his hands intently, following his steps. "Turn the weave to form a diamond shape. This will give you a diagonal weave pattern. Fold the four sides flat to create the bottom edges, then fold the four sides flat to create the bottom edges. The grass should just snap but not break," Kekoa added.

They followed his instructions as Noelani and Gidel walked into the room to see the group making the baskets. "To weave the sides, create a sharp corner by folding and weaving the grass. And creating a neat corner is always the hardest. Fold the corner blade over to create an edge and continue the weaving pattern," Noelani explained.

Fellow's ears perked up as he meticulously folded and weaved the grass to make the sides. "Fold the next blade over and weave it down the opposite side. Then weave each blade down the basket. Continue the weaving pattern to create the sides," Kaimana added.

His eyes scanned the group as they kept weaving to create the sides of the baskets. They kept weaving the sides until Kekoa snapped, causing the others to pause and look at him. "As you weave pull the blades of grass tight to create a strong basket. Cut the loose strands shorter and weave it back into the design," he explained.

Gidel went to the kitchen and came back with a pair of scissors. He handed the pair to Ivy and she cut the loose strands. When she finished, she passed the scissors to Snowflake, and so forth. "When the sides are as high as you want it to be, cut the grass a bit shorter and fold the alternating blades over the top grass. Weave to catch the blade and weave the blade down the outside of the basket," Noelani put in.

Allison swiftly did it. "Now do the same, fold the leftover blades over to the inside of the basket to catch those weave blades and weave it in the inside. Cut any leftover grass sections short," Kaimana said.