Figure 102.—Basket (ola malu), commencement:

a, The left element of each leaflet pair (numbered odd) is turned to the left to function as sinistrals and the right elements (numbered even) continue in their natural direction as dextrals. Each sinistral as it turns to the left makes its first check stroke over the dextral on the left. The exception is the first weft on the left (1) which, having nothing to cross over, is turned to the right over the next sinistral (3) and functions as the top dextral. The usual check technique is carried out. When the plaiting reaches the right end of the midrib strip, no special technique is used for binding the two ends together as in the 'ato. The last element on the right end of the strip is naturaly the right element of a pair and, being a dextral, will be kept down. The lowest sinistral (3) will naturally pass above it and thus lie in the prepared dextral shed in its natural order. The space between the two ends is thus automatically filled in without any complications. With the use of one midrib strip, the leaflet wefts are left as wide as possible to narrow the interspaces between the wefts but they are not completely closed. Very little of the leaflet midrib was removed so that the half leaflets are close together at the upper points of attachment on the midrib strip.