Summer Sales and Adventures

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

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!

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.

Earflaps Back!

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

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

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!