This beautiful and unusual basket was made by Yvonne Elliott of Wyoming. A couple months ago on the trip to cross the Bay Bridge near Annapolis, I saw a sign for "historic Wye, Maryland." (See my blog post about the Wye Oak which includes a photo of the grist mill.) In Wye's grist mill was a display of baskets, which I found out, were made from used cowboy lariats, fused together with a soldering iron, one inch at a time. The blue coloration on each rope comes from old rubber tire tubes wrapped around the saddle horn. Once a cow is roped, the lariat end is wrapped around the horn to hold the cow in place, and the rubber tube keeps it from slipping. This unique idea of making the baskets came from the need to dispose of used ropes and Yvonne's ingenuity.
Anyone interested in a lariat basket by Yvonne can contact her at: yelliott@wyoming.com
