I’ve seen where people have french braided long grasses, so when I wandered through our meadow and saw the waving Spring grass I thought I would give it a try. (Yes, I was completely in the middle of another project for this side quest.)
Photo description: patch of evening primrose with a half circle of braided grass in front
I did more of a Dutch braid, where the braid lays on top of the joined strands, but it didn’t have as much definition as I hoped. I was also struggling to have enough grass to join in the braid and still get the curve I wanted. So in a few weeks, when the grass is higher, and I need a break from a task that takes me through the meadow again, I’ll give it another go.
I added a few more twined bracelets made from different natural materials and had a whole wrist full of test subjects.
Photo description: six twined bracelets with labels: Bark, Daylily, Corn, Daffodil, Iris, Grass
The daylily is the oldest at 12 days, corn a close second at 11 days, then daffodil, bark, grass, and iris all at 6 days. The bark knot didn’t want to stay tied, but they all survived showers and regular wear. What they didn’t survive was my sensory overload. It felt like they were getting tighter around my wrist, although photographic evidence doesn’t really show a difference.
Photo description: same bracelets six days later
Because the bracelets were bothering me, I subjected them to a pull test. The surprising result was that the daylily bracelet did not break. The others all ceased to be connected. The bark, grass, and iris all had the stop knot pull open, the corn leaf and daffodil broke along the length of the twining.
Photo description: twined bracelets broken from pulling
The lone daylily bracelet was allowed to remain on my wrist. I made this of dead and partially dried daylily leaves that were lying near the base of the plants. Because the leaves were not completely dried they were easy to twine without breakage, but they also had some shrinkage which causes the twine to separate and be a little spring-like. We’ll see how long it lasts on my wrist. It is light and not biding with a little give, so it has a chance.
Critters and Craft 