| Materials Required: | A dark green hyacinth glass, |
| 2 weavers of No. 2 rattan, | |
| 2 weavers of No. 2 black rattan, | |
| A bunch of copper red raffia, | |
| A tapestry needle, No. 19. |
After you have bought your hyacinth glasses, and before the bulbs are put into them, you may like to make for each a simple case of basket work by which it can be hung against the window frame.
Fig. 67
It is made of rattan rings bound together with raffia of some colour that will look well with the hyacinth blossoms. A dark green glass with a covering of black and the natural-coloured rattan bound with copper-coloured raffia is a good combination, if the hyacinth is to be white.
Make two rings of black rattan like those described in the directions for making a sponge bag (see Chapter [IV]). One should be large enough to slip over the glass, down to about half an inch from the bottom of it, the other to three inches from the bottom. This second ring must be made on the glass, as the flaring top will not allow so small a ring to slip over it. This will not be difficult to do. Tie the rattan around the glass just below where you wish it to be placed (about two and three-quarters inches from the bottom), then slip it up where the glass is narrower and twist the ends around this foundation ring twice, as shown in Fig. 22. This makes a ring of three circuits, the foundation ring counting as one. Make four rings of the natural-coloured rattan, each measuring two inches and a quarter in diameter on the inside. These are made with two circuits; that is, after tying the foundation ring the ends are twisted all the way around it once, instead of twice as the black ones were, and are cut just so that they will lap. Bind these four rings together in a hollow square with bindings five-eighths of an inch long of raffia in buttonhole stitch (see Fig. 67). Fasten the ends of the rings by making the binding come over them. Slip this square over the top of the glass and down between the two black rattan rings. Here each of the four light rings is bound with raffia in buttonhole stitch to the black ring above it, as well as to the one below. To make a loop to hang it by, tie a ring of black rattan around the neck of the glass, twist its ends twice around it, and then without cutting the ends tie them into another ring an inch and a quarter in diameter, inside measurement, which stands out from the glass and forms a loop. This ring is made with two circuits.
Growing Plants in Fibre
Later on, in November and December, there may come days when you are kept indoors, and then perhaps you will like to do some more gardening with bulbs. Shall we begin with the spring bulbs—tulips, crocuses and daffodils? It is wonderful, isn't it, to think of being able to plant them when out of doors the earth is covered thick with snow? This is how it is done: Buy from a florist or seedsman a fibre mixture which they sell for this purpose. Take a large tub or pail and put some fibre into it, add plenty of water and stir the fibre thoroughly with a stick. Let it remain in the water for two days, stirring it from time to time so that it shall get water soaked. It will then be ready for use. If you plan to give the plants away when they are in bud they should be started in jars or bowls that can be included in the gift. Japanese or Spanish pottery bowls can be bought for from ten to twenty-five cents each, and one of these with a daffodil or narcissus growing in it will make a delightful birthday gift for someone you love. If you are not planning to give them away, of course you will be able to collect about the house enough bowls and jars of china and pottery to hold them. Put a few pieces of charcoal at the bottom of each dish—these are to keep the water pure and the fibre wet. Put into each bowl some of the wetted fibre until it is about two or three inches deep, depending on the depth of the bowl. Place the bulbs on the fibre so that they just touch and fill all in with the wet fibre. Put more fibre over them and press it gently down and around them—not too hard. Fill the dish in until it is nearly solid. Now put the bowls away in a cellar or any dark but airy room where they will not get frostbitten and watch them day by day to see that the fibre does not get dry; it must be kept moist but not soaking wet. Be especially careful that the bulbs do not get dry. When they are all rooted and have grown perhaps an inch, bring the bulbs into a lighter room and let them have plenty of air. Put them on the window sill or even in the garden in the middle of the day, if it is not too cold, and as they begin to show some buds water regularly and often.