Making rope from rushes

[david1]

dont know about mum but I would love some
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=t...FBYKJOLyIgfgG&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=939&bih=501
they look so pretty

happy to swap for some of her tall reeds, I will take some better pics at the weekend if the sun is out.
thanks

 

[Toddy]

Mine are the ones with the cigar shaped heads though There are some images about half way down your page) you're right the ball ones do look pretty

I get masses of pollen from mine, bright gold coloured flour. It's protein rich and almost tasteless, but it adds nourishment and colour to wildfoods It keeps very well too, and I don't have any insects among it, unlike things like elderflowers which also drop masses of pollen.
They're just as useful for firelighting as the larger reedmace heads are too.

If you still want some, I'll dig into the pond and wrestle out some roots......our pond is miniscule compared to yours though

There are masses of truly beautiful and useful pond and wet edge plants that you must have round a pond that size ?
I can see why you'd need a digger to clear any though.

atb,
M

 

[tombear]

A excellent thread, Thanks! Herself says when we go and get our next batch of reeds for making dips we'll get plenty for making some rope as well. We'll be hitting the spot in Wales where we got the wonderful thick, long jobs from in August, (a bit late but last time they were still growing) at the start of the two weeks we'll be there so by the 2nd week they should be fit to make stuff.

atb

tom

 

[david1]

the pond was bare LOL will post a pic later in the year

 

[Toddy]

I've been out in the garden, tidying up.

There's masses of stuff around just now that's good to use for cordage.
The Iris leaves are ready to pull free since the new stems are starting to crowd them out, the leaves from last years reedmace stems peel off easily just now too, the willow strips off like butter off hot knife, the withered leaves from the big yellow iris are easy to take just now too, and the ivy and honeysuckle too.

The iris leaves are the ones I made the little stitched basket from a couple of years ago, and are well worth taking.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[DocG]

This a wonderful thread: it's exactly why I joined the forum. Thank you for publishing it.

I have a little time on my hands at present, so I'm looking for reeds locally to use.

I have never attempted cordage beyond messing about with fir roots. When I read the initial post, I was a bit confused because of my lack of knowledge.

Please will you explain the following bit in terms that a complete novice can understand - sorry, but I don't have the necessary background to grasp what you mean:

"Upfront, I am pretty much ambidextrous when it comes to making stuff like ropes. This one is being twisted by my left hand and plyed and laid by my right. If you do it the other way around, it's fine. It's not an issue. Mine is a simple twist one way and cross it over the other way. Two Z twists, S plyed; roll away from you, cross them towards you."

Hope you can help or point me in a direction where I can find help.

All the best.

 

[Toddy]

Hello

Can you get your hands on a bit of string, rope or wool ?

Look at the twist on the length. Unravel a little bit from the end and look at the twist on those ends. The inner strands are twisted one way, but they are twisted the other way to make them bind together.

The binding together is, "plyed and laid".
The ply is the number of strands, and the lay is how they are laid together tidily along the length.

When working untwisted fibres by hand I have to twist (supposing I'm only making two ply) both sets of fibres one way but cross them over into place the other way.

So, I might twist loose fibres in two groups by rolling them away from me, and then crossing the twisted lengths towards me.

Technically we call the twists S or Z since that reflects the way the angle of the twist shows on the finished cordage.

It doesn't matter whether you S or Z first, so long as you do the opposite to lay them into cordage.

Does this make things clearer ?

cheers,
Toddy

 

[cranmere]

I was looking at the fresh buds opening on the willows just yesterday, and minding as a child how easily I stripped the bark from the stems. I knew it was useful for something but not a clue what.
Funny the things we remember from childhood

I sometimes wonder how much atavistic memory we all carry. I can't remember every learning which plants were which, but my memory has a whole collection of plants that I knew as a kid. It was almost like being reminded of things rather than learning them anew.

Toddy, you have a real knack for teaching.

 

[DocG]

Toddy,

Thank you. I think I have it a bit better now thanks to you and some experience as I've been working with nettles to produce my first cordage.

After your reply, I watched a number of videos, read some guides, then had a go for myself. "My" method is an amalgam of several. I think I'm doing what you say to make two strand (2ply?) nettle cord: twist one piece in two hands, both hands clockwise, until the strand develops a kink in the end, leaving me with one thicker part and two ends. I then work on an inch at a time clockwise before combining and consolidating the inch into the slowly developing string/ cord. So far I have one yard finished and another underway. My plan is to create 3 then plait them into one, thicker and, hopefully, stronger piece. To control the made length, I find it easier to hold it in my teeth. This approach also helps to limit what might be diagnosed as cordage-induced Tourette's

All the best, DocG

 

[Ruud]

Nice work, very impressive

 

[Toddy]

I was going to start another thread on this since it's the right time of year again to pull the rushes and to harvest the dried iris leaves, but it's miserable outside here just now, sodden wet with hailstorms blowing through; so I'm resurrecting this old one

Time to look at cordages I think

M

 

[cranmere]

How come we don't seem to have a history of bridges like those here though ?
Knowing our lot though, they'd just fell a tree and drop it over the burn and call the job done
M

Arr, well us Devon types chuck a girt big rock across the stream, none of those poncy tree things

 

[Toddy]

Resurrecting an old thread instead of starting a new one on the subject.

We have a dry week here just now, and I've just cut back the rushes intending to just compost them. If I were taking them deliberately for cordage or basketry I'd pull them rather than cut, but I was trying to clear around the pond, which needs it's liner replaced, so wasn't thinking ahead.
Now I wish I had really because the rushes are beautiful. I haven't dumped them but will pick them over and dry them off. They'll be a little shorter than they might be, but they're still near three feet long, so good enough

It's the dull, gloomy, boring bit of the year, so having something to get outside and work at and with is a good thing
Rushes are common, easily obtained, and if you don't have any growing there are few folks who would object to you pulling some. Mostly they're considered a weed of dampish ground.

Surprising just how useful weeds can be

M

 

[Woody girl]

I have often done nettle cordage as localy we have a lot of nettles that grow quite tall. There is a fair bit of work involved to prepare the nettle stems as you know and I always get stung somehow even using marigold gloves which are the most sting proof gloves I've found. (I react badly to nettle stings). I must try to find some rush to have a try.though on the moor here it seems to grow quite short. I love making cordage. I find it a relaxing occupation.

 

[Toddy]

I met a Dutch lady years ago who said that on her farm they just left the nettles standing and the weather rotted them down enough that by Springtime they could just be pulled out and finish retted for fibre.
I reckon they must be awfully dry on her farm, because I don't think I've ever managed to get long nettles in any decent state past Winter, and the blooming things are usually sprouting again from the roots by then too. I have tried leaving them, but they just go down with mildew here.

I sympathise on the nettle reaction. My skin flares up with almost anything nowadays. A rose scratch leaves a wet weeping itchy weal now :/ and nettle stings hurt for days, even if I try the really hot hot water on them trick.

This set of rushes I'm going to have a go at a corded bowl.
Years ago I was asked to look at a bit of Neolithic pottery because there were marks on the base and the fellow who'd excavated it wondered if I knew what they were. It was a little bowl with a base of about 10cms, and was found in the Western Isles. The imprint marks on the base, to me, were as clear as day, that it had rested while damp, might even have been supported on as it was made and dried, on a grass mat. Three stitches around each coil space and then three around the next one out, round and round and round. I made a copy just using grass I pulled from the park area just across from the Archaeology building because he didn't believe me that it was such a simple everyday thing to make, to use, to dispose of, and that would rot and disappear from all record, except for the impression that it left on the fired clay.
I kept meaning to make a bowl from the design, and I think these chance, unexpectedly available, rushes might do very well
We'll see, but for the meantime they're tidied up and drying in the cold greenhouse. If we get a dry bright day then I might lay them out on the slabs to speed the drying along a bit.

M

 

[Woody girl]

Making a rush mat or basket is one of the oldest skills going and must have been a full time occupation to make enough cordage to make these things. A very basic everyday skill most ordainary people havnt got a clue about. They just go buy a ball of string or a basket. The satisfaction of using something you've made with your own hands from nature's raw materials is amazing.

 

[Toddy]

Fairly decent haul methinks the slabs are 3 x 2 foot ones for scale.

 

[Dreadhead]

brilliant post, glad you resurrected it. Would love to have a bash at this sometime!

 

[Toddy]

Thanks Hamish

Rush rope is one of our traditional ones that gets used for so many things. Easy to sit by the fire in Winter and quietly make it, you don't even need really good light to do it, with practice it's mostly by feel. 60 fathoms worth needed to make a Kishie, and that will last for years, weighs almost nothing, adds no burden to anything you carry in it, from peats to fish to fruits or wool. It washes clean too, and smells don't linger on it.
Rushes are so commonplace that they're considered worthless and an indication of ill worked ground. Mince. It's good stuff, easy to work, doesn't tear up your hands, isn't hard work, doesn't stink up the house or leave wee jaggy bits underfoot. All it takes is a wee bit of practice and some time.
I deliberately grow them beside my garden pond because I know they're useful, and if they seed, well the seedlings pull out easily too, so no hassle there.

I'd really like to see what other folks make of them I have basketmaker friends who occasionally use them, but on the whole it's become one of those almost forgotten rural crafts.

M

 

[redneck]

Fantastic. Toddy, how do you pull them without crushing and flattening the stems?