Laffing Horse Crafts

By now everyone who has a knitting needle or afghan crochet hook from me knows that I like to put beads on them. I like to use glass when I can (although I’ve got a WONDERFUL set of custom pottery beads that just came in from Sanborn Designs). Finally, I like the glass beads to be pretty and unique. I found the end-all, bee-all of beads this last Spring. You may remember me writing about Tom and Sage Holland the bead-makers.

We had a visit from Sage today and she mentioned in passing that she’s giving another class locally. I wanted to let everyone out there know about this class because I don’t have time to make the beads for my stuff and need more quality beadmakers out there to sell to me. Go take this class!

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We were sitting around a table, in the shade, sipping tea with our new found friends. They are building a cordwood house and we had volunteered to stop by and distract them. When not building a house, he is a classically trained chef and self-taught geek from the UK and she is a masseuse and organic gardener.

In the conspicuous silence of a distinct lack of work, I am asked what I do.

I gave the usual spiel… looms, crochet hooks, knitting needles…

His face lights up. “I could really use a knitting needle!”

“They usually come in pairs,” says I. “What size do you need?”

“Oh, something that would make a mesh about 3 inches or so.”

“That’s awful open for lace, but I guess I could make you a set of, what, 16s?”

“I don’t need a set. I’m going to be making knitting.”

“Right… OK, what length?” I query. I’m beginning to get confused.

“I don’t know,” he replies, starting to look confused himself. “Whatever size might be used for a 3″ mesh,” he repeats.

“What type of bead would you like? I use mostly glass or semi-precious stone.”

“They have beads?”

In my memory, this went on for several minutes. It was beginning to sound like an Abbot and Costello routine and I so wanted to yell “First base!” when Jeanette leaned over and said, quite clearly, without accent “netting.”

I’d never made a netting needle, and I told him so. I also said I’d see what I could do.

Back at home, I did a little bit of research and a little bit of woodcarving, and voila!

As with everything that I make, as soon as I’m happy enough to show it to Jen, she snaps a pictures and runs off to put it in the store. They’re there now.

I’ve made and sold about 5 of them now (I gave the first one away to our friend)… lessee… something from a bizarre conversation… Yep! That’s a net gain!

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I wanted to do something nice for a couple of my customers that have been so very patient as I got bogged down and backed up. One of these customers has purchased, I think, just about one of everything I make… so sending something I make was out of the question.

Unless I start making something else!

But what don’t I already make? Well, jack looms and spinning wheels – eventually, but… let me rephrase that… what don’t I already make that would be quick and easy and not delay their products any longer and would be useful?

For inspiration I turned, as I so often do, to a favorite view of mine… watching Jeanette work on her loom. You thought maybe a pastoral scene of sheep in the Alps with Heidi bounding down to hill to Grandfather’s place? Ha! As I watched her weave I saw that some times she would just reverse her hook and smack the strands of yarn into place… that’s how I do it when I weave. On occasion, though, she would stop, grab a packing fork (and thinking about it now I’ve actually seen her use a fork fork) and make everything nice and even.

Hmmm….

Introducing Little Feat… er, Little Feet… um, am I going to get sued by a rock-n-roll band for this?

Little Feet, then:

In a move that I think makes these particular Little Feet even more wonderfuller, I used natural aromatic cedar from the Foxbriar Farm (where we make an excellent cappuccino, thank you very much!) which I felled, cut, aged, cut again and finished. Of course, now that I’ve made one, you’ll be seeing these and hands, too, made out of all kinds of woods in our store.

Oh, the name? I designed them to be easy to hold in one hand and make left and right passes… all kinds of ergonomic, I think. So I bring ‘em over and set them down in front of Jen, looking for praise or at least suggestions.

“Oh, cute!” she says. “little feet!”

But wait, there’s more!

Seems as I finished more wood than I needed for just the feet, so I made a special edition Ozark TriLoom which went out today to a patient customer.

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