It is best to braid it while the stalks are somewhat green. If you wait till they are completely dry you might try misting them to soften them up a bit.

Trim the roots and clean the bulbs up nice as you braid them. Don't forget the twine.

I still have 3 braids hanging up that my wife braided back in 1984(she did 500 braids 2 lbs each), still look as good as the day they were braided (a tad lighter tho)

I like to wait till mine has cured and leaves are dry. If the leaves are green, as they dry the leaves shrink and the braid gets loose. Also nothing is more frustrating than braiding before cured and find out later that one of the bulbs went bad in the curing process. I wait for a humid day and set them outside in the shade for awhile and the leaves soften up or i mist the leaves with a spray bottle. We harvest in June and I have braided garlic as late as December!
The garlic lady