Red Cedar Bark

Fiber artists often wander off into the world of basket making.  I never had that particular interest but there must be something ancestral on the X chromosome because when I was asked if I wanted to join some fiber friends in gathering some red cedar bark for weaving baskets, I said yes.

Actually, I thought it through in this way.  No, I don't want or need any bark because I don't make baskets.  Well, maybe it would help my friends to have another set of hands along to gather material and do the work.  Maybe I would learn something.  Maybe my sister, who is a serious willow basket maker would like some cedar bark.  So yes became my answer and today seemed sort of tribal as we peeled pieces of bark from young trees while the mist encroached and the eagles circled and cried in the sky above.

My arms are sore from tearing the rough outer bark from the strips with a pocket knife. Soaking and drying and splitting comes next. There is more to learn about this business of bark.