Rawhide revisted

[Maeve]

FINALLY! All of the crisis' in my life seem to have subsided for the moment. I have the Tejas Industries rawhide flyer in my hand to order .... and I'm still as confused as ever as to which hide I should purchase. Bill Confer must be very busy lately as I can't seem to catch up with him to discuss this. So I'm turning to ya'll! What the heck to I buy?!?! There are way too many choices, weights, etc. on this flyer to just go blindly about ordering. Just so you have an idea of what kind of work I do and intend to do with this hide, I haven't cut a string over 3/32" in years. I level all of my roo hides to .8 mm. I am absolutely fanatical about leveling lately in that I even have an auto feeler gauge to set my splitter to what I like. I KNOW that rawhide and roo aren't even close to being the same animal (literally and figuratively) so I'm in a quandary. All help and suggestions gladly taken! Thanks in advance! I would like to have this ordered in a day or so before this illusion of peace and tranquility becomes unraveled in the house again! LOL!

Love and Light,

Maeve

Edited September 18, 2009 by Maeve

[LBbyJ]

Hi Maeve, glad to hear things are settling in for you. I to have the same questions about rawhide as you but your a tiny bit ahead of me on this one. I would like to work with rawhide but the time isn't there yet.

Here's a inspiring piece for you though. We were at a show last week in Boise and I meet up with braider by the name of Steve Derricott. Turns out he was interviewed on Public Radio that same weekend so many people were asking about him and had a greater awareness of braiding. His story is a good one so give a listen to the interview at the link below.

Boise Public Radio Page

Good luck with in your quest with rawhide and let us know any tips you learn, John

[Maeve]

Hi Maeve, glad to hear things are settling in for you. I to have the same questions about rawhide as you but your a tiny bit ahead of me on this one. I would like to work with rawhide but the time isn't there yet.

Here's a inspiring piece for you though. We were at a show last week in Boise and I meet up with braider by the name of Steve Derricott. Turns out he was interviewed on Public Radio that same weekend so many people were asking about him and had a greater awareness of braiding. His story is a good one so give a listen to the interview at the link below.

Boise Public Radio Page

Good luck with in your quest with rawhide and let us know any tips you learn, John

Thanks for the link, John! You are SO lucky to have met this fellow. What a neat interview! I have yet to meet another braider other than through the Internet. What a lonely existence this leather braiding is in life! LOL! I only wish that I could meet someone or take some workshops. Right now all I do is teach the bit that I know to others. That is actually a HUGE help to me as I learn so much! One of my students "taught" me something the other day that will be added to the huge list of student learned things. She was using her fid in such a way that it made SO much sense to me and made me slap my forehead in one of those, "Why didn't *I* think of that!" moments! I guess experience is a great teacher too! :D But I am ALMOST (not quite) to the point of being able to travel to workshops. Soon ..... real soon. But until then, I will rely heavily on ya'll here and the experiences that I have with my students!

And if "ya'll" don't chime in here really quick, I'll lose another day of no rawhide to play with before the next round of life kicks in! LOL!

Love and Light,

Maeve

[rawhide1]

Maeve

I've done quite a bit with strands that are 1/32 and a 1/16th and I always use calf. It's nice and thin already. I've tried splitting some thicker cow down and it has worked. But the strands are pretty weak after taking so much off. There's my .02cents worth.

Good luck, Mike

[LBbyJ]

What are you thinking of making, maybe that will help spur some conversations. I've also heard that when doing finer pieces, bracelets or intricate knots, calf skin is best.

As far as workshops go, maybe this winter some of us northern climate folks should be invited down south for a braid in. Just thinking out loud.

[Maeve]

What are you thinking of making, maybe that will help spur some conversations. I've also heard that when doing finer pieces, bracelets or intricate knots, calf skin is best.

As far as workshops go, maybe this winter some of us northern climate folks should be invited down south for a braid in. Just thinking out loud.

You've got it!!! :D I think you just hit on the right person! Every year I host a Smallpipe school in which we bring a world reknown piper to my place. People fly in from all over the country (and Canada), camp in the yard, use the house and we spend a week learning smallpipes. I have also hosted 3 banjo camps! I don't see why we can't do a braiding camp too! WOO HOO!!!!! Here are some links to the smallpipe school. Not sure if I can find the banjo camp pages or not. We didn't host it last year and my memory is horrible!

Sooooooooooo .......

http://people.delphiforums.com/terralyn/

Love and Light,

Maeve

[Maeve]

Maeve

I've done quite a bit with strands that are 1/32 and a 1/16th and I always use calf. It's nice and thin already. I've tried splitting some thicker cow down and it has worked. But the strands are pretty weak after taking so much off. There's my .02cents worth.

Good luck, Mike

Thanks, Mike! I ALMOST ordered a calf hide today. There are just SO many choices on that flyer and I probably want more than one thing! I have a LOT more questions (as I sat on the couch reading my 7 books on braiding ... only to become MORE confused!) but I can't go into it right now. Maybe later after I take my grandson and his buddy ghost hunting (don't ask! LOL!). But I'll make it a point this evening to try and jot done some things. And right now John has my mind reeling about the possibility of a braiding camp! LOL!

Love and Light,

Maeve

[LBbyJ]

Oops, I didn't mean to cause a distraction. But I hear Florida in early February is nice.

Here's a something to get you back on track.

This is a bracelet Nate Wald made for me last winter. If that doesn't get wanting to "rawhide" not sure what will.

John

[Maeve]

Oops, I didn't mean to cause a distraction. But I hear Florida in early February is nice.

Here's a something to get you back on track.

This is a bracelet Nate Wald made for me last winter. If that doesn't get wanting to "rawhide" not sure what will.

John

That bracelet is GORGEOUS and right in line with things that I want to do with rawhide. And buttons. I want to do buttons. I like small. Thanks for that inspiration, John!

LOL! Yes ..... it is VERY nice in early Feb.! Perfect for braiding on all of the porches and patio!

Okay ..... the boys found a ghost and are now scared out of their minds and quiet in the other room. Here are some of the questions that I had in regards to the flyer.

It says on the flyer that "Dried full hide trimmed and split or dried full hide trimmed, split and shaved". Just what does all of that mean? Shaved? It also says on the circles "request thickness". Is that very specific? And to what extremes does that go? Rawhide String (mature) or rawhide lace (calf). Is that the only difference in the two as to what is string or lace? Mature of calf? I'm assuming that lace is thinner (split-wise).

I'm not sure how much I want to order. I tend to be obsessive-compulsive over these things and would probably order one of each if I thought I would like it. I suppose the smart thing to do is to order strings/lace or a circle then decide what I want to do. But if I order the wrong thing and it makes me not like rawhide, then I'm doing a real disservice to myself! I'm so confused!

Love and Light,

Maeve

[Maeve]

Ordered the hides. Will be here in a couple of weeks. Now the learning curve begins.

Love and Light,

Maeve