The Wicker Woman

Seatweaving & Chair Caning Forum
Founded & Moderated by Cathryn Peters

On March 10, 2004 I began an online chair caning discussion board forum that is now celebrating its 6th year anniversary in just a few days!

The Seatweaving & Chair Caning Forum ™ is hosted by YourWebApps.com and can be found at http://disc.yourwebapps.com/Indices/220033.html There had been a previous chair caning forum, but it only lasted a few years and was abandoned by its moderator, so that’s when I stepped up to the plate and started this one.

The Seatweaving & Chair Caning Forum ™ was started to unite the sometimes isolated chair caning hobbyists, beginners, as well as seasoned professionals that due to geographic location, had no peers to converse with about the craft of chair seat weaving.

It’s also a great place to announce member’s accomplishments, classes they are teaching, newspaper features about them, relevant events taking place during the year, interesting items on eBay or elsewhere on the Net.

And of course, it’s a great place to post information about the first, and only official chair caning guild in the US, The SeatWeavers’ Guild, which began right here on the forum!

So now, as long as you have an Internet connection you can converse with others, asking questions about chair caning and other types of seat weaving and get your answers in just a matter of hours or days.

It no longer matters whether you live in a busy, crowded city or out in the remote areas of the country–we are all united and have the Seatweaving & Chair Caning Forum™ to connect us!

The forum now has 200 registered participants and an untold number of chair caners and other interested parties that just browse the daily posts, but don’t participate in the conversations.

A few years ago, the registration process was implemented to insure a close-knit, like-minded community of chair caning enthusiasts and eliminate unwanted spam posts.

Many of our “forum members” have been with us since day one and are still active participants, sharing their knowledge, helping to perpetuate the craft of chair seat weaving.

And although this chair caning forum is located here in the United States, we have current members from as far away as New Zealand, Scotland and England. The technical terminology of chair seat weaving is different in many parts of the world, but the actual physical weaving techniques are fairly universal, as most will attest!

The chair caning forum began as a free, ad sponsored format, but then after only a few months, I began paying an annual fee to eliminate the distracting and annoying animated banner ads.

Thanks to the donations from several of our members over the years, it has remained basically ad free. If you’d care to donate also, there’s a PayPal Donation button on the Homepage, right above the beginning posts!

Due to the limitations of the forum host, it’s not possible to directly upload and post pictures of the chair seat weaving items we are talking about, so we’ve set up a paid gallery at http://www.PictureTrail.com/seatweavingforum.

At our PictureTrail Gallery you can see all the many fine works of our forum members and also see what it is that they might have a question about and need some help with.

Maybe you’d like to try your hand at chair caning, but are not sure what all is involved and need some help–join the forum and begin by using the SEARCH box to read all the past posts.

After six years of posts amounting to over 8,500 we’ve discussed a lot of topics! Or maybe you’d like to share your knowledge with others, helping to keep this nearly lost art alive!

Spread the word to all your friends and family about the Seatweaving & Chair Caning Forum. Hope to see you there! Happy Weaving!

Hey all you basketmakers and chair seat weavers — Did you see the  article about The SeatWeavers’ Guild which appeared in the current February 2010 Issue#69 of Basket Bits Magazine ?

Our innovative and unique new chair caning guild called, The SeatWeavers’ Guild is in this issue with a two-page article including lots of pictures, on page 15!

Read all about our new guild in the magazine  and then jump on over to our website.

On the site, which has just undergone a redesign, you will find pictures of our members and their projects, see what we are planning for the coming months, and learn more about our next Gathering in July at Tiller’s International.

Join our innovative group by filling out the PDF membership application form and then, “Weave On!”

If you don’t already have a subscription to this great magazine, be sure to visit Basket Bits website where you will learn all about the magazine and be able to become a subscriber, too.

FYI: The logo on WickerWoman.com is clickable! So if you want to go back to the Homepage quickly, just go up to the logo at the top of each age and CLICK! Presto, you’ve been taken back to the Homepage!

Here on the homepage (as well as most pages on the site) is where you can select from all the navigation tabs on the left side to find all the interesting topics, articles, resource links, etc.

Only four pages on the site have the navigation at the top instead of the left side. But take heart, there’s also a Site Map tab there at the top, too. And as you all know, the Site Map lists each page of my website! Enjoy!

I just added another page here on WickerWoman.com called, “Chair Caning.”

And as the name implies, the page deals with a little bit of history, the material itself and the application of and use of cane in chair seat weaving.

Check out the “Chair Caning” hotlink over there in the left side navigation under the “Helpful Resources” heading when you are surfing through the site pages.

FYI, the left side navigation bar is not on the pages listed below:

• Cane & Basket Supplies Directory ™
• National Furniture Repair Directory™
• Antler Baskets
  
• Links-Publications
  

All those pages have a menu at the top of the page for your convince.

If you ever get lost, you can always go to the Site Map tab where all pages are listed and click on the one you want. Or you can always click on the logo at the top of every page to be taken back to the Homepage.

I’ve been really, really busy here on WickerWoman.com these last few weeks in particular.

Trying to make it more accessible and easier to navigate for you the viewer/customer and for myself, of course!

Biggest change was to the Furniture Repair Directory in the Seatweaving section where we’ve gone to a 3-column ad listing page from the previous 2-column.

This change allows for more chair caning/seatweaving experts listed per page and cuts down on the overall length of the two pages, substantially.

Go ahead, jump on over there and take a look for yourself. I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s quite an improvement! While you’re there, contact some of those good folks if you have some chair caning that needs to get done.

Hurry up there now! The slow winter season is almost gone, then in the spring things pick up and you might have to put your name on a waiting list to get your family heirloom repaired or restored! Jump quickly, don’t lose out!

We have a new addition to the National Furniture Repair Directory ™ here on WickerWoman.com!

Tricia Vandewater, owner of Wicker, Cane & Rush Work located in Eustis, Florida has been in the business for many years doing museum quality work.

Those of you in Florida that need chair caning done, be sure to contact Tricia today!

See her ad in the Directory and give her a call or shoot her an email at Chair Caning in Florida

Ever wonder what has to be done to repair a reed wicker rocker?

Take a look at this How-to Repair a Child’s Wicker Rocker article to see how I repaired this darling Victorian child’s wicker rocker made out of rattan reed.

One of the first changes in 2010 that I’m making here on the WickerWoman.com chair caning blog, is to claim this blog through Technorati, so here goes! Tada!

Keep watching for more as I add to this blog and really make it pop! I’ll also be making changes to my other blog through Blogger.com, Weavin’ Wicker Woman

We welcome two newly added Chair Caning-Seatweaving Experts on the National Furniture Repair Directory ™.

Find the Chair Caning Experts Alabama and Vermont–get your prized family heirlooms and flea market finds restored to their former glory!

Do you have all your tax deductions in a row? Don’t wait until the last minute to start looking for extra deductions for your Schedule C form!

Check out Barbara Brabec’s PDF eBook, Secrets to Maximizing Schedule C Deductions, to make sure you’re not overlooking any of the many legal deductions available to home-business owners and other self-employed individuals who file a Schedule C form. (You can sample the book prior to ordering.)

Accountants rarely (if ever) remind business owners about deductions they might be overlooking, or tax strategies they might implement. They just work with the figures they are given. But Barbara offers a clear and detailed discussion of dozens of deductions that many home-business owners may be overlooking.

In this eBook for U.S. taxpayers, she explains the pros and cons of different strategies you can use to lower self-employment taxes while also warning about tax pitfalls to avoid. Click here to view more details on saving money on your tax returns!