It all started with an umbrella stand

I'm sure you've heard of pedigree baskets. But do you know what it is? Pedigree is a natural material that is imported from the tropics of Southeast Asia. It comes from the inner part of the aerial root of the Calamus rotang liana.

Mária Borská, who works in the payroll office, also weaves beautiful baskets from pedigo.

How did it start?

"My classic, knitted umbrella stand fell apart at home. So I said to myself that maybe I could make one myself. I started searching on the internet, a pedigo basket appeared, so on May 1, 2019, I knitted my first basket. And then it took off. I tried different sizes, types of baskets, with different closures... In the summer of the same year, I was diagnosed with oncological disease, I was unable to work for 8 months. So I said to myself that it was God, or some other force in the universe, who gave me a pedigree, because she knew that I would need it. The first two days I cried, then I started knitting. During the day and especially at night when I couldn't sleep. And I continue to do so. I have a mentally demanding job, after which I need to switch off and relax, and that's the best way for me – to keep my hands busy. Now I weave baskets mainly in the evenings. It's definitely better than coming home, lying down on the couch and falling asleep with the evening news," said Mária Borská.

At our meeting over a cup of coffee, she brought various types and sizes of baskets for demonstration - from trays for cups, through baskets for pastries, for napkins, for cutlery, baskets for Easter holidays, St. Nicholas boots.  Wicker baskets also have a very nice use in the bathroom – for cosmetics, towels...

Pencil containers are a great success with children, to which she also attaches various characters that children have to color. However, she admitted that she had to borrow most of the baskets she brought from her neighbors in a hurry, because she does not have large supplies at home.

When asked where she goes for advice or inspiration, she answers as follows: "I'm in the same group on social networks, along with other women with the same hobby. We work together, we advise each other, we show each other our inventions. I gained a lot of new friends in this way, from Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Tutorials can also be found on you tube. It is absolutely best to take the course, it can also be done online. The pedigree is easy to work with. It is soaked in lukewarm water beforehand to soften it. The closures are complicated – braids and other patterns with which we finish the basket. For a beginner, the most difficult thing is to understand the method of knitting, which wand has where to fit.  You need to watch a lot of videos. Before I learned it, I sat over my laptop for hours. There is also a big mess at work, so I weave baskets in the study, but I always have to clean the floor before my grandson arrives."

She orders the pedigree and everything he needs for this, including a plywood bottom, from the Internet. You can get different bottoms - round, oval, square, small and large. Over time, she also learned another technique – decoupage, which is actually a napkin technique that she sometimes uses to decorate the bottom of baskets.

Children helped her to use the possibilities of the Internet even more. They have set up a website called Baskets by Maňka, where she presents her products. And they also designed her own brand logo.

We wanted to know how many baskets she had already made: "I didn't count them. I don't knit large quantities. It's mental hygiene for me. I give most of it to family, friends, colleagues. But I also make a custom basket for them when they need a gift for someone. People like my baskets. Especially in today's modern world, when there is glass, concrete everywhere, everything is gray, white and black, without colors, it is necessary to let a little nature into our homes, from which warmth goes to the soul."

Mária Borská does not even go to craft markets to sell her products. She made an exception only about twice.

"It's my hobby, I don't make to sell. That would no longer be the same and it would no longer be a joy, but an obligation, chasing deadlines...  And I don't even have time for it. I don't want to make a living from it, I want to keep it for my pleasure. In every single basket or other product, there is a piece of my soul. If I'm not here one day, maybe someone will take a basket in their hand and say, well, this basket was knitted for me by Manya," she says.

We also asked how the umbrella stand that triggered the whole thing turned out, whether it is still functional:

"Umbrella stand? Well, I still haven't finished it. In May, it was 5 years. I have it ready and I will definitely finish it one day! But before that, I want to try to knit strollers for dolls, for little girls. I already have the bottoms of the strollers ready. So the stand will probably wait a little longer."