Deller

Holiday Orders

2009-12-19T20:48:00.001-08:00

I will be away from my office (trailer) from Dec. 22nd until Jan. 02. With the exception of hat gift certificates, all orders placed during this time will not be shipped until I return on the 2nd. Thanks and have a happy winter solstice!
Pictured are two new hat styles that I'm working on. A simple beanie (similar to the Alpine cap minus the bill) on the left and a classic duck hunter's cap on the right. Maybe new hat styles for 2010. Let me know what ya think.

Catch me at the Handmade Bazaar this Saturday!

2009-12-09T10:39:00.000-08:00

I'll be selling a variety of warm winter hats and also baby hats! awesome!

Holiday Craft Fairs!

2009-11-26T10:43:00.000-08:00

Hey friends. I'll be selling some stylin' winter caps at two upcoming craft fairs and I may bring along some unique hats for babies/kids. First at Bike Craft, an event put on by BikePortland.org on Dec. 5th. Here is the flyer:

The following weekend on Dec. 12th, I will be selling hats at the Handmade Bazaar. It will be held at Mississippi Studios 3939 N Mississippi Ave. from 11 am to 4 pm.
Also wanted to mention this Tweed Ride happening in Portland on Jan. 30th. Sounds cool. I'll try to attend in my finest Harris Tweed!

A Nutria Trap Line by Bicycle

2009-11-16T09:47:00.000-08:00

This is a video of a bicycle trapping workshop that I led last winter through TrackersNW of Portland. As discussed in my last posting, I ran the same workshop last week. Participants came along on a bicycle trap line for nutria. A trap line is simply a bunch of traps set in a variety of locations by a trapper to catch fur-bearing animals. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has a specific list of what animals are considered fur bearers and are legal to trap. Some of these animals, such as nutria, have an open season for trapping, meaning they can be trapped anytime of year. This is because of some of the reasons I described in my last post.
We caught two nutria at one of the two urban farms I set traps at. (I would like to emphasize that I was the only one setting the traps because I was the only one with a valid furtaker's license. ODFW requires that a person study a packet of info and pass a written test in order to be issued a furtaker's license.) We then returned with our catch and skinned them, prepared the hides for tanning and butchered the carcass and cooked up a bit of the meat. Most folks seemed pleasantly surprised at the "chicken- like" taste of the meat. I have been asked, and often wondered myself, whether the meat from these critters is clean enough to eat being that they are semi-aquatic and spend much time in Johnson Creek, which isn't known for being clean. My opinion is this: Eating a bit of this now and then can't be too harmful because the nutria are feeding mainly on clean organic crops and grasses at the farm where they reside. They are not eating fish and so, I assume, are not bioaccumulating toxins the way tuna, salmon and other seafood (that folks pay top dollar for) does. I would like to find someone who could do the research to see what toxins may be present in urban animals such as, nutria, raccoon, opossum and squirrel. These mammals are plentiful in Portland and sometimes even overpopulated, and I think could offer a healthy source of meat for humans. Think of it as free-range sources of meat, fat, and fur. : )

Possum wool?

2009-11-07T10:19:00.000-08:00

I was just checking out Rivendell's website and came across this rad hat that they are selling made from 40% New Zealand Possum Wool, 50% Merino and 10% Nylon. Check out the link and read about it. The New Zealand Possum is different from our native opossum and was introduced there years ago. Unfortunately it causes a lot of damage to the native flora and fauna of NZ so people are trying to wipe them out. This is much like the nutria (Myocastor coypus) here in the US which causes much damage by eating up massive amounts of wetland vegitation and pushing the native muskrats out of their territory.

It just so happens that I will be leading a workshop through Trackers NW of Portland this Tues. and Wed. where we will cycle out to a farm in the Portland area where the nutria devour many of the farms crops. Here we will speak with the farmers, do some tracking for the little buggers and then set traps. The following day we will pedal back out early in the morn and check our traps. If we catch some of these big rodents we will ride back with them on our racks and skin and process them at TrackersNW. Participants will learn about the ethics of trapping animals and how to do it responsibly and how to skin, butcher, and tan the hide of a small critter.
I often think about this idea of native and non-native or invasive species. The reality is that the nutria or the NZ possum is not evil, it is just doing what it does best and it is a master of survival because it can prosper and multiply in many environments. However, it brings sadness to me to see the native species be killed off and lose them potentially forever. The reality is that nature has a way of balancing itself out and what I am witnessing is this process. Someday, the nutria may take the place of the muskrat over much of North America and it is silly for us to fight this change. I say we need to embrace these species and realize that they are capable of providing much for us and for others. For example: abundant sources of fur, meat, fat for humans and predatory animals. (Last year while trapping nutria, I came upon a bald eagle feasting on one of the nutria in my traps.) Which brings me back to my excitement about this NZ possum fur hat that Riv is selling. The makers of these hats are making use of an abundant renewable resource, unlike polyester and other plastic fibers made from oil. If life gives you lemons make some fuckin' lemonade my friends!

Winter Hats

2009-10-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

I do have some Alpine hats in stock in black and grey. These are $40 plus $5 ship/handle. I will also be posting some of my Wheely, 3 panel and 8 panel hats with earflaps. These will come in 2 sizes, unlike the Alpine, because the body of the hat is made from woven wool and not stretchy like the Alpine caps are. I'm in the process of getting my hat studio in order after moving it all from a basement into an 8'x 12' camper. It was previously owned by someone else who had a sewing business of sorts in it. It looks like a piece of junk but I love it so far. I have been working out of basements for the past 5 years and god damn, it feels good to finally be working in an above-ground space with natural light shinin' in. Here's a photo of the space so far.

Fishing and a Visit to Gustavus, AK

2009-08-10T18:26:00.000-07:00

We made a visit to Gustavus last week, a tiny little town with no police, no hospital, lots of bears, moose, wolves, porcupines and nice people who wave at you when they drive past. Before we left, I tried my hand at fishing for salmon and bought a one day license. We drove around trying to find a few hot spots where I could fish from the bank. In the end, I snagged two dog salmon that broke free before I could land them and caught two flounder, one of which I kept and cooked up. Below are the pictures.

Starry Flounder. Didn't expect to land a flounder while fishing for salmon. Probably because I'm a sucky fisherman and wasn't using the proper tackle for the job. I had to borrow a rod from someone that was suited only for trout fishing, not salmon. So it's probably best that I didn't catch one.

My homemade fish cooker. The flounder was really mushy. After much cooking, it never really felt like it was cooked. I probably could have drank it with a straw.

Black bear tracks! Awesomeness. These were right across the street from a suburban neighborhood along a creek.

Dog salmon aka. chum salmon line the waterways everywhere around here and they are starting to stink in the hot sun. An amazing source of food for all life. I have read about this happening but never witnessed it in Oregon. Supposedly dog salmon are only fit for the dogs but a friend told me that they serve it down at the homeless shelter so I fileted one and cooked it up along with my flounder. It was actually pretty damn tasty. Ok not as pink and tasty as other salmon but way better than flounder, catfish, or carp. People have the privledge to be picky when the king and coho are so plentiful.

The Chilkat range at sunset from the catamaran that we took to Gustavus. The exceptionally hot weather up here has caused a huge forest fire in the Yukon, hence the smoke haze making the sun look like a firey red orb in this picture.

More black bear tracks on the beach. We found all sorts of amazing tracks on a hike we did from the Gustavus dock to Bartlett Cove. The sand and clay made for really clear tracks and clear depictions of the animals' gates.

Wolf tracks! My mind kept telling me that they were big domestic dog tracks, but the perfect gait that went from a direct registering diagonal walk to occasional gallops made me second guess that, not to mention the very few human tracks along this completely unpopulated beach. After reading "Of Wolves and Men" by Barry Lopez, I have a hard time believeing that wolves even exist anywhere anymore. It is astounding and horrific how many millions of them were (and still are) eradicated by ranchers and hunters using poisons, traps, intentional scarcoptic mange infestations, guns and airplanes to shoot from. Seeing these made my heart sing knowing that there are still places where wolves roam. Later in the week, I bought some plaster from the hardware store and made plaster casts of some wolf tracks.

Porcupine. These little guys seemed to roam all along the edge of the forest and the beach leaving their distinct prints with long claws and occasional tail drag marks.

Wild strawberries were in season and very plentiful. We picked many bags of them and made a strawberry rhubarb crisp one evening with friends. These were big compared to other wild strawberries I've had and super yummy!

Kirsten's friend works as a kayak guide and took us out on a kayak overnight trip in the Beardsley Islands of Glacier Bay National Park. On the paddle out we saw a black bear swim from one island to the next.

The bear exiting the water and heading off into the woods.

View from some island we camped on looking Northwest out toward the Fairweather Mtn. Range at sunset. We fell asleep or tried to listening to sea otters flopping about in the water and what seemed to be large animals walking around the woods behind us. It can be hard to sleep soundly knowing that their are bears roaming about you at all times! The sky became light at about 3:30 am and I couldn't get back to sleep again. We had to pack up and paddle out by 6:00 am so we could beat the receding tide through the passage back to the dock and make sure our friend made it to work that morning. Our timing was a little off and we ended up having to carry and drag the kayaks for 100 yards or so through the 5" deep water. That evening we caught the catamaran back to Juneau. Here we plan to stay until Aug 20th when we will catch a craigslist rideshare through B.C. back to Portland. Until then, we are off to do more hiking, tracking and berry picking!

Raising the Yurt

2009-09-28T11:37:00.001-07:00

Building a Home

2009-09-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

Insulating the floor before we lay the deck. I had no idea how expensive insulation is! Damn. Unfortunately we have been told that the mice will eventually steal all of it from us to build there nests. Damn.

The yurt we purchased came with all of the pre-cut car decking. Trying to lay this out and hope that it matched the shape of our beams was a little frustrating.

But it all came together nicely in the end. A cup of coffee as I contemplate laying the final deck boards.

Finally! All 183 boards in place. My back hurts!

The old camper that will become my new mobile sewing studio. Ideally I'd like to outfit it with some human powered sewing machines and a small woodstove. Thats the next project.

Moving to the Country

2009-09-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to move out of the city for a few years now and it finally feels like the time is right. All of the other attempts I made fell through. We discussed it a lot this summer while traveling and when we returned, Kirsten and I decided to move to a small farm, run by a few friends about 45 miles from Portland. We bought a yurt used on Craigslist from the Seattle area and picked it up in the U-haul pictured. It's a 30' diameter yurt and all of the parts were a lot bigger than we expected. The brand is Pacific Yurts out of Cottage Grove, OR. We hope to move into it by Oct. 1st. Below is the post and beam structure for the deck that the yurt will sit on. Our plan is to live here and help to run the small CSA (community supported agriculture)farm started by our friends. If all works out, I will move my hat sewing studio with me in a small camper. I'll post more photos as the yurt goes up.

Back to Portland

2009-08-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

It was a five day drive from Skagway, AK to Portland and we are home again! The sunshine feels good on my face after our last rainy week in Juneau. I had the realization when we hit B.C. and the skies cleared, that I haven't really seen any stars since the bike tour through Washington. Though I live in the city, I have become accustom to looking up at the stars each season to see a few familiar constellations. While in SE Alaska though, most nights were cloudy and I sort of forgot about looking skyward. My overall impression of SE Alaska? I like it there. It feels big in comparison to the lower 48, not just because of land size but because of big creatures, moose, bear, whales, caribou, salmon and halibut. People were really generous and everyone that I met seemed to have an intimate relationship with the place, either as fishermen, hunters, backpackers or kayakers. Even if they didn't fish, they could tell you about all the different types of salmon and when and where they run. I like the fact that it is expensive to ship goods such as, beef, dairy, tomatoes and oranges, so instead, or rather because they prefer to, folks stock their freezers with halibut, salmon and moose that their family or friends harvested. All of this makes me want to move there. But the one thing that I seemed to have trouble with was the rain. I was told that it rains all year long and most of the time we were there, it did. The few days of clear 85 degree weather in July were very unusual, even alarming to locals. As much as I don't mind the wet Portland winters, I feel some amount of depression by the end of it and look forward to the guaranteed 3-4 months of sunshine in summer. Anyway, I'm happy to be home and don't intend to leave Oregon anytime soon. Below are more photos.

Porcupine chillin' in a tree overlooking the Mendenhall Glacier.

Mendenhall Glacier from West Glacier Trail as we started our hike up to some mountain I can't remember the name of.

Mountain goat relaxing in the meadow.

More of the glacier as we ascend.

Wild buffalo herds along the ALCAN highway

We made a visit to Liard Hot Springs in Northern B.C. It was $10 per vehicle to get in and the hot springs were really nice. Unlike some popular hotsprings, the park service kept these pretty natural, rather than turning it into a big concrete pool.

We met this awesome woman through craig's list who was moving from Anchorage to Portland and hitched a ride home with her. Kirsten and I drove her truck some of the way as she cruised down the ALCAN on her motorcycle. This made our return trip a lot more fun and inexpensive than flying or ferrying.

A young caribou

I wished I was bike touring through this. I kept thinking that maybe I should hop on my bike and ride the rest of the way back to Portland so that I could travel some of the route we had originally intended to ride through B.C., but the further south we got the less interesting and busier the roads became. The drive from Prince George, B.C. to Bellingham, WA didn't look to appealing to bike with all of it's big truck traffic and construction zones. In the end, I felt happy about the decision we made to stop the bike tour in Bellingham and ferry it up to Juneau rather than bike up to Prince Rupert. It is good to be back in Portland and I'm looking forward to harvesting and preserving some fruit, nuts and wild mushrooms as summer turns to fall.

Settling into Southeast Alaska

2009-07-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

Kirsten and I are now engaged! We had been talking about this for a few months and solidified it last Saturday the 25th, with a small ceremony on Eagle Beach. It's been 10 days since we arrived in Juneau. The weather was rainy and cold when we got here. It felt like summer was over and we were right back in the Portland winter. I don't mind rain but it made me a little depressed. Now that has changed and the past few days have been in the 80's without a cloud in the sky. The mountain tops, no longer hidden behind the low fog, watch over all the little humans down in the town. The smell of rotting salmon pervades the stream sides here as they make the journey up every possible river and creek to spawn. I walked off a main road today along a creek no more than 50 yards and found chum salmon splashing about in the shallow water. At least 20 lay there dead on the banks among the skunk cabbage and fresh bear tracks in the mud. We have yet to go fishing but is definitely on the to do list. Below are some photos.

I gathered some bark from a beaver downed poplar tree while hiking one day. The inner bark was retted from soaking in the rain and was amazingly pliable. Kirsten and I began making baskets from it which we have yet to finish.

A bog or "muskeg" below Mt. Jumbo. There are all sorts of interesting little plants that thrive in this wet acidic soil such as, Labrador tea, Sundew, Crowberry, Alaska Cotton and Trailing Cranberry. The Sundew is a carnivorous little plant that eats insects.

I visited the Alaska State Museum twice to see a show about Yup’ik culture called "The Way we Genuinely Live". Pictured is a traditional kayak(minus the skin covering) with all the acoutrements of the native hunter. The waterproof rain parkas made from walrus gut are amazing!

Eagle Beach looking out on the Chilkat Mt. Range at sunset. We held a little ceremony here for our engagement. In the foreground is our campfire adorned with eagle feathers we found on the beach.

We hiked to the top of Mt. Jumbo 4,000' on a beautiful sunny day. The trail went basically straight up 3,300' in 2.6 miles. Our legs felt like they were going to buckle under us on the way back down this washed out vertical trail.

On top of the world! Yehhh!

Juneau!!!

2009-07-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

We have arrived in Juneau after taking the ferry from Bellingham, WA for 2 and a half days. We decided that the original plan to bike tour up through B.C. was not what we both wanted. The ride, eat, sleep routine was getting monotonous and we wanted to get somewhere, Juneau to be exact, and spend more time hiking, foraging berries and enjoying the world at a slower pace. Below are some photos of the journey up until this point.

Camping at Kitsap Memorial Park, WA. We harvested a bunch of oysters and clams on the beach for dinner. I bought hard pretzels from the gas station and smashed them into flour to bread the oysters in and then made a sort of oyster casarole in tin foil on the fire.

Warmin' by the fire.

Whidbey Island was really pretty as we first arrived off the ferry from Port Townsend. We stayed at Ft. Ebey St. Park and they probably had some of the best and most quiet hiker/biker campsites. Although the tap water there tasted like it was being pumped straight from the sea. As we continued past the Naval base, the roads became busier and the roar of fighter jets taking off was deafening. blahh

Deception Pass bridge.

Really good rye bread we bought from a bakery in Edison, WA. A cool little town with a great cafe and bakery!

Boarding the ferry in Bellingham.

The ferry deck where we set up our tent(bottom right corner) as our home for the next 2.5 days. We would occupy ourselves reading books, weaving baskets, drawing, playing cards and absorbing the scenery of the inside passage.

Some baskets we made on the 2.5 day ferry trip. Left to right: a basket and two knife sheaths made from tule and new zealand flax we gathered along our tour and a little pine needle basket. Everyone on the ferry wanted to know what we were doing huddled in our little tent weaving stuff.

Some small town I can't recall the name of. We were told its the oldest existing Native community on the B.C. coast.

Petersburg, AK. We made a short stop here.

Portland to Seattle... ughhhh

2009-07-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

Day 1: We intended to leave by 9:00am but after getting all packed up I realized that Kirsten's front basket was wobbly as hell. We made a quick trip to City Bikes and picked up a front rack, installed it and zip tied her basket on. As you can see in the photo above, she had a Wald basket with built in rack that when loaded, was really unstable. The new rack made a big difference. Finally at about 2:30 pm we were finally on the road. We crossed the St. John's bridge and rode out Rt. 30 past St. Helens, OR. About 45 miles later in the 90 degree weather and rush hour traffic we arrived at a friend's farm where we spent the first night.

Day 2: we crossed the Rainier Bridge into Washington. This sucked. Lots of big trucks and hardly a shoulder to ride on. I had been telling Kirsten that the roads would only get better and more scenic after we got off of Rt.30. I was wrong. Day 2 was worse. We were trying to link up to the start of the route on the Adventure Cycling Map I bought and could only hope that the roads we chose were bike friendly. They weren't. Rt.4 had no shoulder what-so-ever. We had to walk our bikes for 2 miles through the weedy roadside as cars blew past. I began to question why I was doing this tour. Why are we bothering to bike through a country road system that was built strictly for the automobile.

Night two was spent at a little fishing spot along the Cowlitz River. Aside from the drunken rednecks across the river blasting John Cougar Mellencamp ("Yeah, ain't that America, home of the free. Little pink houses for you and me..." how fitting) and lighting off fire works, it was a pleasant stay.

A nice morning on a country road with no cars. The sun is shining. The air is clean and cool and we inhale it deeply after climbing a big hill. We stop often to eat saskatoon berries and red huckleberry. This is when we remember why we came on a bike tour. We camped at Lewis and Clark State Park for two nights to take a break from riding. Kirsten's knee was hurting and we both needed to rest after riding in the 95 degree weather and being chased by countless dogs. I don't know what it is with dogs' hatred toward bicycles, but I kept our can of bear mace (that was intended for our travels through B.C.)easily accessible in my front basket.

Rolling into the town of Porter, WA (pop.473), our map claimed that there was camping beside the little store. The store clerk didn't seem to know what we were talking about and directed us to a camp site another half hour down the road. It was 7 pm and we weren't about to ride anymore. So I found this little spot along the Chehalis River. A legal campsite? "Well, I didn't see any signs officer."

The next morning was a rainy one, so we stopped at Betty's Kitchen in Elma. Kirsten opted for the "hungyman" meal. Yumm! Nothing like a brick of luke-warm microwaved hashbrowns and some high-fructose corn syrup slathered flapjacks. Here's to good health!

So, now we're in Seattle staying with Kirsten's brother and family. Yesterday was a frustrating day of riding. We passed through the town of Belfair and into Bremerton, where we caught a ferry over to Seattle. Along our way we had three motorists blow their horns at us as they passed. The first one tore past us on a country road and layed on the horn. I nearly crashed. I couldn't help but extend my middle finger in a show of resentment. As I come around the next corner, there he is, pulled over with his little daughter in his car, cursing me for supposedly "swerving at him" as he passed. Why I would swerve my bicycle into a speeding car is beyond me but this guy was pissed. I tried to explain that I had the right to be biking on this road and that blowing his horn at me almost caused me to crash. This obviously didn't concern him and he turned around and punched the gas, laying on his horn as he passed us the second time. No more than a half hour later another fat redneck in a pick-up plastered in US Marine Corps stickers pulled beside Kirsten and yelled, "Get off the road!" This time we were on a wide shoulder with plenty of room for him to pass. I'm usually a nice guy but I started daydreaming about how gratifying it would be to come down the road a mile later and find this guy trapped in his truck, flipped over the guardrail and engulfed in flames. I imagined standing there for a bit deciding whether or not I would help him. Yes, that is sick but I'm just being honest. Bike touring seemed to be bringing out the worst in me.
From here, we decided to reconsider the plans for our trip. I think we will be continuing the ride to Bellingham, WA and then catching a ferry from there to Juneau. We would rather spend more of our summer hanging out with friends and exploring the forests. I feel sad that bike touring through the American roadways feels so hostile. To be frank, the past week has left me with the impression that most Americans are fat, selfish, pigs bottle fed on petroleum, Bud-light, caffeine and lies and care nothing for their fellow citizens. Yeah, thats harsh, but I challenge you to ride your bike on the roadways of America and see what impression you are left with.

Summer Sales and Adventures

2009-06-05T16:45:00.000-07:00

Above photo: having a bonfire with friends at Hug Point on the Oregon Coast.
I'm going on a bike tour this summer with my girlfriend from Portland to Juneau. Well, actually to Prince Rupert, BC and then taking a ferry the rest of the way to Juneau. Our planned departure date is July 1st. Before leaving, I'm going to set up at, of course, the MCBF, Multnomah County Bike Fair on June 27th. If you want to get a hat for $5 less than I sell them in the stores and rummage through my bin of discount hats then come find me at this event. My girlfriend and I intend to keep a blog while on the bike tour so check back here in July to hear how it is going.

fan mail

2009-04-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

This was sent to me by a cool couple from Montana. You can check out their blog to see more of their art. Maybe I should adopt this as my new slogan.

Real Alpine Caps!

2009-03-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-03-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

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.

Earflaps Back!

2009-01-31T12:36:00.000-08:00

I have decided to start making my Wheely, 3 Panel and 8 Panel caps available with an earflap. I sold these for a while last year under the name "Cascade Cap". I had some trouble with getting the fit right on them and so discontinued this style. I have since worked out all of the kinks. Now folks can request custom caps in their favorite style and add an earflap. Because the earflap material is made from salvaged merino and lambs wool sweaters, I can't guarantee an exact match with the earflap to the hat material. But, I can make cool combinations as pictured above. This cap is now available in the Shop. More will be sewn soon.

Machines and Life

2009-01-22T19:37:00.000-08:00

Above is my lovely basement studio. Nice and cool in the summer but cold and damp in the winter. I was doing some long overdue maintenance on my sewing machines today and started thinking about the personality behind each one. As an animist, I believe that all of these machines have a spirit of some sort as do animals, rocks, rivers, violins, bows and arrows, etc. Perhaps it is the collective spirit of the people and "resources" that went into the production of each machine. I respect them as tools that quite literally, help me spin straw into gold with which I obtain food, clothing, shelter and other not so essential things like say... beer or chocolate. Thinking about this made me want to catalog all of the machines here for folks to see... or maybe just more for my own satisfaction.

My mom's sewing machine. A 1973 Riccar (made in Japan). She never used it when I was a kid. I got it out of the basement one day, put a new needle in, and began sewing. I wanted to make ultra light backpacking gear with it and ended up bringing it with me when I moved to Portland. I started a little apparel biz called Bonnie Heart Clyde with my girlfriend at the time. From there I ended up making hats.

The machine I do all of the straight stitching for my hats with. A Kenmore (made in Japan). On loan from a friend who I think forgot I that have it.

My wimpy, little serger. A Janome MyLock 204D (Made in Taiwan). It can't sew through heavy stuff but it gets the job done most of the time. This is the only sewing machine I ever bought new.

A Janome New Home "Double Duty"(made in Japan). This beauty I found along the road with a free sign on it a few years ago. I brought it home, oiled it and it works great. I guess it's supposed to be a bit more heavy duty than other machines but I don't notice it. I just like the hot rod styling!

An old Singer from the thrift store. (American made) Why can't they make sewing machines that look like this anymore? It has the same sort of ornate detailing that one might find on a medieval engraved sword or something. Some day I want to get an old foot powered tredle table for this puppy so I have something to sew with when the grid collapses. :o

And finally the old Consew. (made in Japan) This beast is on loan from a friend. I sewed a Chinese Junk sail for an umiak with this thing. Other than that I haven't played with it too much. I'm still getting used to how fast it is. I barely touch the pedal and it has already sewn through 5 feet of material! No joke. I have a dream of one day making beautiful waxed cotton panniers and handlebar bags with this machine, but there is only so much time in a day.

Myocastor coypus

2008-12-28T12:26:00.000-08:00

Nutria (Myocastor coypus), it's what's for dinner. These little guys can be found all over Portland wetlands and rivers. They were introduced from South America in the 1930s to Louisiana fur farms. From there they escaped and have spread all over North America. I came upon this website today about them.
Check it out.
Happy Holidays and New Year!

I bought an SUV!

2008-12-05T10:01:00.000-08:00

What am I doing? I bought an SUV on Monday, a mini SUV that is. It's an '86 Suzuki Samurai, a barbie-size 4x4. It's debatable whether I really need this thing and I'm ashamed to admit that I own a car now. Looks like I have to change the copy on my website where it says that I do all my errands by bike. This is still mostly true though. I plan to ride my bike everywhere around the city, but I want the option of being able to carry larger things and get out to the woods more often. I figure it can be a tax write-off too for '08. The Samurai is small, fuel efficient and 4wd so I can drive through the snow and mud to get to more remote areas to forage, hunt, track and learn more from the forests.

I had a lot of anxiety when thinking about getting a car again. After 4 years without one, I must say that it has been awesome and very rarely did I ever lament not having one.

I thought about getting a diesel for the ability to run on veggie oil but they cost a lot here in Portland, the conversion process seems like a pain in the ass and when the shit hits the fan and gas is hella expensive I really don't see veggie oil being a cheap, obtainable option. I don't feel all that guilty about being a gas consumer now because I don't intend to drive much at all. It's an experiment. Maybe I'll get sick of it and sell it in 6 months. We'll see. I'll let you all know how it goes for me.

A change of plans

2008-11-30T13:25:00.001-08:00

In my previous post I mentioned that I will be selling hats at BikeCraft in SE Portland. Unfortunately, I am unable to make it to the event this year. My apologies to anyone who was hoping to see me there.

Orders

2008-11-17T11:50:00.000-08:00

I am no longer taking any more custom orders or wholesale orders until Jan. '09 because I am going home for the holidays in mid December. Because of this, any online orders purchased after Dec. 14th will not be shipped until Jan. 2nd. Please be aware of this if you intend to purchase any holiday gifts.
I will however be setting up at the BikeCraft IV at
Roots Organic Brewing, 1520 SE 7th (just south of Hawthorne
Wednesday, December 10th, 5:30pm - close
This is an event put on for the past 4 years now by bikeportland.org
I intend to have a variety of my winter caps and maybe some more unique one of a kind stuff too. There has been a ton of rad local crafts and art at this event in past years , so bring some cash!

Merino Wool

2008-11-03T11:22:00.000-08:00

Every fall/winter I receive a lot of orders for my Alpine and Alpine Reversible style caps. These are my favorite cap because of their warmth, softness, and snug fit while worn under my helmet during the wet winter commutes. The problem that I am facing is that it is very hard for me to source enough of this merino wool that is of good quality, nice colors and not overpriced. My business is about recycling used garments to create new hats, but I am thinking that I may have to make an exception for the Alpine caps. The brand I am looking into working with to get merino wool is called MAPP Check it out. They seem to have a pretty sustainable business and create a quality product. Not sure what it will cost yet. They are sending me some samples. What I may do is still find used merino in various colors and use this to mix with a black new merino fabric. Otherwise it could be very expensive to order a variety of fabric colors in bulk. I'm curious what people think of this so please let me know. Feedback is helpful in creating a product that cyclists will benefit from.

Below are some photos from some recent mushroom gathering. Yummm!

a very big chantrelle!

Birch boletes