March 7, 2015
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Pine Needle Weaving

The pine needles blow through my back door and land at my feet while I type. Our tiny little urban homestead is a trio of buildings all circling a giant Canary Island Pine. The tree towers over 150 feet above us, and we love its presence, despite the falling cones that endanger our noggins and the needles that we constantly rake and gather and heft into the green bin. The tree brings shade, and birds, and a feeling of permanence in this place.

We have a lemon tree, too, and many other fruit trees. We make lemonade, and plum jam, and eat our figs fresh for breakfast. 

After trying pine needle tea, which is high in vitamin C and fairly awful, I finally have found a way to enter into the life of this tree. No longer am I merely an observer (there is a whole story that unfolds up there daily) and cleaner-uper of its ways. For once I'm actually celebrating the mess that season after season drops onto our little plot.

It has been a fun shift, thinking of pine needles as a tool for making something new, and maybe even making something useful--beautiful. But more than that, there's a joy in learning a new craft. A new way to use my hands, another learning curve that causes creativity to emerge and shift, and that touches other areas of my life.

And like knitting, or sewing, it's another repetitive art, where I can settle into a rhythm, and where prayer becomes a partner as I stitch round and round and round...

 

Published: March 7, 2015 | Filed under: Home

Comments (11)
Coral said:
March 7, 2015 @ 2:11 PM

These are glorious tokens of human re-visioning: turning what would be waste into beauty, symmetry, and functionality!! I think you are wonderful.

jane g meyer replied:
March 7, 2015 @ 4:46 PM

Thank you, sweet Coral.

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kristina said:
March 7, 2015 @ 3:54 PM

These are beautiful and inspiring! I may have to give this a try when I'm in South Dakota and have a forest full of pine needles available.

jane g meyer replied:
March 7, 2015 @ 4:48 PM

Yes, Kristina. With your creative flare I bet you could make something truly inspiring. And what a lovely thought, to bring something back with you from your beloved home state and make it into a usable object that would hold both meaning and memories...

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james anthony said:
March 7, 2015 @ 5:09 PM

The thought comes to mind of how, and if at all, Native Americans used pine needles.

Maye replied:
March 8, 2015 @ 2:06 PM

The photography is just as beautiful as the baskets. The baskets remind me of the grass woven beauties done by the Aleut women. The weave is so tight that they used them to transport water.

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Kh. Tammy said:
March 7, 2015 @ 8:03 PM

That is just TOO cool! Keep up the creative juices flowin' Jane! You find treasures in everything. Love, Kh. T

jane g meyer replied:
March 12, 2015 @ 5:40 PM

Thanks, Kh Tammy. Hope you're well!

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Karen said:
March 12, 2015 @ 1:28 PM

These would make the most wonderful Christmas gifts! They are beautiful, Jane.

jane g meyer replied:
March 12, 2015 @ 5:41 PM

Thank you, Karen. I'm doubting that many other people will see these as interesting as I do, but maybe it's just because it's all so new to me and I'm making so many, many mistakes. Miss you...

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Heather said:
March 25, 2015 @ 10:19 AM

Wow! I really love these! They are so beautifully done, I had no idea this was something you could do with pine needles. Now....I need a pine tree! ;)

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