Introduction to Ply-Split Braiding
With Annetta Kraayeveld
This program is part of Handwork 2026, presented by Craft in America
Basket weavers and tapestry weavers, this is a wonderful opportunity to add a new technique to your fiber arts adventure.
Ply- Split Braiding originated in northwest India. Weavers have used this technique to create camel girths in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the 1980’s after traveling to India, Peter Collingwood introduced Ply-Split Braiding to the UK, Europe and North America.
Traditional weavers continue to use ply-split braiding to make bands and mats. Contemporary fiber artists also use the technique to make sculptural and vessel forms.
Working with cords handspun by the instructor, you will ply-split braid a small fiber vessel. Instructor will teach a number of ply-split braiding and finishing techniques, focusing on the Single-Course Oblique Twining (SCOT) method.
At the end of the workshop, students will understand how to apply their ply-split knowledge to make sculptural forms and will leave with the materials to make one at home.
You will receive a fid ply split tool, a printed how-to pattern and the materials to make 2 small baskets/vessels (one in class, one at home).
You will also have the option to purchase additional cords and the instructor’s book, Ply-Split Braiding: Basics and Beyond.
- Skill level All
- Age appropriate 16+ (minors must have a parent on site)
- Materials fee $60
- Students should bring
A small pair of sharp scissors (embroidery scissors); A pair of sharp fabric scissors; note-taking materials; a lunch, and a drink.
Instructor
Annetta KraayeveldIt’s hard for Annetta to remember a time when she was not making something, she is a maker.
In the early 1990’s, she discovered basket weaving after stumbling upon a book and begging for a lesson; she quickly began making baskets, experimenting, and teaching basketry. She has been teaching at fiber arts and basketry gatherings across North America since 2000.
Over the years, Annetta’s work has won several awards and been included in several national exhibits. She currently has work in several exhibits, including Art Evolved: Intertwined (Studio Art Quilt Associates and National Basketry Organization), both the 2024 and 2025 Small Expressions (Handweavers Guild of America) and International Fiber Arts XII (Sebastopol Center for the Arts and Surface Design Association).
Annetta served as the National Basketry Organization Board president in 2022 and 2023. She participated in the World Wicker and Weaving Festival in Poznan, Poland in 2023.
Baskets. What started as a hobby soon became her life’s work. As a teacher, she focuses on mastery, basketry techniques and stretching perceived limits. As a maker, her work is somewhere between traditional and contemporary. Annetta was born and raised on the prairies in Alberta, Canada. After living among the trees in Wisconsin for many years, she is happy to weave and live surrounded by mountains in Helena, Montana.
www.annettakraayeveld.com
www.prairiewoodbasketry.com
