Fairy Gold

'O Dreary would the world be,

With everyone grown cold -

Forlorn as Prickly bushes

Without their fairy gold!"

Cicely Mary Barker - Song of the Gorse Fairy

There is nothing so cheering as the sight of gorse, resplendant in its yellow blooms, even in the depths of winter. Those little bursts of sunshine yellow made me reach for my dye pans this month and thanks to them, I now have a store of naturally dyed "fairy gold" raffia.

I couldn't wait to use it (it's the perfect antidote to January blues!), so I worked on this multi-layered basket, using my gorse dyed raffia for the decorative framework. The inner basket has been worked in natural (undyed) raffia.

Size : approx diamater 14cm, height 8cm