Lepkhe

Lepkhe is a traditional Itelmen basket weaved out of the grass that grows along the shores of the Kamchatka coasts. Lepkhe has many uses. Storing berries, roots, mushrooms, and other plants is one the main. Tuweika (as the Itelmens call the coastal seagrass) or Leymus mollis plant is more than a meter high and is also called “coastal grass”, “wild rye”, or “wild barley”. It has five long dense leaves. At the base the leaf is tightly rolled forming a trunk, the color of the grass is dark green, the surface is dull, slightly rough to the touch. Tuweika is very resilient and robust, adapted to harsh climates. It constantly experiences the wind, the scorching sun, rain, cold, even frost, sea salt, sea tides, as it grows at the very edge of the water on the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. To make “Lepkhe”, you need strong nylon threads or dry reindeer veins, round or faceted needles, a bottom cut out of deer skin or bearded seal skin, seal, a long leather belt and softened Tuweika grass. To decorate the product you will need: floss threads, colored nylon ropes, beads, beads, etc.