Lavender Spindle / Navette de lavande

For my karma, I've decided to try to balance my growls with nice and positive things.

After the discord cake saga, I give you pretty lavender.

Basically, you need to have access to a lavender bush (the traditional plant from Provence, not the recent aberration that's being marketed in most places) because you need to deal with extra fresh stalks.

Cut eighteen stalks of lavender and clean them of tiny stalks on the side and/or of tiny clusters of flowers below the head.

Choose a ribbon (for having tested several kinds, I recommend satin), but avoid white as fresh lavender may stain. You'll need 1.2 m (about 48 in) if your ribbon is 1 cm (0.4 in) wide.

Gather the heads together and tie one end on the ribbon as close to them as you can.

The long side of the ribbon determines if you start left or right (more like flowers up or down, in fact); you may not mind which way you start, but some people have a favourite way to operate: basically, if your first try is hell, it may be because you started up instead of down, or the contrary.

Next, hold the flowers together, and bend the stalks two by two.

You start threading your ribbon below two stalks, above the next two, below the next two and so on (mistakes happen, but you'll see it quickly if the ribbon is above or below twice in a row; then... undo the ribbon until you find the mistake, and start again).

You've got to hold the flowers tight, and it may be helpful to place the ribbon up against the prior rank and gently pull it into position (then again, there's not only one method to do this).

You can tie it anyway you like when you reach the "end" of the flowers, but just wrapping the stalks is rather pretty - and it's useful as you'll need to tighten the ribbon about a week later once the flowers start drying.

Cut the stalks at the same length (or not).

You can use different colours for your ribbons; you can even use two and make a bicolour spindle (that's a bit entertaining).

You can use more or fewer stalks.

With a 0.5 cm (0.2 in) ribbon, you can use the tiny stalks on the side of the bigger flowers.

Store in a vase or hide in your drawers with your clothes, socks, towels, skeletons, scarves, etc... They last for months and months (or years if the lavender's really good). Have fun!