If Then Else Or

My summer project for myself is to make a collection of 16 of these embroidered thimble rings (called kaga yubinuki), these are my first 2 ^^

using this as an opportunity to add this link to this post too:

Owlet Moth Caterpillar on Stone Lichens

New leather pattens post!

I made a pair of leather pattens three years ago, but back then we were more experimenting, and after 3 years of service, my pattens are so worn that I doubt they would survive another event

So, last weekend I visited my shoemaker friend and we started to make new ones (because he also wanted a pair)

Last time when I made them with another friend, we made the pattern for it ourselves, but this time, we used the actual pattern of a real find to base the shape on

specifically this one!

This is from the book "Archaeological Footwear II: Sandals, Pattens and Mules, from the Roman, Mediaeval and Modern periods" by Marquita Volken, THE expert of medieval footwear in Europe, who I had the pleasure to meet a few years ago at an event. I can very much recommend her books, because not only are they historical analysis and finds, but also she remade a lot of the finds and explains how they were constructed. So 10/10!

so we took the pattern and increased it to match our foot size, and after a few smaller changes made our own patterns for it

and then we started cutting the leather. We used a very thick leather for the soles and then a slightly thinner layer for the strips

I also changed the front pattern to an even simpler one

we found one historical source for that crossed pattern that I ended up using. We then did some cheating and glued the soles together for stability (i want them to last a bit longer than 3 years)

and we drilled holes. Then I stitched the soles together

And then to the straps

first I made these kind of holes that go from.the top to the side, to sew on the straps

and tested them with medieval shoes, and they fit

[He scoops up the fish, it spits water and he turns it toward the camera]

This one is stumpy and green. Very beautiful, very powerful.

[He picks up another fish and turns it toward the camera]

This is what a normal lumpfish looks like. It is more elongated, but still a vibrant blue color. Very beautiful, very powerful.

[He picks up another fish and turns it toward the camera]

This is one of the stumpiest ones we have. Its hump is very high. It is very stumpy, but yet very beautiful, and very powerful.

[He pans over a lot of fish, all looking up at the camera]

gospels of john of opava: gospel initials

intricately decorated, full-page initial letters (F, I, I) for the gospels of luke, john, and mark, from the richly illuminated (and written entirely in gold ink) gospels of john of opava (evangeliar des johannes von troppau). manuscript produced in prague, bohemia, c. 1368

dearly departed fung wah bus may she rest in POWER 🫡 obsessed with ayo's go-to bit in her last press cycle being the great molasses flood and this time around it's the fung wah bus. real bostonian representation 🙂‍↕️