Lotus fiber basket

On By CarynIn Craft

On our five-day road trip I spent time in the car twining and nålbinding a small oval basket from the lotus fiber that I hackled before we left. Once I had an oval shape for the base by adding increases only to the curves, I stopped increasing to build the walls.

Photo description: nålbound oval made from lotus fiber and an Oslo stitch , small section of sponge tucked into my ring because damp fingers twine plant material better
Photo description: tiny lotus fiber fragments everywhere as I twine

Even though I hackled the fiber and removed many of the shorter fibers, the lotus had more and there bits everywhere. The fibers are hair-like and itchy. Luckily I keep a lint roller in the car because I had to use it before every stop.

Photo description: final row before tightening the stitches
Photo description: final row after tightening the last three stitches and adding a couple simple loops to taper it down

To finish the basket I wrapped the twine around the top rim twice to give the edge more strength.

Photo description: finished basket with the cherry wool nål I used for stitching

The basket had a bias twist and was a little wonky, but sturdier than I expected.

Photo description: the basket twisted without anything to hold it open

When we got home, I gave the basket a plain water soak and the twist relaxed, making quite a nice little container once it was dry.

Photo description: finished basket after blocking

This project took me roughly 18 hours, but it was very satisfying to twine for a while then stitch for a while. I was originally thinking to make this into a base for a project bag, but since it holds shape, I think I will keep it as a small basket.

Garden IV

On By CarynIn Garden

I never did run a sprinkler or hose out to my raised bed where I am growing cucumbers, which means that when it hasn’t rained (we’ve had a rather wet summer), I’ve been hand carrying water out to the meadow. We just finished a trip where we were gone for 5 days, and rather than trust the forecast, I set up water bags to drip moisture into the soil.

Photo description: wilting cucumbers in a water trough converted into a raised garden bed with a trellis holding two bags of water

The trellis was quite helpful for installing the bags. I set the flow rate low, 5ml an hour, and made sure all the outlets dripped.

Photo description: closeup of the gauge on the drip line, showing the flow rates at the high end of the range, this junction twists in the middle to control flow

It turned out that while we were gone it rained nearly everyday, so the low 5ml flow didn’t really matter. I should have done my math first, at that flow rate the bags should last 10 days. I am hoping that it will help with this week’s heat wave.

Throwback Thursday: cat’s pajamas

On By CarynIn Cats, Craft

In April of 2018 we took over Sophie the dilute calico’s veterinary care and took her to get spade. To keep her from licking the incision and taking out stitches, I made her a body suit from an old t-shirt, cutting out leg holes and leaving strips on the back so it could be tied shut. She was remarkably tolerant of us.

Photo description: dilute calico cat, lounging on a pink blanket, wearing a red body suit from shoulders to hips, ties in the back not pictured

Combing Lotus fiber

On By CarynIn Craft

The lotus fiber I purchased had not been hackled. I do not have a hackle, but I do have wool combs, and one comb clamped to the table made a serviceable way to separate the long fibers in the bundles.

Photo description: two row wool comb clamped to the kitchen table in order to comb out the shorter pieces of lotus fiber

Combing out the fiber went well once I had the rhythm of it. I would comb out one side starting at the end, then flip the bundle around and comb out the other side.

Photo description: combed lotus fiber on the left, uncombed on the right

There were extremely long fibers, over five feet, and many, many shorter fibers. The shortest formed tangled knots in the comb. I was able to comb out a second round measuring up to about two feet, down to six inches.

Photo description: two stricts, twisted bundles, of lotus fiber, long line on the left, shorter on the right

The tow, or the pieces combed out shorter than six inches, I put in a bag. Maybe I can use it as stuffing. The lotus fiber feels more like jute, heavy and prickly.

More Liriope

On By CarynIn Garden

We purchased some more Liriope plants for the front garden bed.

Photo description: front garden bed with previous round of plants in the ground and the new plants in grower’s pots spaced out

The Liriope we planted in Spring has been doing fairly well, especially the variegated variety, but not so much for the gallon pots of Big Blue. These lifted out of the ground, so I broke them up and planted them deeper, spreading them out between the new plants. I much prefer planting the 4” pots versus the larger ones.

Photo description: newly planted and watered Liriope with a large Turks Cap at the right

The Turks Cap we planted has grown quite large and is filling the space we set out for it. We’ve seen hummingbirds in the area too!