In 2012 Hutchinson published The Silent Weaver, the story of the Uist-raised crofter Angus MacPhee who suffered a schizophrenic breakdown during World War II and subsequently spent 50 years in Craig Dunain Psychiatric Hospital near Inverness where he developed extraordinarily skills in weaving grass taken from the hospital grounds.

He was only able to go on wearing the boots because he'd been able to weave long grass into a rough twine.

Just like Alvin always used to make little baskets by weaving grass.

As one man wove freshly cut grass into a basket and another braided a necklace, Mr. Raoni reminded his listeners that they moved to Kapoto this year because of 15 deaths caused by an outsiders' disease, malaria.

They will also help build what the garden calls great grass tunnels by weaving grass through large bamboo A-frames.

From them he learned how to weave marsh grass into the walls of his hut and how to catch the few remaining crabs of autumn.