"Weavers Words" Vol. 1 Iss. 52 Compiled By David Collins Owned By Weavers Everywhere Date Sent October 4, 1997 Subscribers 328 Back Issues http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/5998/ Basket Biddin' Auction http://members.tripod.com/~Basket_Biddin/ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hi Everyone, We've had a couple of items added to the basketry auction page. This would be great for individuals and dealers who have surplus items or items you would like to sell. It is very simple. Just send me the following information: Name Email Address Category Item Description Picture (Optional) Minimum Bid Shipping Cost Go to http://members.tripod.com/~Basket_Biddin/ for more information. Thanks, David Collins 408 North Devon Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46219-5334 (317) 899-5747 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 1 I. 51 Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 10:55:44 +0900 From: Vic & Darleena Jones Organization: USAF, Okinawa, Japan To: davidc@iei.net References: 1 Hello fellow weavers, I must say that I also am amazed at the way some people "speak" to others on this page. But it's always been a democracy on WW. Now, I see some blackmail on the page also... (brace yourselves, weavers..) I don't think it would be appropriate for anyone to publish personal email, without permission. That sounds like such a violation and I wonder about the ethics of some people. That's all I'm going to comment on the whole mouth dropping subject... except... Bert Comstock's great "Officer Suit" would really come in handy. I do think that some people would need an extra mint on their boot, though, (not excluding myself at times). I have a question. One of my students saw a basket with "grapes" on the outside of a wine tote. They were made of reed and I was wondering if anyone has seen a pattern for this. I could imitate them, I suppose, but I'd like to do it right. Did anyone try the "Horn of Plenty" basket by Sheila King? Thank you to all of the lurkers who have come out and introduced themselves or written in to WW. I'm glad to see new "faces" and don't let us scare you off. Variety makes this world interesting... or there would only be 5 basket patterns available! Okay, L... say hello! I'm supposed to be crafting as my show is coming up soon and my house moving is right in between two shows that are a week apart... whine.. L is in the same boat. But I have found time to daydream a kettle pattern in my head. Gotta run. Darleena from Okinawa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Weaver's Words Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 22:04:01 -0400 (EDT) From: Linda Braun To: David Collins Bert You can drill holes in buckeyes with an electric drill. Also have to add that I thought my house was FULL; obviously I'm just not doing it right. I was privileged to attend the Columbus show a couple of weeks ago. Every piece was intriguing; a lot of them looked positively impossible. It was totally amazing to see what some folks can do with reed!! Storage I use long, flat, rubber coated hooks up near the ceiling. You can hang several coils of open reed on them and see what you are looking for. I also find that a cafe curtain rod on the wall is a good place to hang open coils of reed; just put the fastened end down behind the rod and pull out what you need...much like you would if putting it over a door. For a tool caddy, I use an inexpensive plastic tool box from the hardware. The clothes pins and spoke weight go under the tray and tools on the tray on the top, but I'm not an organization person; as long as they are in there somewhere, it's OK. Anyone else find themselves going to their basketry tools to use for other jobs too? Also -- compliments about the teaching at women's shelters. Great idea. Thank you for WW, David. What an inspired idea the new website is! It will be fun to check regularly. Thank you for all you have done for our craft. Linda Braun Baskets, Etc. - Ashland, Ohio Linda J. Braun e-mail: lbraun@ashland.edu Ashland University Phone: 419/289-5730 Ashland, OH 44805 FAX: 419/289-5949 Baskets, Etc. website -- http://www.ashland.edu/~lbraun/baskets.html @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Weavers Words 52 Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 09:29:28 -0400 From: "Joy Moody" To: Hello Everyone, Check out David's auction site at http://members.tripod.com/~Basket_Biddin/ . What a great, creative idea! I bet we can make that a lively forum. Thanks, Jana for the feedback. We have been getting good reviews on www.signofthecrow.com & appreciate hearing from folks, because we have been out straight working on the overall plan. For those who have not visited, if you go to the Studio Complex section of the "house", the House Studio, phase #1 of the Basket Gallery, and the Barn Studio are open. Also, if you're curious to see our place, you can exit to View Vision Quest Farm. The Summer season shots have been uploaded. We'll add the Fall shots next. I haven't had time to weave lately and am in withdrawal, I think! A day without basketmaking is a day without sunshine. Hope you are all being more "basket productive". Re: Organization of Supplies. I usually have about 25-30 coils. I 'm using a simple system on the counter of my workspace: All NEW unopened flat reed in one pile, stacked according to size with the widest on the bottom; all NEW unopened flat oval reed in one pile, stacked according to size with the widest on the bottom; all OPENED flat reed stacked the same way; all OPENED flat oval reed stacked the same way; and a fifth pile for round reed stacked the same way. I keep smaller pieces or scraps sorted according to size in those plastic bags the grocery stores are now using. Each of those is labeled & hung away in a closet, to unclutter my studio space. This system provides a number of advantages: I am never buried under reed; the reed has good air circulation; I can find things quickly & easily; I have ample space for my kiln, drawing board & a seating area in the studio. Someone asked recently if my studio is always so neat. Well, yes, but the Barn Studio is not & I am luck enough to be able to switch to Wild Woman out there if I want to! Hope everyone is enjoying the swing into Autumn. Joy Moody Sign of the Crow Hampden, Maine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: New Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 09:28:39 -0500 From: Susan Slaven To: davidc@iei.net Hi. I've only been receiving WW for a couple of weeks, but really enjoy it. I have a couple of questions. First, does anyone know exactly when gourds should be planted and harvested? Second, are there any good ideas out there regarding the wrapping of basket for mailing at Christmas time. Only 85 days! Thanks. Susan S., Muncie, IN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 1 I. 51 Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 16:49:33 +0000 From: Pamela Woodbury To: davidc@iei.net Hello, I have stayed quiet for a long time. Quite frankly I don't even look forward to receiving weavers words anymore. It appears that a vicious group of buddies are so in cahoots that the masses are not even participating. I just came back from the Nebraska convention. I met several people there that belong to this list and WILL NOT participate for fear of redicule or slamming. I know for a fact several business people that will not voice an opinion for the same fears and a fear that their business will be affected if they happen to have a different opinion. I for one am sick and tired of getting grammar lessons. I may not be the smartest person on this list, but I sure am not one of the dumbest either. I know how to proof read, correct typos, arrange paragraphs, punctuate, etc., but for the people on this list with less education than me and others I don't really feel it is my place to correct or at least give my expertise on how they write in. I also feel that some people are not writing now because they are not adept in grammar and the fear of looking DUMB is too much. Does it really matter how our grammar is when sharing basket ideas is what we supposedly are all about? I write a darned good pattern. If anyone thinks because I said forgive an occasional typo that this means I write a crumby pattern, they are wrong. I never charge more than $3 and have some patterns as low as $2. I have in some patterns 3 complete patterns with a colored picture and graphics on complicated steps. I am not trying to promote my patterns, I am just defending the fact that if I make an occasional mistake, I wanted to make that mistake less than anybody buying that pattern. Now with my computer I can correct mistakes immediately. I never run off several patterns and leave them laying around. I print off the computer as needed so any changes are done before a new pattern is printed. For any of you who bought my patterns from years ago, I admit changing mistakes was difficult as all I had was an electric typewriter and that meant retyping everything. I must write a pretty decent pattern as my pattern business is soaring. My main reason for writing is in defense of Marty. I know Marty personally as well as several people on this list. I just attended my 22nd convention and actually have a face with lots of the people on this list. Marty is one of the kindest hearted, sharingest people you will ever encounter. I agree Marty maybe could have been more tactful, but she wasn't. At least she came right out in the open and didn't feel the need to send sneaky little slams to all those she disagreed with. The most tacky of all are those who sent slams to her and tried to desquise who they were. It is also too bad that those who agreed with Marty had to personally e-mail her for fear of retribution. Marty is one of the most talented basketed weavers there is. Marty wants to weave baskets for fun, not profit. Marty belonged to this list for fun, not to gain anything monetary. Marty is the kind of person that if you wrote her and asked for help she would write you back and help in any way possible. She probably knows more about basketweaving than all of the "IN" group on this list put together. If Marty wanted she could instruct, write patterns and be known around the world for her baskets, but she doesn't choose to do this. Our guild even has to beg when she brings in something wonderful that we all want to do. If she starts teaching all the time and writing patterns the fun part is gone. I am guessing that the fun part of this list is also gone and she wanted to be in contact with the basket world for the comradery of it. Another person slammed right off this list was Kim Renich. Kim is blunt. Kim will tell it like it is. She flies off the handle a little quick, but she is as honest as the day is long. If she felt she had cheated somebody on a pattern she would send them every pattern she had apologizing profusely. Kim only got nasty after she felt she had been personally attacked and too had received vicious private e-mail. This vicious private e-mail is ridiculous. I guarantee if I receive any after this I will forward it on to David and it can be his decision to print it or not. It's a shame that at Nebraska as those of us on the list talked, all of our opinions were that we have had it. We could care less if it ever came again or that we have dropped out because we can't stand it and that the same thing is happening as on the last list. This has, however, nothing to do with David. He is a pawn in the middle just relaying our pettiness back and forth to us. I truly hope David if nothing else you get a good chuckle out of all us bickering women. I am seriously thinking of unsubscribing. I used to feel excited to write when I got home from a convention or if I had already experienced something and could help and share it with others. I looked forward to the BASKET tips of Billie and Judith and yes even Marty and Kim. If you have all noticed most of the people with the best tips seem to be lurking or gone. I certainly do not feel any enthusiasm to write in tips or my experiences at the conventions any longer. Pam @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Help, I'm desperate Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 14:12:01 -0400 From: "Kathleen D. Fullerton" To: davidc@iei.net References: 1 Dear fellow weavers, Greetings to all. I am in need of a video tape from the basketry series on PBS. It doesn't matter which one. I have to review a PBS class for a distance learning course I am taking and it would be nicer if I already knew I liked the subject matter. My local library doesn't have it and won't get it inter-library loan in time. If anyone can help me, e-mail me privately. I would prefer to borrow or rent, and I guarantee to care for your tape. Thank you all in advance. On the subject of tool storage, I carry a plastic tote with 2 long bins on either side of a handle that is right in the middle. Some people call them cleaning totes. Anyway, my clips go in one side and all the other misc. stuff goes in the other. My husband took a scrap of 2x4, which fits snugly into the bin, and drilled wells into it that fit the handles of my Weaverite tools. A few more holes for pens and pencils and slots for my bone folder and shaving knife. I can see at a glance that I have all my tools and I don't have to dig for the right one. If anyone still need info on the wood burning marking tool (MANY issues back), I found the paperwork on mine. Very nice product, under $20. Thanks and Happy Weaving! Kathy Fullerton deedee1@mail.apcnet.com @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Thankyou Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 11:58:05 -0700 From: "Ames, Kay H" To: "'davidc@iei.net'" Hi David, Thankyou for signing me up for Weaver's Words. I received issue 151 yesterday. I wanted to read the "back issues" but find it very tiring and time consuming to scroll to the right for each of the long entries. So I tried printing it out, but that only gives me what is visible on one screen, and the rest of the long lines are omitted. Being new to this type of service, I would like to ask: Is there a clever trick, a window choice, a menu pick, or command I can issue to get the long lines to wrap onto one screen? If there is, please enlighten me. I'll bet your other subscribers would also appreciate the advice. Thanks again for the service. I was pleased to see several weavers I have met from across the country are participating. Thank you, @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: enough already Date: Wed, 01 Oct 1997 18:36:07 -0400 From: nhedberg@preferred.com (Nancy Hedberg) To: davidc@iei.net David, I hope this finds you in good health. I really appreciate all you do for us. I look forward to finding Weavers' Words in my in box. Thanks, I know what a task it is. I'm more of a lurker than a contributor, though that doesn't lessen my enjoyment one bit. Today, however, I feel compelled to to say enough, enough already. If we can't say anything nice to each other we can keep our mouths shut....make that fingers still. We all have a right to our own opinions, but when we send those opinions out to do harm, we are releasing negative energy that does ALL of us harm. There is such a thing as the Golden Rule and I suggest we all consider that before we say things. There are positive ways to express differing opinions. I love this list, and hate to have the feelings of ANY of us hurt. I've promised 6 Nantuckets for bridesmaids' baskets for my stepdaughter. She's not getting married until July, but I have very little time to weave after school starts. Teaching takes all my spare time and family takes all the rest. I plan to start on them as soon as The National Storytelling Festival is over this weekend. (We live in downtown Jonesborough and are right in the middle of all the excitement!) Maybe I can stay up a little later each night. Once I get the bases turned it'll be work I can do in the house at night at least until time to make the handles. I'm making the handles and the bases out of cherry. The staves will be cane and the rim I'm not sure about yet. Maybe if I do all the bases and then do all the weaving then the rims then the handles it'll go faster. I do hate to wait that long to see a finished product, but just this once. Happy Weaving Nancy in warm and sunny Tennessee (no leaves turning yet) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 1 I. 43 Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 13:18:59 EDT From: froggestow@juno.com (Roberta R Comstock) To: davidc@iei.net References: 1 Subject: "Weavers Words" V. 1 I. 43 Lois Keener - Hope your toe is healing and not cramping your style too much. On your question about setting up a guild workshop event: The local guild I recently joined was doing just that at my first meeting. Each person who wanted to teach had brought their sample basket, a copy of the pattern for it, and the length of the class to the meeting. They were all put out on display and everyone had a good chance to look them over. A date and site other than the regular meeting site had already been reserved so there would be more room. Space was still limited, however, so the officers had decided how many work stations would fit and how many total hours of classes could be taught in a day there. The entire group voted by show of hands on which ten baskets they most wanted to weave. There was a second round of votes after the initial screening to narrow the final choices down to about six (I think). If one of them is an all day basket, it may be only five. That one had to have a tie-breaker vote against two half-day baskets. I thought the process was an effective way of selecting teachers. None of the presented baskets was really a bad basket, but the most interesting ones are the ones that will be taught at the Weave-In on November first. I didn't notice any hurt feelings among the potential teachers who were not selected. I've found in other contexts (ie.- SCA Royal University of my 'Kingdom' - where I have been Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor for Faculty and Curriculum, area Regent, and Faculty) that classes offered by incompetent instructors die out quickly because after the first one, few, if any, students will sign up for them. We did try to screen against such a possibility by requiring the wannabe teachers to submit written outlines of their classes and handouts, and be able to clearly discuss what they were proposing to teach before they could get on the schedule. We encouraged our established faculty and staff to sit in on classes that were taught casually at events so they could recruit new teacher who had good things going and help screen out those who weren't capable. I often used my Toastmasters International constructive critique training to help new people polish their presentations to bring them up to snuff. Linda Clifton - What kind of baskets did you send to the fair and how did they do? I always enjoy hearing about these things in Weavers Words. Avis Richard - A buckeye is a little bigger than a shooter marble only not as heavy (smaller than a walnut, bigger than a filbert), not quite a globe shape (somewhat flatter and asymmetrical), glossy dark brown in color, with a duller light brown spot on one side. I've seen references to them having been used historically for medicines, and in some cases, processed to remove the toxin for use as food. In addition to being carried as a luck charm, they were believed to prevent gout or heumatism if carried in a pocket. (Hope this isn't toooo redundant! :-)) So long for now. Bert Comstock Independence, MO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Weavers Words Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 09:00:00 -1000 From: Joanne Howard To: David Collins Hi, I have been reading for awhile without jumping in. With all the nasty stuff going on I felt like I should keep a lid on it, because if I said what I really wanted to, well let's let it go. Marty, I am sorry that you seem to be so angry .It makes me sad to think that this great list has resorted to this kind of talk. You may have a lot of wonderful things to contribute to this list someday, but I will never know because I skip over your posts so that I don't have to feel bad about things that are said. We all need to get over this. Take Davids' advice. Let's be nice. I have just completed a summer goal. I finished one of Nate's (Nantucket) kits for a Nantucket Penny Basket. Special thanks to Eric and Suzie at Nate's shop for patiently answering all sorts of questions. I do wish they had a toll free number though!!! I am positive that I did all sorts of things wrong. I struggled with the rim a little but for a first attempt I think it has good shape and I am not so discouraged that I won't try again. Nate has a wonderful catalog of all sorts of kits to try at reasonable costs. I was very impressed. I hope to live close enough to somewhere to take a workshop someday. Then I will actually get a first hand view of how it is really done. My first response will probably be, "oh, that's how you do that!!" My next try will be a 3 1/2 inch Nantucket. Any helpful hints on rimming will be greatly appreciated. David, thanks so much for a great list and for all you do. I have had a terrific time learning new things. There are so many super people on this list. Everyone should be very proud of the talent they have and of the sharing and giving of information. What a fabulous connection we have to each other through this list. Have a great sunny day!! Me Ke Aloha Pumehana, Joanne Howard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: a tiny ornament Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 09:04:34 -1000 From: The Keener Clan To: davidc@iei.net Aloha, First of all, I would like to thank everyone who dropped a line to inquire about Kate. The good news is: she*s just peachy. That is only due to the fact that the dr. took her off the medication. All side effects have left her body and she*s her old self. The bad news is: she has to go back on the medication beginning in 30 days and we*ll go through this again. At least, this time, we*ll be prepared and it won*t throw the fam for a loop. Second, I have a favor to ask. I*m truly hoping the discord on the WW is past, but I would like to ask that it also be gone from my life, too. Please, please, stop flamming me and my friends on our computers in our homes. It hurts to be accused of "ruining the WW" for everyone. We (and I*m speaking for my friends Cheri and Denise and others who wish not to be named) are really taking the brunt of what began as a discussion and it has truly gotten personal. Please, just stop. I have a question (and I swear this is NOT going to start another militant discussion). I was in a country shop a few weeks ago and talked to the owner who is a fairly new weaver. She told me she was an "inside" weaver--she weaves her baskets from the inside only. The only time I ran into an inside weaver was in a class a few years ago. We were making a pie basket on a 12" low handled base and handle attached and it was most important that the miles of chase weaving bring up the sides of the basket to match the handle. Since this person was weaving on the inside, she was pushing her sides OUT and we couldn*t convince her that she was doing this. Needless to say, her basket was misshapen. But the weaver who owns the shop is teaching classes and she*s teaching to weave on the inside. So the question is: is this common? Do any of you weave on the inside? I will admit, I did weave that way once, but I was making a Williamsburg and couldn*t get the sides without the handles to go out to match the handled side--and weaving that way tore my cuticles big time. So I*m just curious to see if this is fairly common. If you are looking for a small ornament, I came up with one. I was talking on the phone (mostly being talked to) and like most weavers, had some scraps laying around and I was playing with them..so I made a tiny elbow basket. I used 8 spokes 10" long of 1/4" flat and made a base of 1 3/4" (4 spokes x 4 spokes). Take the first vertical spoke and bend it over the other half of itself, take the first horizontal spoke and do the same. Do the rest of the spokes the same way, but weave them through each other. I used 3/16 on the sleeves, weaving 5 rows on each sleeve, start and stop. I twinned 3 rows with #2 rr on each sleeve and cut the ends of the spokes on the diagonal. That*s it. I*m using jute as a handle and putting a small doo-dad on the front. I finished it by the time the conversation ended. Now I*ve forgotten who sent in that sweet ornament a few WW ago, but I repeat, sort of, what she said. I don*t know if there is a pattern for this--I*ve never seen one--and if it*s your pattern, I didn*t mean to offend.. Also, we came up with a display for craft fairs. Spouse Richard took 2 small metal buckets (got them at the hardware store) and filled them with concrete. Then he stuck a board (1 inch wide by 6 inches wide by 5 feet tall) into the concrete. When it dried (and I guess you could do this before sticking them into the concrete), he drilled matching holes into the boards. We then ran sturdy dowels (about 4' long) through the holes and voila, we had a display for small, wall, and various hanging baskets. It is easy to transport and has worked well at the last few fairs. You can shorten the length and have your dowels sticking out the ends farther and hang market baskets off the ends.... The first fair of the season is Saturday and I*ve weaved until I can*t anymore--so now it*s tagging and bagging time..... And one more thing--David, send us your snail mail address so your devoted fans can send you a basket....it would I*m sure be our honor. aloha nui loa, Lois Honolulu ps Mary Carty--send me directions for getting to your home page so we can see Stephen..... @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 1 I. 45 Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 19:16:10 EDT From: froggestow@juno.com (Roberta R Comstock) To: davidc@iei.net References: 1 "Weavers Words" Vol. 1 Iss. 45 Subscribers 302 David - Huzzah for us all, having reached 300 subscribers! It's been fun watching the number grow all summer. I suspect we'll double this by next spring. My non-computer basketry pals are jealous! Maybe 'Weavers Words' will inspire some of them to enter the electronic age! Thanks for the chat info in the weaversstain website & the time conversion table. We just converted our AT&T account to unlimited access time, so I look forward to getting our system compatibility set up to drop in on some chatting. I'll also feel freer to do some web surfing now that I know it isn't running up the bill. I really love your chat term vocabulary list. I only knew about half of the terms from a local bulletin board chat+trivia site. May I repost it to another list? Joan Belles - Welcome to 'Weavers Words' and congratulations on being subscriber # 300! Darleena - What a great idea to stash stuff for use in the next lifetime! Please let me know if you find out how to do that. Meanwhile, here's a word of warning about stashing things to use in this lifetime: Never put anything important in 'A Safe Place' - it's a black hole that eats things and you can never find them again until at least two years too late. I grew up in an off-and-on military family. My Dad was in the Army Air Corps when I was born. He was out for a while after WWII, then in the army, civil service, and finally the Air Force - with stints of assorted civilian jobs and ventures in between. We moved nearly every year, sometimes twice. I don't envy you the quarters shift and loss of storage. Things slowed down a bit after I got married, but I didn't really settle anywhere that felt permanent until about 10 years after my divorce. I think I'm finally there. Bob's house was pretty small, but in a better neighborhood than my own, so we built a wing on before I moved in that doubled the size. The entire upstairs of the wing is my studio. Over the years, we've added a sun porch and a double garage with upstairs storage loft and converted the original garage to a game room for him. We almost have enough room now! Hang in there! JSarge - Your talk about weaving pie baskets for Christmas gifts certainly got my attention. I'm planning on giving baskets this year, but still haven't decided who gets what or started weaving them. Time is suddenly looking short - less than 75 weaving day til Christmas - fewer if I count up all the days that are committed to other things. Yow! Time to order more reed and get weaving. Thanks for the reminder! Lora L Khoury - Oh, please don't make your mother get rid of her heirloom lucky buckeye! It's only poisonous if you eat it. Several of my medical herbals discuss medical uses for buckeyes and other parts of the tree. You can poison yourself with common table salt if you eat too much of it. You wouldn't get rid of all your salt, though, would you? Many things are fine when properly used and dangerous if misapplied. Lucky or not, a buckeye is a satisfying thing to carry. It feels good when you handle it and can help calm rattled nerves, possibly because of the pleasant distraction of remembering it's there and holding it again. Your mother's must invoke special memories as well. Caroline Prevost - Thanks for the tip on coating wire handles and using WD40 to remove rust on the uncoated ones. I recently learned that it's also good for removing adhesive gum that's left on an item when you peel off the price tag or label. Has anybody tried using other kinds of wire, such as copper or brass, instead of steel? I buy assorted wire (among other neat things) at a scrap metal salvage yard. They price it by the pound, according to the kind of metal. They have always been very nice about letting me rummage through the barrels and piles of scrap looking for treasures, even though I seldom buy more than a few pounds in any single visit. Time to get off the computer and go inspect the installation of our new vinyl siding (in progress). It was either that, or repaint, and we figured this would save repeatedly repainting during our retirement years. Weave well, and keep the tips and stories coming. Bert Comstock, Independence, MO @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 1 I. 51 Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 20:48:43 -0400 (EDT) From: FDilts@aol.com To: davidc@iei.net Hi Fellow Weavers, Sorry it has taken me so long to answer the question regarding buckeyes. My husband is the one who drilled the holes in them for me and he has been out of town. Anyway, he drilled holes in the flattened or thinner part of the buckeye. He said he didn't use a vise but personally I think it would be safer if you did. Glad so many have liked the idea. After all they are usually free just for picking them up. Good luck to all and happy weaving. Melanie ^i^ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If for any you would ever like to cancel your subscription, simply send me a message with "unsubscribe" as your subject.