Rope No.49

Plant - Bog myrtle Myrica gale
Location - Edinburgh Botanic gardens
Notes - This is so different growing here sheltered, it is twice the size of the
plants that I am familiar with.

Rope No.33

Plant - Hair Moss, Polytrichum Commune
Location - Sheltered spot amongst the heather
Notes - I love this material, it is soft, long, flexible and works in lots of different thicknesses
as well as being a great rusty orange colour and smelling of earth

Rope No.32

Plant - Larch
Location - Woodland with larch, scots pine and with heather and blaeberry undergrowth
Notes - Beautiful long gently curving larch twigs, which at this time of year are really supple

Rope No.31

Plant - Hard Fern
Location - Sheltered banks with heather and under shrubby trees
Notes - I wanted to make a thinner rope than the last one but this material
seems to need to be a certain thickness. Some plant materials can be made
into ropes of very different thicknesses but not Hard Fern at this time of year,
I might try it again later in the year.

Rope No.29

Plant - Seaweed, Kelp
Location - Seashore, high tide line
Notes - This gets washed up around this time of year and forms lovely
lines in different colours on the shore line. The kelp stalks shrink by a
huge amount and turn black when brought indoors to dry completely.

Rope No.27

Plant - Seaweed, wrack
Location - On the high tide line, rocky shore
Notes - Thought I would have a go at trying ropes with seaweed, they
shrink by a huge amount so need to be made when they are nearly dry
and still pliable

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.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.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