Rope No.79

Plant - Bog-cotton
Location - Close to the shore in a wet patch of bog
Notes - Always a lovely sight these white fluffy seed heads being blown
around, a blurred white edge. With these latest ropes I have been keeping
the flower/seed heads in order to highlight each particular plant used.

Rope No.78

Plant - Dandelion
Location - Just outside the studio
Notes - I am rather taken with these pink stalks and the way they can turn
into a strong, fine, delicate rope when they are dried out.
The weather is still cold and windy with very heavy showers of rain or hail....

Rope No.77

Plant - Plantain
Location - Amongst the garden!
Notes - Interesting to try these garden weeds for making more decorative rope

Rope No.76

Plant - Dandelion stalks
Location - Growing all over the garden!, not in the land around
Notes - I noticed the pink stalks of the dandelion once they have flowered.
They are so brittle when flowering but once they dry out a bit they seem to
be quite strong and make fine rope, what a surprise.

Rope No.75

Plant - Daffodil leaves
Location - garden amongst the grass
Notes - The last rope went loose when it shrank so I thought I would try and
let the leaves dry a bit first this time before making the rope and see if it stays
tight. They are a really nice soft texture to work with.

Rope No.74

Plant - Bog-rush
Location - Same as above
Notes - I was intrigued to make two thin ropes using this plant but
with the second one use the short lengths of new growth and allow
the black seed heads to show rather than breaking them off, making
a more decorative length.

Rope No.73

Plant - Bog-rush
Location - Sea cliffs growing with a lovely mixture of other plants
where the sheep can't nibble them; aspen, birch, hawthorn, eared willow
(all small), heather, crowberry, some bluebells, grasses,etc. etc.
Notes - It is colder than usual I think for this time of year and I am noticing
some grasses and plants which I want to be a bit bigger before making rope.
The length of the material really matters and makes a rope strong (less joints),
depending on the plants chosen. Although I am choosing some plants which
wouldn't have had any value as rope in the functional sense.

Rope No.72

Plant - Soft rush
Location - All around in clumps, growing amongst the heather, grass etc.
wherever it can move into
Notes - I am keeping my eyes open for new plants which have grown up
this year but so far everything is a bit small. I like working with the rush, I
like the feel of it and the gentle green colour. It works best if left to dry out
a bit for a few days before making the rope. Some materials do shrink too
much for rope to be made directly, and rush is actually loads more flexible
after a few days.

Rope No.71

Plant - Willow my own grown for baskets
Location - Grown in a nearby bit of land
Notes - I am back and waiting for the new materials to grow up! it is cold and
windy and wet. I was inspired by rope I saw in a museum when I in Spain which
was made from willow and hazel rods really quite thick and also used to make
halters for cattle, my hands can only cope with this thinner stuff but I also found
that it is slippery and hard to get a grip on it, maybe you make it with the end fixed?