THINGS TO MAKE OF COMMON GRASSES
A Grasshopper-House
"MAMMY, make me a grasshopper-house."
"Go 'long, chile, I done got 'nough to do 'thout makin' no
hoppergrass-houses."
"Please, mammy, only one, and then I can make them for myself. I'll
watch you just as close. Won't you, mammy?"
"Pick me some grasses, then; I 'low I has to, but don't yo' come
pesterin' me no more after this time.
"Seed-top grasses, honey, seed-top grasses; don't git me none of them
blade kind. Ketch hol' near the top and pull 'em up slow like, then
they'll come out nice and smooth, an' leave they ole rough skins behind,
just like a eel does when you skins him. That's it, you got 'nough now;
bring 'em 'long here an' we'll make the hoppergrass-house.
"Hol' your own hand, honey, you'll learn best that-a-way. Can't forgit
the feelin' of it once you build it on yo' fingers.
[Illustration: Fig. 62.--Put the grass around your middle finger with
the end inside.]
[Illustration: Fig. 63.--Lay the next grass across the first.]
[Illustration: Fig. 64.--Bend back the ends of the first grass.]
[Illustration: Fig. 65.--Put the next grass across your hand.]
"Take one piece o' grass an' put it round yo' middle finger with the
ends inside like this (Fig. 62). Now lay the next piece right across the
first (Fig. 63), an' bend back the ends of the first grass over the
tother an' tuck 'em 'tween yo' fingers just like that (Fig. 64). Put the
next grass across yo' hand (Fig. 65), an' take up the second grass-ends,
bendin' 'em back to keep company with first grass-ends. That makes
another bar (Fig. 66). Now yo' do it an' let mammy see how yo' git
along. That's right, lay the grass across an' put the under ends back
ev'ry time. How many bars has yo' got now? Six? That's 'nough fo' any
hoppergrass, an' is as many as yo' little hand can hol' anyway.
"Now slip it offen yo' fingers, bring the ends together an' tie with a
blade o' grass just above these here blossom ends (see illustration).
There now, yo' done made a hoppergrass-house, an' don' yo' come askin'
yo' ole mammy to stop her work no more."
[Illustration: Fig. 66.--Bend back the second grass ends like the
first.]
[Illustration: Fig. 67.--Tie them together at the root ends.]
[Illustration: Fig. 68.--Lift two of the grasses and tie them
together.]
That is the way the little girls and boys in the South are taught to
make the grasshopper-houses, by the old colored "mammies." They are
funny little cages, and, of course, will not hold a grasshopper or any
other insect, but we like to imagine they will.
There are other things to make of grasses, any one of them requiring
only a few moments' work, and it is a pretty, quiet occupation for
restless little fingers. Sitting in the orchard, nestling like little
partridges amid the tall grasses, all your materials are close at hand.
Reach out and gather some of the long-bladed grass, and we will make
A Doll's Hammock
Some of this grass measures twenty-five inches in length. It does not
grow on stalks, but the blade appears to spring directly from the root,
and it is smooth and pliable. You may find orchard-grass almost any
where, generally in neglected corners and close to fences where the
scythe does not reach.
[Illustration: Fig. 69.--Tie them all in pairs.]
[Illustration: The grasshopper-house.]
Take eight or ten of the blades of this grass and tie them together at
the root-ends as in Fig. 67, drawing the knot tight as in Fig. 68. Stick
a pin through just below the knot and fasten to your knee; then lift two
of the grasses at the right-hand side, and tie them together about one
inch below the pin (Fig. 68). Tie the next two grasses together in the
same manner, the next, and the next, until you have tied them all in
pairs (Fig. 69). Make the second row by separating the pairs of the
first and tying one grass of one pair to the neighboring grass of the
next pair, making the knots one inch below the first row. This leaves
the first and last grasses hanging loose (Fig. 70). On the third row the
first and last grasses are tied in once more (Fig. 70). On the fourth
they are left again, and so they alternate until the hammock is
finished. Keep the rows of knots at even distances apart, and make the
hammock as long as the length of the grass will allow. Leave about three
inches of the grass below the last row of knots, and then tie the ends
together as in the illustration. Swing the little hammock between the
low-hanging branches of a tree; put your dolly in it and let the summer
breezes rock her to sleep while you sing:
Rock-a-by baby in the tree-top.
[Illustration: Fig. 70.--Make the knots of the second row one inch below
the first row.]
[Illustration: The grass hammock.]
A very pretty
Bouquet-Holder
can be made of seed-grasses and one long blade of grass. In this you may
carry the most delicate wild flowers and ferns without wilting them by
the warmth of your hand.
[Illustration: Bouquet-holder made of seed-grass.]
[Illustration: Fig. 71.--Bunch together the seed-grass stalks.]
Bunch together seven fine, strong seed-grass stalks and tie just below
the blossoms, with the root-end of your long-blade grass (Fig. 71). The
stems of the seed-grasses are the spokes, the long grass the weaver.
Turn the blossom-ends down, the stem-ends up, and close to where it is
tied, begin to weave the long grass in and out, under one spoke, over
the next, under the third, over the fourth, going around and around
spirally until the end of the weaver is reached, then tie it to one of
the spokes. Keep forcing the spokes farther and farther apart as you
weave until the holder is shaped like a cone. As you see in the
illustration, the weaver never passes over one of the spokes twice in
succession. In one row it goes over a spoke, in the next row under it,
in the third over again, and so on. In order that it may always come
this way you must have an uneven number of spokes. Four will not do, nor
six, nor eight, but five, seven, or nine spokes will bring the weave out
all right.
A Grass Napkin-Ring
is another thing that can be made by weaving or braiding the grasses.
[Illustration: Grass napkin-ring.]
[Illustration: Fig. 72.--Take one blade from each bunch and cross them.]
[Illustration: Fig. 73.--Bring C over A and D under B and over C.]
Select ten fine long blades of grass, divide them into two bunches of
five each, put the root-ends together, and tie them as when making the
hammock. Pin these two bunches to your knee about two inches apart, and
taking one blade from each bunch, cross them as in Fig. 72, the
right-hand grass A on top of the left-hand grass B. Now bring the
left-hand grass C over A, and the right-hand grass D under B and over C
(Fig. 73). Next weave the left-hand grass E under A and over D, then the
right-hand grass F over B, under C, and over E. Weave the remaining four
grasses in the same way, taking first from one side, then from the
other. When your work has reached the stage shown in Fig. 74, take the
grass A, turn it _under_ and weave it in and out as in Fig. 76, then the
grass B, turn it _over_ and weave until it crosses A (Fig. 76). D comes
next, to be woven until it crosses B, then C, which will cross D. On the
left hand always turn the grasses under before beginning to weave, on
the right hand turn them over before beginning to weave.
[Illustration: Fig. 74--Weave the remaining grasses in the same way.]
[Illustration: Fig. 76.--Turn the grass A under, and weave it in and
out.]
When You Have Woven
or braided a strip about five inches long, untie the two knots at the
top, form the braid into a ring and tie the opposite ends together in
two knots. The groups G and G in Fig. 77 form one knot, the groups H and
H the other knot. Trim the ends off neatly and the napkin-ring will look
like the one in the illustration.
Do not use rough or saw-edged grasses for any of this work, for they
sometimes cut the hands, and the seed-top grasses must not be old enough
to shed their seeds into your eyes. When dry most grass is quite brittle
and will break if you attempt to bend it. The fresh, green, soft and
pliable grasses are the kind you need and these you may always find in
season.
[Illustration: Fig. 77.--Tie the opposite ends together.]