Rope No.25

Plant - Bog Myrtle
Location - Boggy ground where the heather is allowed to grow long
Notes - Struck by the red colour of the new buds and stems in the sun

Rope No.24

Location - Overgrown walled garden
Plant - Bindweed
Notes - Cutting willow in this overgrown garden noticed these delicate
white line drawings from last years bindweed being lit in the sun

Rope No.23

Location - Heather moorland behind the house
Plant -  Heather
Notes - Am enjoying taking the same material each day and making ropes
of different characters, length and thickness

Rope No.22

Location -  Heather moor with the white grass growing amongst it
Plant - Heather
Notes - Nice to try and make different thicknesses of rope, it seems more
plyable than I expected

Rope No.21

Location - Heather moor beside the house
Plant - Purple moor grass, which is beautifully white at this time of year
Notes - This grass forms these lovely clumps with long strands which make
really nice rope any thickness, this one is longer as I wanted to make some
longer lengths

Rope No.20

Location - Amongst my willow patch
Plant - Bramble
Notes - Heard about this being used for baskets once the spikes are cleared

Rope No.19

Location - Trees in the garden
Plant - Silver Birch
Notes - This is the right time to cut the small twigs for making rope
when the sap is risen and before the leaves are out. We can feel spring
something tangible with the light

Rope No.18

Location - Stray bits of grass blown to the roadside
Plant - Purple moor grass
Notes - Working with making thin rope using found stray bits of grass
something very satisfactory about this

Rope No.17

Location - Verge beside the road fallen from garden hedge
Plant - Small bit of honeysuckle
Notes - Nearly walked on this small bit of white stalk, thought it needed to
be made into a short length of rope

Rope No.16

Location - The same moss clump amongst the heather
Plant - Polytrichum commune, Hair Moss
Weather - cool, grey turning to white, still
Notes - Really like making a very thin rope, so am doing this again, there is
something beguiling about the thin drawn line

Rope No.15

Location - Same as yesterday
Plant - Hair moss, also known as Star moss (Polytrichum Commune)
Date - 15th Feb
Weather - Clear, calm and cool - beautiful spring feel
Notes - This is thick rope made using the same plant as yesterday's really thin
one, which I enjoyed making only two strands thick while todays shows the fresh
green and rusty brown colour of the plant

Rope No.14

Location - Amongst shelter created from remains of old house
                 in heather moorland
Plant - Hair moss
Date - 14th Feb
Weather - Damp rain, making things bright
Notes - This moss can grow into huge clumps, these are 80cm deep
it forms a lovely bright green curving form, gently covering the land
I love the smell and earthy feel of it

Rope No.13

Location - Heather moorland with sheltered sections amongst rocks
Plant - Hard Fern
Date - 13th Feb
Weather - Grey, no wind with the sea glassy surface
Notes - Some ferns did used to be used for rope but not sure about this
one, I am interested to see if it will fall apart as it dries, I like the green
and hairy nature of it

Rope No.12

Location - In the garden
Plant - Downy Birch
Date - 12th Feb
Weather - Bright and clear
Notes - This is the best time to work with woody stemmed plants
with the sap rising and before they are in leaf

Rope No.11

Location - On the edge of the old mill pond, uncultivated land
Plant - Couch grass
Date - 11th Feb
Weather - cool, and grey but with a hint of spring
Notes - This time of year is lovely you can just feel the light changing
and it seems to get more delicate, we are hearing the birds get active
It is interesting to make rope with a plant pest like couch grass, using
its properties of length and strength

Rope No.10

Location - Rough moor, bog
Plant - Heather
Date - 10th February
Weather - Lovely spring day, clear, cool wind
Notes - This is the wrong time of year to pull heather but I thought I would
try a small length - the stems are so vibrant

Rope No.9

Location - Along the road this grows on the verge, good for windbreaks
Plant - Eard willow
Date - 9th February
Weather - Cold sharp wind, but spring light
Notes - This was near the shrub from yesterday but it has been trimmed differently
so has lots of lovely very thin shoots, beautiful red colour in this light

Rope No.8

Location - Shrub growth beside the road by the house
Plant - Eard willow, the native willow to Skye
Date - 8th February
Weather - grey and wet, very cold wind
Notes - This willow grows well and forms a shrubby wind break where
it can get a foothold, it is a lovely colour in this light

Rope No.7

Location - The roadside verge along the road from the house
Date - 7th Feb
Plant - Montbretia
Weather - Sun in between grey rain
Notes - Montbretia is a garden escapee and does take over but is
lovely to work with when old like this

Rope No.6

Location - Su Grierson's garden dropping work off on my way back to Skye
Date - 6th Feb
Plant - Cleavers / Sticky willy
Weather - Milder and grey
Notes - Visiting Su to drop work off on my way back to Skye
spotted this lovely delicate white line drawing under the bushes
but it was really hard to make into rope as it broke the moment I
put a twist into it

Rope No.5

Location - Princes street gardens, Edinburgh
Date - 5th Feb
Plant - Thyme
Weather - Not so wet, just fairly grey
Notes - The old growth from last year attracted me, a lovely pale grey
I thought it might be nice to make an aromatic rope

Rope No.4

Location - Edinburgh pavement outside the botanic gardens
Date - 4th February
Weather - Very wet, been very windy and branches down in the botanics
Notes - Not sure what plant this is, but a lovely long even fibre which made a nice delicate rope

Rope No.3

Location - grass growing with the heather and purple moor grass
Date - 3rd Feb
Weather - bright, cooler and some hail and bit of snow
Notes - just a short rope today as going to Edinburgh for Conserving ecologies
 symposium related to the exhibition at the Botanic gardens

Rope No.2

Location - rough ground behind the polytunnel
Plant - soft rush
Date - 2nd Feb
Weather - rainy and grey
Note - normally you need to dry the rushes before making rope but I will try with the fresh ones

Rope No.1

Location - heather bog with pools and tussocks, used the white grass which grows amongst the heather

Date - 1st Feb 2011 St. Brigid's day
Weather - wet with sunny bits