Real Alpine Caps!

These are cool. I'm going to attempt to felt one myself with wool dyed in black walnut hull for a nice brown color. Here is the link to the site where you can purchase them. They are pretty cheap and 100% wool. You can also by little feathers and pins for them. Sweet!

This is a felted wool cap that I made last month. It was felted from some dirty, raw sheep wool that a friend gave me. The felting process uses hot water and soap to felt the fibers. Instead of washing the wool first, I just let the felting process clean the wool. It's dyed with black walnut hull. It's pretty crude looking but that is what I like about it. Not to mention, it's also really warm.

Squirrel and Nutria Stew!

A friend of mine came across this NY Times article last month about the Brits eating squirrel for dinner. Not only because it's tasty but also because the invasive grey squirrels from the US are pushing out the native red squirrels. By eating the grey squirrels people are helping out the reds.

Here in Portland, we have the same issue of the eastern grey squirrels pushing out the native western grey.

I started eating squirrel 4 years ago when I found fresh roadkills while out on bike rides. The meat tastes like chicken if it is prepared well. The trick is to remove the scent glands under the armpits. This is the part most people don't do and it makes the squirrel taste "gamey".

Most young folk scoff at the idea of eating a squirrel but when you mention it to old timers, they talk about how they remember grandma cooking up squirrel pot-pie and so on. I have had some success trapping squirrels for dinner and believe it to be a healthy source of protein even in the urban environment.

Another one of these "invasive" critters is the Nutria, which I had posted an article about in January. Go here to read more. These guys are really abundant in the Portland area and do lots of damage by devouring peoples crops and taking over native muskrat habitat. This year I got my trappers license and began trapping nutria at an urban organic farm. The farmers are happy because their crops are not being devoured and I'm happy because I can eat free range organic nutria and use them as part of an educational curriculum at TrackersNW teaching how to skin, butcher and cook the meat. After this, the hide is used to teach primitive tanning, using simply brains and smoke. Then we can make the furs into hats, bags, mittens, blankets, etc. Perhaps I'll start a new line of Deller fur caps. : ) Click here to see a youtube video about our adventure.