His father was from the old generation of self-taught masters, who made anything they laid their hands on – be it a ladder, broom, or basket. And towards the end of his life, when he couldn’t manage as much, he crafted straw ošítky. However, Rastislav Šovčík was no longer living in the same household at that time, so he didn’t have the opportunity to watch his father’s hands more closely. And when he became interested in weaving straw ošítky later on, his father was already deceased – so he had to learn the nuances through his own mistakes. He uses common straw for making ošítky, which he considers the softest and most pliable, and binds it with willow twigs. He cultivates the straw himself on approximately fifty square meters. The circumstances forced him to grow it, as year by year he had increasing difficulty acquiring traditional common straw from large grain farmers – if anyone grew rye at all, it was only triticale, a wheat and rye hybrid. Willow twigs, which he splits by hand, are from wild growth and only fresh, meaning they are harvested in winter when the sap isn’t rising. He makes ošítky from dry straw. Although it requires more effort compared to working with damp straw, the resulting product retains its shape better. And it’s precisely the hardness of the ošítky that serves as the measure of the quality of his work. He doesn’t produce on a large scale, mostly for acquaintances, but he enjoys presenting his production process at summer regional craft events. During these, he also processes straw and prepares material for later weaving, a tradition he starts in late autumn and finishes in spring.