The toe knows

Summer seems to be flying by!  Soon it will be time to set off for New Mexico and then we will be preparing for the state fair and then autumn will be upon us.

On Thursday, June 30, I was getting ready for my long walk and as I turned from the dresser to get my shoes - WHACK - I banged my foot on the corner of the cedar chest nailing the fourth toe on man left foot.  Words cannot describe how much that hurt, but I made up a few that are still hovering in the atmosphere!  Naturally my mind thought of Philmont and our upcoming 12-day trek.  On Saturday we went to urgent care to have my foot checked and to see if hiking was going to be in my future.   The X-ray showed no break, which was good.  I got a bootie with a square toe for protection and went back to RICE-ing the injured foot.  R-rest, I-ice, C-compression, E-elevation.  It is funny (or not) when something like that happens.

30.07.16  I started this post a couple of weeks after the incident and since that time I attempted to have my left boot toe-box stretched, which did not work well enough.  I was already at Peterson's Shoes, so I tried on a pair of Keen's hiking boots, Targhee 2.  Immediately I could tell the difference.  There was plenty of room for all my toes and the clerk let me walk up and down the basement steps and all around the store in them.  We had a camp-out that weekend and although I stayed back at camp with Mike while the others took a long hike, we managed about three miles.  The boots are very comfortable and although they are one eyelet lower than my other boots, they will be just fine.  Today we are attending to the last minute details of the trip, which is to finish packing our backpacks.  All my things are ready and partially packed, but with the forecast for the next ten days calling for rain in Cimarron, New Mexico those zip lock bags will be put to use.  Even with a pack cover it is so nice to have dry clothing since we take so few things along.  The four liters of water add over eight pounds of weight and then the food, fuel, stoves, bear bags, rope, and other crew gear are distributed in the crew's packs.

Happy feet at Wild River State Park!

In the meantime...on Wednesday of this week Deb from Old Man Wool Farm brought the loom to Anoka Fiber Works for me to see.  I have been looking for a used one that I can use in a studio spot at the co-op.  She had it on the trailer all covered up and we got it in despite the rain.  It was a busy day at Weaving Wednesday, so everyone got to see the new loom.  Deb and Winnie figured it had been on Deb's three season porch for 15 to 20 years.  Winnie had warped it at one point in time, and there was no warp on it.  I washed it off with some Murphy's Oil Soap and rubbed the steel parts with steel wool.

Like wheels, looms can be named and I decided on Anne.  I love Anne of Green Gables and am enjoying a fun summer read of the first book.  This loom was just waiting for the right moment to come into someone's life.  I am happy she came into mine.

Color-coded heddles make them easy to identify.

I snapped a photo before I took off the sectional warp attached to the warp roller.  

The sectional warp pieces need a good cleaning and new cords.  

The serial number below the logo is 4-280.  I checked on schacthtspindle.com and found that this loom was assembled in 1980.  I also checked the location of The Loom Shed in Oberlin, but it is no longer there.  

On my last walk I caught some movement to my left.  It was a family of turkeys.  They were trying to keep the little ones with them and I was thankful they went behind the sound wall rather than toward the road!

Mom, Dad, and the two kids...gobble gobble!

I was on the last part of my walk when the prettiest caterpillar caught my eye.  The colors are similar to some Zauberball Crazy in my yarn stash.

Hike on, new book, and finishing UFOs

Part of the preparation for the backpacking trip to Philmont is not only hiking, but also camping.  The Crew joined the Troop traveling to Cascade River State Park  on the northeastern tip of Minnesota for the weekend.  

Three of our personal tents.  Jim and I used Big Agnes, center) and will most likely take it with us to Philmont.  The "Darth Vader" tent on the left is one that Jim has had for a very long time.  

The woods surrounding the campsite was beautiful.  

Wildflowers were in bloom in camp and on the trail.

Shiny silvery birch tree bark.

Early morning spider web.

The spiders were busy on Saturday night.

Jim and I pose at the Root Beer Falls.

About that brown water...there is a reason for it in a text at the lookout point:

Why does the river look like Root Beer?  Is the river polluted?  NO!  

The brown color comes from the water that drains out of the swamps and bogs into the river.  The decaying organic matter in the swamps creates humic acid.  This is what colors the water brown.  The foam comes from the water tumbling over the rocks and waterfalls.  The aerated water with the humic acid and natural organic matter causes the foam.  Some of the dark color comes from iron deposits located along the river's course.  How do we know it's not pollution?  Because there isn't any development along the 17 miles of the Cascade River.  The Root Beer look of the Cascade River comes from all natural ingredients.  

Perhaps a gnome home?

Treading carefully over the roots!  I managed to slip and fall near the river.

By the end of the day we hiked 10.2 miles with our packs loaded with gear, maintained the lightning position twice on the trail, and opted to return to the campsite to wait out the storms Saturday evening.  Anybody not ready?  Hike on!

Sunday morning was glorious and cool.  The troop returned to camp (they opted to wait out the early storms and stayed at a camp on the trail). We broke camp and headed back home.  On the way we stopped at the visitor center in Duluth to stretch and take in the lovely view.

On Wednesday after weaving I made a trip to JoAnn, ETC for some ribbon to line the knitted strap for the wee Shetland bag.  I was a bit frustrated with the selection and quality of what was available, but I found some twill tape that will work and will somewhat blend in with the strap's colors.  I walked by the book section and the cover of this book caught my eye.  It is a pattern book by Lotta Jansdotter, a Swedish designer based in Brooklyn, New York. It is packed with photos and five simple sewing patterns--skirt, dress, blouse, pants/shorts, and jacket/coat as well as colorful accessories. The clothes are modeled through four seasons by Lotta's friends.  

Taking a peek inside at the five basic patterns and one of the accessories.

Sketches show the basic shapes of the garments with fabric swatches.

I would love to shop for fabric where Lotta shops!

The wee Shetland bag is blocked and ready for the finishing touches.  I had the pieces finished soon after the Shetland trip, but lost focus and it waited patiently in a bag.  I watched an old movie, Rose Marie, whilst weaving some yarn ends and steam blocking the pieces.  I will most likely line the bag with muslin so I can see to the bottom!

Another project with fond memories in every stitch.

For Wednesday weaving I warped the loom with the leftover neutral colors of Rowan Pure Wool Worsted.  There is a LOT of warp, too.  The leftover colors from various projects with the same yarn is the weft.  I hope to use up most of the yarn for the yardage.  What I will do with it when finished is anybody's guess.  At least it will keep me busy on Wednesdays for awhile.

Kumihimo

On Monday evening, the program for the weaving group at Anoka Fiber Works was learning how to make simple Kumihimo braids.  Sharing instructions, Mary and I paired up and used some leftover threads from Kathryn's weaving.  There is a very good website here.  Below is a photo of the braid I made at the meeting, a 10-cord flat braid with a vertical/horizontal pattern, 2 cord crossover.  The button was the anchor.  The black threads on the sides were the crisscross strands in the middle as you will see in the rest of the photos.

Naturally, when I got home I had to try it out with some wool yarn.  The weight from the small scissors was helpful.  I did not have to pull the braid through the hole. 

Looking a bit like jellyfish tentacles.  I used a small scissors to weight the braid  as it goes through the hole in the middle of the white loom.

The looms were made from foam-core board.

the braid in progress.  One at a time, the strands above and below trade places...

...when the strands are all in place, the horizontal strands trade places (crisscross) and the process begins again.  The yellow-green horizontal strands are along the sides of the flat braid.  

Another FO (finished object) in my ongoing efforts to wipe out the WIPs.  The Puffin Mantle, by Kate Davies is finally finished.  It was a delightful project to knit with an easy garter stitch in the round chevron pattern.  The yarn made the project extra-special because I purchased it at Jamieson & Smith in Lerwick.

On my way to the scout camp in Wisconsin, I stopped by Darn Knit Anyway in Stillwater, Minnesota. There is a new sculpture in front of the shop.  He is  adorable.  I will have to bring the Humpty Ds with me next time so I can get a photo of them together.

  

 

He is smiling and therefore must not be in any pain from his great fall.

We have been hiking with the crew twice a week to prepare for the backpacking trip to New Mexico later in the summer.  The wildflowers were so pretty on this particular Sunday.

WOW

Wiping out works in progress...I am making great strides on the Puffin Mantle and should finish over the weekend.

The Beaded Beret stopped because I ran out of the beads.  I have new beads and will take out the row and possibly mix the beads.  Must think about this one a bit.

The cotton sweater is coming along.  I am at the mind-numbing stockinette stitch body.  The Debbie Bliss Cotton Denim DK is lovely yarn in pale denim.

The orange project is an entrelac bowl (it was a short phase some years ago) like the one (that needs to be fulled) beside the snowman, one of three that have been in a basket for longer than I can remember.  I have a lace sweater that needs to be frogged and the yarn re-purposed, as well as the vest that needs armbands.    Single patterns are now organized and filed and books are easier to find, as I rearranged them.  Patterns for classes are pulled and ready to use.  Samples are all finished, documentations are turned in, and I can focus on other projects.  Projects include paintings, weaving, spinning, and wet and needle felting.  Making progress is good!

Progress on the woven top

Yesterday I sewed the halves of the top together with the sewing machine.  When I tried that with my vest pieces, it did not work and I had to hand stitch.  I tested the opening size on a paper pattern and it worked out well.  I will not be turning under a seam allowance, but the plan is to make some binding tape out of fabric, possibly linen.  I have not sewn the side seams yet because I may be adding fabric to the bottom and tried it on.  It looks better than I expected.  There is more of the same fabric on the loom, so there are some possibilities for longer sleeves or a border added to the bottom.  The border is the first choice.

The plate I used to outline the neck opening.

Two-thirds of the opening is in the front and one-third is in the back with the shoulder seam at the fold between.  A running stitch is worked around the pattern piece, with the sewing machine stay stitching is outside the running stitch and zigzag is inside the running stitch.

After cutting, the running stitches were removed.