"Weavers Words" Vol. 3 Iss. 81 Date Sent: December 23, 1999 Web Page: http://www.iei.net/~davidc/ Subscribers: 1276 David Collins 408 North Devon Avenue Indianapolis, IN 46219 Phone: (317) 899-5747 Fax: (520) 222-0391 davidc@iei.net %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Do You Like Weavers Words? Click Below To "Recommend-It" To A Friend! http://recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=210339 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% The Basket Bookstore Stop by "Weavers Words Basketry Bookstore" for a great selection of basketry literature & save up to 40%. Over 40 titles to choose from. The address is: http://www.iei.net/~davidc/book.html %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Attention New Subscribers You can search Weaver's Words web page and back issues by going to Weaver's Words web page (http://www.iei.net/~davidc/) and entering your search criteria into the PinPoint search box. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Attention AOL Subscribers For some reason some AOL subscribers haven't been receiving Weaver's Words through email. If you are one of these subscribers, or know one of someone who has not been receiving Weaver's Words, you can get all of the issues on the Weaver's Words web page. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: WW Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 23:12:09 -0500 From: "Lynda Crowe" To: "David Collins" Hello and Happy holidays and Happy 2000 David. Once again thanks for all you do. I hope the New Year finds you recovered and doing well. Glycerin: I have found a great inexpensive alternative to glycerin especially for those Gretchen borders, where you need the reed to stay pliable. I use a couple tablespoons of liquid downy fabric softener in my soaking water. Not too much, just make the water a little cloudy. It is also great for your hands-baskets smell great too. I only dye my baskets with water based-dyes though. I don't use mineral spirits, or minwax since my kids have asthma and are allergic to the odor and chemicals. I also spritz my water-based stained baskets with to it keep them from getting brittle a couple of times a year. Hope it helps. Lynda WV where they say maybe snow for Christmas!! Happiest of holidays to all! Visit us on the web at: http://home.wirefire.com/crownest %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Fw: "Weavers Words" V. 3 I. 80 Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 00:49:33 -0500 From: "Donna L" To: "David Collins" Hi to David and all 1271 other readers out there. Don't know how many more WW's David will put out before the weekend so I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a joyous Holiday season no matter what you celebrate at this time of the year. Please, let's remember what the season represents to each and every one of us. Let's also remember to think about some of our members who are not finding this time of the year very joyous due to illness and deaths in their families. All of us here at The Country Seat send our greetings out to each and every one of you and thank you for your continuing support. Pam - Unless the bleached color turns you off (you can, of course, dye it), you may want to try bleached round reed to start your antler baskets. It is so VERY flexible (because all the properties have been destroyed in the bleaching process!) and, unless you weave very quickly, does tend to raise more hairs than regular reed. You absolutely never have to worry about it cracking (there's nothing left to crack) when you make sharp turns. Yes, I am stating both positives and negatives in the same sentence - but when weavers refer to "spaghetti", this is it! Donna, in PA where we are having way too much rain (think snow, not too much though) Happy Holidays Everyone bordlong@fast.net http://www.countryseat.com %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 3 I. 80 Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 08:44:36 EST From: Wickrwoman@aol.com To: davidc@iei.net, hds57@idt.net Helen, How lucky you are to be the recipient of deer antlers, now have at it making those baskets. I put the antlers still attached to the scull plate, in a vise and use my hubby's reciprocal saw, or brand name, "Saws All," with a short blade. If you use a long blade, you will be shaken to death, by the blade's movement. Let me warn you, the smell is awful, so be sure and wear a mask which will also keep you from inhaling the antler dust. Be sure to wear safety goggles so you don't get any bone fragments in your eyes. I have some antler basket patterns featured on www.basketpatterns.com right now and will be adding more soon. If you ever want to sell that basket or any others you make, check with your state's Fish & Wildlife Service or Department of Natural Resources to make sure it's legal in your state to sell antlers. Good luck! The Wicker Woman/Cathryn Peters/Zumbro Falls, MN www.wickerwoman.com %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: anti freeze Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 07:37:54 -0800 From: "Brewer, Heidi" To: "'davidc@iei.net'" Hello Weavers, Do not use anti freeze for softening your materials! (This is in response to the tip on using anti freeze in lieu of glycerin in the last WW letter). The health and environmental hazards do not outweigh the usefulness of the product. Ever hear the phrase "Mad as a Hatter"? Yes, the old timers had products that helped shape the materials they were working with, but they slowly killed themselves in the process. Anti freeze liquid can enter your system through your pores and the vapors through your nasal passages. And think of the disposal problems... No one should store anti freeze around their house/garage due to the possibility of children/pets getting into it. There are a few products out there that say they are "biodegradable"--they still poison. Please just don't even consider it. ~ A note from environmentally friendly Seattle. On a happier tone ~ Antler tip 1: use a hacksaw to remove the antlers from the skull of the deer. You may be queasy the first time you do this, but it gets easier next time. Use a sharp blade and secure the antler--you only want to have to cut it once, not once to get if off the skull and a second time to shape it (think about the angle before you cut). Antler tip 2: If you know any hunters ask them for their antlers-making a basket with them is a great way to "recycle" a by-product. Trade them a basket for antlers. Happy weaving-- and if you're like me, the fingers are sore from making holiday presents! -Heidi B-P From Seattle-no rain for several days! We may even be able to see the moon on the 22nd. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: ready for Christmas Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 07:38:17 -0800 (PST) From: Carol Miller To: davidc@iei.net To Tony and all the others frantically weaving! My weaving is done but that darn oven will not bake fast enough and the kids won't quit fighting! Christmas vacations are so wonderful when the snow won't fall and the mud keeps everyone in doors! It seems as though every year I commit myself to far too much baking and have to get some done at the last minute. My family will be coming to my house for Christmas, my dad says he will deliver a prime rib for me to cook (yum), and as usual we will eat 'til we are miserable. Have a nice holiday, I am truly looking forward to it. Relax Tony you will get finished, Carol in Montana %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Thanks to all of you Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 10:39:14 -0500 From: Nancy Schuon Organization: University of Michigan To: David Collins Wow! What a response to my qlycerin question. I really appreciate all of your help in finding glycerin. I bought the last bottle the pharmacist at K-Mart had. ($1.35 for very small bottle) I used just a few drops with my water and it worked great! My reed was really old but I didn't have time to drive from Ann Arbor to Plymouth, MI to buy more before Christmas. Hope all of you have a wonderful Holiday and a safe and happy New Year. With all the hoopla over year 2000, I'm more worried than ever about impaired drivers. This is the year to stay home or stay over after the party. We all have too much to look forward to in the coming year to take chances on one big night. David, hope the new year brings healing and good health to you. Thanks for this wonderful forum. Nancy Schuon %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Holiday Greetings Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 11:19:27 -0500 From: "Robbie & Skip Sykes" Reply-To: "Robbie & Skip Sykes" <@coastalnet.com> To: "David Collins" David, hope this holiday greeting finds you feeling much better and getting your strength back. To David and all WW members, wishing you and yours: SEASONS GREETINGS AND HAPPY WEAVING IN YEAR 2000 Robbie in cool and drizzly, but "beginning to look like Christmas", Wilson, NC %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: "Weavers Words" V. 3 I. 80 Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 12:30:53 EST From: EJLida2@aol.com To: davidc@iei.net In response to the gal with antlers attached to the deer head: they are fairly easy to cut off by using a small meat saw or hack saw. Cut at an angle through the antler. They can be "snapped off" similar to cracking a chicken bone in half, and will snap out of the skull, after the saw cut is about 3/4 of the way through! Good luck. Ellie in MN. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Re: dyes, glycerin and guild Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 12:56:44 -0500 From: "Mary Hooper" To: "David Collins" I love Claire's description of making black walnut dye. Her method is just about like mine, although I don't let it freeze as the container is sure to burst. I strain the dye through a common metal kitchen strainer and then pour it into a nylon stocking if it needs it. I do the same with acorns. If you keep reusing the same old nuts you can get quite a lot of dye out of a bucketful.. I can't see that glycerin makes a bit of difference in the reed. If it's going to crack without it, it will with it, so I don't waste money on it now. Sorry Donna, I must be doing something wrong. I do understand that glycerin will preserve flowers. Just put it in the vase and let the flowers suck it up. What about those posies for basket embellishments??? I don't have much problem with Rit bleeding. I wonder if it depends on the color of the dye? Anyone done any research on this? New members of WW may not know that RETAYNE is a good word to web search. You'll find sources that way if you don't find them on the archived editions of WW. I'm a member of Tri-State Basketry Guild and hope some of you will join us for the classes Barbara and the team have planned. Merry Christmas to you all, especially Norma and David. May you, David, feel lots better in the New Year. Mary Hooper from the mountains of western North Carolina where I'm glad I saw that moon yesterday because it's cloudy and gray today and I don't holdout much hope for a clear Wednesday night. Winter is right on time! %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: antlers Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 12:01:54 -0600 From: "PriNet" Organization: PriNet To: To Helen from Princeton. I have successfully cut deer antlers from the skull with a battery operated reciprocating saw by Black and Decker. It took awhile, but got them off, then used my Dremel to sand the button smooth. Now to make the baskets... Merry Christmas to everyone in weavers words... Susan prinet@compu.net %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Can someone suggest Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 10:34:35 -0800 From: "Sallie Moore" To: "weaver's words" Someplace ELSE that one might be able to obtain Retayne? We do have a JoAnn Fabrics here but I don't go in there much. Michael's? Ben Franklin's? Sallie in Reno, NV %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Weaver Words Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 21:51:40 -0800 From: "G & B Johnson" To: I'm new to Weavers Words, really enjoying it. I have learned a lot. Have only been a basket weaver for 2 years, very new to it, but am loving it. Question: Why would you want to join the Michigan guild if you live in Wisconsin. What are the advantages? Barb Johnson %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Subject: Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 22:23:17 -0700 From: "Faye Stukey" To: Hi David and readers! I recently received a wonderful message from a friend in the greater Kansas City area. She works with chronically and terminally ill children and is always on the lookout for craft ideas for the children she works with. We discussed basketry and she thought it would be a wonderful idea! I've seen children make baskets in classrooms, and there's nothing like the look on their faces when they complete their very own basket! I could only imagine how a chronically or terminally ill child would feel about making something that will always be cherished by their families! She has a small fund available, and could pay a reasonable amount for somebody's time, plus costs and materials. If there is anybody in the Kansas City area who would be interested in a project like this please contact me! Thanks! Faye Stukey Whitefish, Montana (Where it rarely gets above freezing these days) %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% If for any you would ever like to cancel your subscription, simply send me a message with "unsubscribe" as your subject.