This past weekend

was truly a bummer.  I got through the first group of lily of the valley increases and was sooooo pleased with myself...until I noticed one little nupp with a stray loop that hadn't made it into the p7tog on the WS row.

<sigh>  Generally, making a mistake and noticing it a few rows down doesn't cause me a whole lot of stress.  I just tink, or knit up to the gaffe, drop the stitch above the error down to it and fix it.  I've fixed plaited cables (cough, cough, 20 rows down, cough, cough)...I've fixed lace this way, too.  So I blithely tinked...and failed.  Failed!  Then the next thing I knew...another stitch slipped away...and another.

I ended up raveling a significant portion of what I knit.*  Then I cried, oh the bitter tears as I wailed!  And sulked.  I sulked right over to the violet patch.

What a consolation...

The violets are lovely this year, here, as they usually are.  I'm grateful that we don't have a "townie" lawn with all the expectations to weed, feed and water grass.  It's terribly boring, and I really look forward to the tiny flowers carpeting the ground.  Our's is a patchwork of violets, buttercups, dandelions, johnny jump ups (viola), pussy's toes, bluets (quaker ladies), wild crocus (tradescantia longipes), and quite a few more.

I've made sugared or candied violets before, and I wanted to try something different this year.  So I picked a slew of the dainty purples:

As always, Calleigh inspects my work to make sure I don't over harvest

Just made it back to the house before the rains came pelting down

After bringing my spoils into the house, I washed the blossoms, layered them in napkins to dry and tucked them in the fridge for safekeeping over night.

Next morning, I de-stemmed the flowers (I didn't bother with pulling off the calyxes...maybe next time) and measured just over 4 very tightly packed cups.  I then boiled them in 6 cups of distilled water per these instructions.

My result after steeping 24 hours at room temp, and strained through 2 coffee filters :

This would be a lovely scrying ink, no?

I've read that violets can be used as a pH indicator...so I put the filters aside to play with them later. Heh.  It does indeed indicate pH :

On the left hand side of the pic are the plain, violet infusion soaked filters, wrung out and folded in half.  On the right hand side of the pic are the reactions to vinegar (L filter) and sodium bicarb solution (R filter).  Pretty snazzy, eh?

I was pretty pooped at that point (migraine, ugh) and decanted my precious infusion into a well cleaned jar and refrigerated it for the 'morrow.

Which brings me to today...

I'd really thought about processing the syrup in a water bath canner to try and preserve them a bit longer than the couple months they'll last anyway.  Then I thought about the sugar content.  I'm not a confectioner at all; the 2.25 cups granulated sugar to 1 cup fluid ratio seemed steep, and I worried what would become of the syrup in the jar as it processed.  Would it just become canned hard candy?  A quick call to the canning hot line ended with no advice**, so I just decided to leave them be.  2 of the jars did try and seal on their own...and 5 did not.

Out of the initial 6 cups of fluid, I yielded 5.5 cups of inky blue goodness, to which I added 12.375 cups of granulated sugar.  Still following the above procedure (heat, skim, cool, heat, skim, fill), I filled 6 pint jars, plus another, 3/4 of the way filled.

Sorry it's blurry, I couldn't risk moving them to better light.

The color faded a bit after adding so much sugar; a tiny disappointment.  And when I tasted the newly made syrup, it seemed devoid of much flavor.  It seemed rather cloy and sharp...but after some time to cool, the fresh herb-y ness that the infusion had, began to resurface.

This summer is going to rock.  I'll be ready, with tasty treats made with this syrup!

What else can you do with violet syrup?  Or just violets in general?

 

Here's some interesting facts about the violets in my yard:

The most common violet in my back yard, and quite likely in yours, too, is Viola sororia.  Unlike V odorata, which is native to Europe, these flowers don't have much fragrance, save the fresh scent that most plant materials have.  And it's possible that they have lots of ionones, and I just can't smell them.  Who knows?

Aside from being pretty scattered across salads or candied and sprinkled on baked goods, they do have medicinal purposes ranging from being alternative (blood purifying), to headache quelling (leaves, mostly).  Native Americans used the whole plant for the treatment of colds, coughs and dysentery.  V sororia is also listed as a traditional treatment for cancer, especially breast cancer.  Violets also contain vitamins A and C and rutin, which strengthens blood capillaries.   Leaf poultices can be laid on minor skin irritations, wounds and aching brows for relief.  Root poultices are also listed as a treatment for boils, though may be a bit...harsh...when taken internally.  Corn seeds soaked in (cooled) root decoctions are said to help repel insects from the planted seeds.  The mild tasting leaves can be added to soups as a thickener, much the same way as okra is often used.  Or just add to other foraged greens for a tasty springtime vegetable tonic.***

Random field pic: prairie buttercups (Ranunculus fascicularis), pussy's toes (Antennaria neglecta) and a lone V sororia

 * Yep...I know what lifelines are.  I generally don't worry with them, because I watch my progress rather compulsively at times closely, and I catch a lot of mistakes before I get too far along.  Not really sure what the heck happened with this project.  Oh well...live and learn.

**She seemed rather surprised to know that people made syrup with flowers...LOL

***Sources from here, here and here.