When Jo Rusin retired from the military, she was looking for a new challenge to fill her life. She found her challenge in the old craft of chair caning. She says that the best thing about chair caning "is that when you're finished, you can sit down on your work and relax!" Jo demonstrated two different styles of caning for us, the twill weave pattern (figure A) and seven-step French caning. The twill weave is an over-three under-two, stair step pattern using flat reed cane. This is a very basic weave that works very fast. "You begin by going under one, and then establish the pattern of over three and under two. Then repeat this pattern until you reach the other side of the chair. In the next row, you go under two, then begin the pattern of over three and under two, and so on. To the casual observer, the seven-step French caning (figure B) method seems intimidating and impossibly complicated. "Not at all!" responds Jo. "When the chair is complete, it does look complicated. But while you're working on it, you are only working one step at a time. And you can tell that a chair has been woven using this method if you turn it over and find loops on the bottom." Jo recommends that beginners take a class in chair caning. We visited Jo while she was teaching a class at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina. "There are some good books out there on the subject, but a class gives you a lot of practical advice and hands-on experience that a book just can't offer. It's really not a big investment in time learning this craft, and in return, you've gained a skill that will last a lifetime." After an extraordinary career in the military, Jo is satisfied with her new life. "It is a wonderful feeling when you take a chair with no seat, you put a new seat on it, and you sit in it for the very first time," Jo says. "You think to yourself that this is just where my grandfather sat or where my grandmother sat. You restore those memories, and that is the most exciting part about what we do."
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