The Fern Stitch

I just finished making the above basket. It usually takes me about a week to make one, but I only work on it when I'm watching TV.  Well, I'm not actually watching the TV, since my attention is on the basket, but it's good for background noise.  It's similar to playing guitar while watching TV with the sound off. 

The fern stitch alluded me for many months.  Try as I might, I couldn't join smoothly from one row to another and reading instructions from a book didn't help. I longed for a wise woman basket maker to show me where I was going wrong.  I even emailed Bessie Johnson, who is a renowned basket artist here in Mississippi, but she never replied.  Finally, after stumbling around for way too much time, the light came on.  I think I'll email her again and tell her never mind, don't bother, I figured it out by myself. Yes!