Our friend Socorro teaches Huinumo class. Huinumo is the Purépecha word for pine needles. In basket weaving class students learn how to weave baskets out of pine needles.
Socorro (Soco) learned how to weave pine needle baskets a few years ago from a woman's collective in a town called Opopeo. Since then she has developed her skills and makes many different types of baskets. She has also experimented with making earrings and hats.
Pine needle basket weaving class takes place at the Bosque. Students are given some nylon thread and a needle so that they can continue their project if they cannot complete it during the class. Soco instructs students how to start and sew their basket. Most people finish a small basket before the class is over. Students find pine needles in the Bosque to make their projects.
The class is about 3 hours long, and Soco can teach it for 3 - 10 students. The cost is 50 pesos per person, paid directly to the teacher. Soco usually has her baskets available for sale for people interested in souvenirs. When she has time, she also takes requests for custom basket styles: tortilla baskets, earrings, etc.
Soco lives with her husband Gonzalo and their three children, Marta, Gonzalito, and Mirasol. She spends her time raising her children, tending her sheep, baking bread with her mother, sewing clothing with a woman's collective, and helping us out here at the Bosque. She is one of the busiest people we know! A friendly and expressive person, Soco can work with anyone, regardless of language ability or previous experience with crafts or sewing.
Examples of advanced work with pine needle basket weaving:
