Outland Forge

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Exactly 9 months ago, on October 11, 2010, I put on a leather bracelet. Rather, I sewed it on making it a ‘permanent’ bracelet. I bathed, swam, sweated, cooked, scuffed and scraped and never it came off. I had oiled it just a little bit with some neatsfoot oil before putting it on, otherwise it was raw veg-tanned leather.

It slowly began to darken and the color got richer. I made no effort to take care of it or treat it nicely, nor did I purposefully try to scratch, scrape, or abuse it, I just treated it like part of myself, the occasional scrape notwithstanding. It got darker and began to take on a waxy finish, the leather fibers slowly wore off until it had a dull sheen.

Now, exactly 9 months later, I began to notice it smelled a bit like an old shoe, a moldy boot or a stinky foot. I don’t suppose most would have noticed this, it isn’t noxious and is very subtle. In fact I wouldn’t have noticed either if I hadn’t had the habit of occasionally smelling the band to enjoy the rugged leather scent. However, I decided after 9 months, the test was over and it was ready to be born, perhaps as something else. The cycle of craft complete.