once more, with words

i meant to tell you what was what in that last post but found it too difficult. these are very painful and soothing to make - a good healing process but it also means poking around in a very painful place that i have avoided for years.

but i will take you through the mechanics of making these little talismans without dwelling too much on the meaning.

first i take an arm's length of plumber's hemp - forming it into a figure eight around my left thumb and little finger

 i take a strip torn from an old linen napkin

then carefully and gently i wrap and fold the linen around the little body, tucking and smoothing as i go to make it as comfortable as possible.

 like swaddling a small baby to soothe and reassure it.

keep wrapping and tucking until i come to the end of the strip, then hold the end with a pin and start stitching it safely into a bundle, held safe.

i made another larger talisman too - this time using some eucalyptus dyed silk. 

this one is 9 inches long - the smaller ones are between four and five inches.