Cat Mai
Founder · rims and handles
Started the shop after a winter of evening classes. She still cuts every handle and lashes every rim. If the rim is wrong, she will take it off and do it again while you wait, which is not as charming as it sounds.
The workshop
A barn, three weavers, and a pile of oak.
We work on Splint Lane in Califon. The South Branch of the Raritan is close enough to hear when the windows are open.
NJ Baskets started in 1987, when Ruth Ellison needed a winter project and had a barn. The first baskets were crooked. A few of them are still in the rafters, where they belong.
Monday through Wednesday the blue door stays shut and the radio stays on. Those are weaving days. Thursday through Sunday the shop is open, the coffee is ordinary, and you can pick a basket up off the bench and feel the weight of it.
We work in white oak, willow, and seagrass. South Jersey has a long splint-oak tradition, and Lenape makers were weaving on this land long before any of us. That history is not our brand story. We are a small workshop trying to do the craft well, and we say so plainly.
Most of what we make is spoken for before it leaves the bench. If you want a basket next week, order it. If you want to see them in person, come Thursday.
1987Doors opened
3Weavers on the bench
400Baskets in a good year
1Blue door
The weavers
Elaine Lee
Bases and the big work
Came for a summer and stayed twelve years. Laundry baskets, storage hampers, and anything that has to hold weight start on his bench. She is particular about a base that sits flat.
Nate Kim
Willow, seagrass, small baskets
Keeps the soaking tank on a schedule and writes the date inside the base. The berry baskets, the nests, and the garden trugs are hers. He will tell you if a handle is going to bite.
The year
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Winter
We rive oak while it’s cold. The splits run cleaner, and the barn is the warmest room we have. This is when the storage hampers get made.
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Spring
Willow is in sap, so we peel it. Garden trugs and berry baskets go out the door as soon as the farm stands open.
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Summer
The door stays open. Market baskets, mostly. People stop on the way to the river and leave with something they did not plan to buy.
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Fall
Hampers and gifts. The longest bench days of the year. If you want a Christmas basket in New Jersey, December 10 is the honest cutoff.