I for one have had enough of these scorching summer temps and I’m happy for any relief I can find. Hot days are perfect for cold suppers and one of my favorites is gazpacho. Many years ago, my older brother shared a recipe that wins me praise whenever I serve it.

If you can’t bring yourself to turn on the oven tonight, give it a try. All the ingredients are just guesstimates and each time I make it it’s a little different. These are the amounts I used the other day and it was as yummy as always. This makes 8 or 10 generous servings which sounds like alot, but it keeps well in the fridge for several days. Feel free to adjust any or all ingredients to suit your own tastes.

Gazpacho

Large bottle of good quality tomato juice

2 large cucumber, peeled and seeded

2 medium sweet onions

3 sweet red peppers, seeded

2 – 3 stalks celery

Large handful cilantro

Small handful parsley

 Soup Base

2 – 3 hard-boiled egg yolks

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Juice from 1 lemon

2 – 3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp dry mustard

Tabasco to taste

Boil eggs and chill juice while you’re busy chopping. Finely chop vegetables by hand or in a food processor. I do each type separately in the food processor as each chops at a different rate. Combine all chopped vegetables and herbs in a large bowl, add tomato juice, reserving about 1 cup juice and stir to mix.

When eggs are cool enough to handle, remove yolks and mash in a small bowl. Add remaining soup base ingredients and reserved juice. Add soup base mixture to vegetables, stir and chill.

is the number of hours I spent working in the studio to make my modern Mary Janes.

I’ve been home since Friday evening. I’m mostly recovered though my hands still ache. I averaged 13 hours a day in the studio and worked up until the last possible moment.

I would have loved to post my progress as it unfolded, but it was an  intense two weeks.  Returning phone calls and emails, heck, even checking them, fell by the wayside. Eating and sleeping cut into my work time, so I limited those activites to the absolute minimum. I did try to document the process with photos though missed a few steps along the way.

When I last wrote, I had taped up my last and was about to transfer the design to the tape. That tape was then removed and laid flat on kraft paper to create an initial pattern.

initial pattern pieces (cork platforms in foreground)

I then cut out the kraft paper pattern pieces and transfered them to stiff card stock where I added seam allowances. Each shoe had 9 pattern pieces for the upper not including the straps, buckle tabs, lining, platform and insole covers or the sock liner.

final pattern pieces ready for leather (platform and insole in background)

At this stage, I started making detailed lists of things to accomplish each day. The entire process is very methodical and though it’s tempting to jump ahead, you have to complete certain steps before it’s possible to move to the next.

Once I had all the pattern pieces cut out in leather, they needed to be assembled. I opted for machine stitching for all the critical seams even though no machine in the class, including my own that I brought from home, was behaving as it should. The leather proved tricky even with leather needles, but my trusty little maching managed to stitch through as many as 6 layers of leather in some spots.

upper is machine stitched (skiving knife at center, trusty list to right)

The only jumping ahead I did was to sample various details that I hadn’t yet decided on. I knew I wanted to add some hand-stitching and had brought along pink waxed linen thinking it would work nicely. Turned out that even after stripping a considerable amount of wax off the linen, it still picked up too much black “fuzz” from the sueded side of the leather and looked dirty and totally unacceptable.

I changed a bunch of details along the way. Long before the class started I imagined a simple flat platform shoe with an ankle strap. But that seemed too plain. I then set my heart on a traditional pair of lace-up brogues thinking that would give me the opportunity to learn the most. But panic set in on day one of class, brogues seemed overly ambitious. I quickly merged my brouge and flat platform ideas into this modern Mary Jane. I’m so glad I made that change. Not only did I design a shoe that is totally me and something I’ll wear, but I was right to panic because not everyone in the class managed to finish their shoes.

hand-stitched detail, other detail samples in background

After sampling the pink waxed linen and both pink and white nylon upholstery thread, I gave red a try. Even when my heart was still set on pink details, I had decided to use some red leather for the sock liner inside the shoe. That decision led to several others that worked beautifully. I used red for the hand-stitching and made a small red tab to attach the buckle. I then sampled red straps with black stitching, but the black ones with red stitching won out.

buckle detail

With all the upper pieces sewn and assembled it was almost time to start lasting the shoes. This wasn’t going to be a closed shoe and so the insole would show in the finished shoe. To make sure every detail was finished properly, I needed to cut a narrow strip of leather to cover the edges of the insole.  Then the shanks, stiff metal or in this case fiberglass inserts are glued to the bottom of the insoles under the arch of the foot and then covered with thin lining material.

covered insole tacked in place (shank covered with pigskin lining)

ready for lasting

If this had been a closed shoe, the entire upper would have been in one piece and lasted at the same time, but I started with the toe section first, tacking it into place on the last along the lining that will ultimately be trimmed back out of sight.

lasting the upper

The lining and innermost layer is lasted first, by stretching and tacking it into the bottom of the last. Once the lining is pulled taut and is entirely smooth across the toe, the tacks are pulled out in small sections and the lining is glued in place.

lining lasted and inner layer of upper tacked in place ready for glue

The lasting process is cruel on the hands. With one hand you have to pull the leather with pliers (I used these flat jawed pliers though lasting pliers would be the best choice) and then tack it in place with the other hand. Let’s just say I’m still taking Aleve.

lasting

lasting

preparing for the sole

Once the lasting starts the entire process becomes really exciting because you can see your shoes start to look like shoes, but I’m still far from the finish line.

Not only do I have a sole to add, but also platforms and a flat heel. I had cut out the cork platforms early on using my insole as the template. I spent hours shaping them to fit and tapering them for style, then covering them with the same leather as the upper.

Now that the shoe is lasted and I’m ready to attach the platforms I can see that the addtional thickness of the leather from the upper wrapped around the last has rendered my platforms too short from toe to heel. It’s a setback, but a minor one. I peel the leather off the platform praying the glue won’t pull off chunks of cork  and glue a new strip of cork to each heel end and let it set-up until the morning.

The next morning starts the final full day in the studio. My first order of business will be to reshape the cork platforms and cut new leather to recover them.

platforms are reshaped with wells cut to accomodate shanks, ready to be covered

I cut soles and one layer of the heel from stiff soling leather and a second layer of the heel from rubber. After sanding the soles to fit the platforms, I glue the heel sections together and then to the soles and do a final sanding before dying the edges black. It’s close to midnight on our last night in the studio when I glue the heeled sole to the covered platform then glue that entire component to the bottom of the lasted shoe. Finally I tie it all tightly with strips of muslin to hold it all in place overnight while the glue sets.

I’m fried. I miss the end-of-session auction which promised to be a good one, but the odds are in my favor that I’m going to have a finished pair of shoes to take home with me. A beer is well-deserved even if it’s only an almost cold one.

worthy of a small celebration

The next morning I get to the studio by 7:30am and have until 9am to do whatever is left to finish. I untie the muslin, crack the lasts and slip my shoes from the lasts. I love them, but will they fit? I haven’t mentioned that I’ve been dubious of them fitting through this entire process. This is the moment of truth. I slip them on my feet and they fit like, well, someone else’s shoes. They’re huge, probably a full size too big, but I won’t be defeated, I will wear these shoes.

After nailing the heel section in place, I cut several layers of foam cushioning, adding them to the toe and heel sections to fill up all that extra space. I cut an additional sock liner in black to cover the unsightly foam and then glue it all in place along with original red scallpoed sock liner I had planned. A few holes punched for the strap and I’m proudly wearing my new shoes.

a view from the studio

Sunday I arrived at Penland School of Craft in North Carolina for a 2 week class. Penland is a little slice of heaven on Earth. Think summer camp for grown-ups. This year, my summer camp is a shoemaking class taught by Malika Green.  Penland’s catalog of summer classes comes out sometime after the new year, but a tentative class list goes out by email a little earlier. I knew as soon as I got that email what I wanted to take.

3rd floor studio in Lily Loom House

When my paternal grandfather came to the United States from Italy he eventually started a shoe manufacturing business and my father and one of his brothers followed him into the business. I remember visiting the shoe factory when I was little to see my father. My recollections of the front offices are vague, but then my father was rarely there. He could usually be found in the factory amidst the powerful aromas of tanned leathers and glues and the sounds of machinery and men and women working. It’s those sounds and especially the rich smell of leather that has always stayed with me.

my workbench

Just 3 days into class so far. Day one was a bit of a lost cause so days two and three are catch-up days. My first design concept has merged nicely with my second. Now to build up and shape the last, work on design sketches, make a mock-up and transfer the design to the last.

initial sketches

mock-up

transfer design to last

This morning as I sat over a cup of tea and refined my design I must confess I got a bit weepy thinking of my father. He’s been gone too long and I miss him. As my life has progressed I’ve learned just how much his daughter I truly am. I know the designer in me is a gift from him. He designed and built the beautiful house I grew up in and I felt him with me when I designed and build my own house a few years ago. He designed and made shoes and at least for this short class I can channel him as I design and make a pair of shoes for myself.

the dye shed

 Today is my first day back from TNNA in Columbus and boy, am I tired. I had my own booth for the first time and it was so worth it. And though I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get out and meet some of the folks from yarn companies I had on my list this year, the booth made enough of a splash that some of them even found their way to me.

I love a good grown-up cookie and brought along some of these lemon rosemary butter cookies which were a big hit. If you tasted them, but didn’t manage to snag a little package with a recipe card, here it is as promised. This is the recipe as they were at the show. The next time I make them, I think I’m going to increase the rosemary just a smidge.

 Lemon Rosemary Butter Cookies (makes 2 dozen small cookies)

It was a great show. I loved having the chance to meet so many more shop owners and chat a bit. Even with all the 12 – 14 hour days I put in getting ready and this total exhaustion, I’ll definitely do it again. For now though, I deserve a wee rest. There’s new yarn waiting to be swatched so I think I’ll put on my new slippers, Mabel, if you didn’t see them at the show, and relax this afternoon.

Why is it that summer and winter seem so long and spring and fall are gone in the blink of an eye? I’m already longing for cooler days when all you need is to grab a simple wrap to throw over your shoulders. I’ll be wearing Magnolia which is knit up in Lark from Quince & Co. You don’t have to know me well to know this color is a bold departure for me, but I love the way it looks with denim!

I always hold my breath until a photo shoot is over and I get a chance to see the final results. There’s usually some little glitch and this time was no different, but all-in-all, I let out a giant sigh of relief the instant I saw these photos.

With 850 photos from this photo shoot, it’ll take me a little while to get through them all. These are of a new design called Lillian which is the cardigan I designed using Imperial Yarn’s Columbia.  

Almost imperceptibly A-line, with a turned picot hem and a touch of embroidered embellishment. The pattern has been written and edited and will be available soon.

Maryland Sheep and Wool has come and gone. It was a gorgeous spring day to be out browsing all things sheep – sheep dog trials, 4-H judging, cheese tasting and of course, yarn.

I had my eyes open for yarns with a green slant and I found a few. I still have a bit of homework to do since most vendors were so busy there was only time for the quickest of chats. I found some real gems, but before I get to the yarn, I have to mention that my entire haul for the day also included a beautiful cherry wood boat shuttle and 3 varieties of the yummiest sheep cheese from Everona Dairy.

And now for the main event. Green Mountain Spinnery was on my must-visit list and I wasn’t disappointed. Often, yarns processed in an environmentally sensitive manner are undyed because many traditional dye processes can be a real chemical nightmare. I’m a big lover of neutrals and naturals, but there are only so many cream, grey, brown and black things a girl can knit. On occasion a little color is in order so I zoned right in on a yarn called Local Color. It’s a 100% organic fine wool, dyed with Earthhues natural dye extracts and mordanted with nothing more sinister than alum. The palette is subtle, but there’s an unexpected boldness that you don’t often see with natural dyes. I limited my selection to 4 colors, though I suspect once I start swatching I’ll be on the phone to Green Mountain Spinnery for more.

It was a bit hasty of me to grumble about naturally-colored yarns, but then I hadn’t yet come across the gorgeous merinos from two women who are in the process of merging their businesses. Merino has got to be my favorite fiber and these yarns have my mind racing for all the things I could knit in silver, grey, black and cream. They’re soon to be called Four Friends Fiber (with the two extra “friends” being their husbands), but for now you can find them as Greenwood Hill Farm and Traver Midnight Merino. The yarns from Greenwood Hill Farm are raised on natural unmedicated feeds and in organic pastures and the wool is processed by none other than Green Mountain Spinnery using their certified organic scouring process. Oh, happy day.

And last but by no means least, I purchased two different yarns from Still River Mill which had a wide range of yarns from dog hair to cashmere. I decided on an American raised cashmere called Good Earth and American Prairie which is a blend of bison down, Sally Fox’s naturally-colored cotton and merino wool.

One of my last stops before heading home for the day was Solitude Wool. They’re local and though I kept intending to visit them at one of the DC farmer’s markets, it always seemed a little too far afield for a Saturday morning when there’s a perfectly lovely market here. Solitude specializes in breed-specific yarns using their wool and wool sourced from other local farms. After a long day and my decision-making powers were starting to fail me. Then the Tunis caught my eye. I had recently read about this heritage breed and fell in love with their pretty red faces. How could I resist? I’ll take two, please. And a couple of skeins of the Corriedale Bulky for good measure, thank you.

Bartlett Pear Inn

A couple of nights in a row I dreamt about work. First, I was organizing a fashion show of spring/summer garments even though I’m working on fall/winter and have no plans for a fashion show. Then, I literally dreamed up a unique construction method for an accessory that’s been giving me fits. Okay, well I’ll appreciate that one if it ends up working, but enough already. I’ve been putting in too long hours for too many days gearing up for an industry trade show in June.

There are two shows a year and I’ve attended them both for the past 5 years. I’m always busy in the final month before the show, finishing up sweaters and writing patterns, but getting ready for the show itself has gotten pretty routine over the years. With a small spot in my distributor’s booth, it’s not exactly rocket science to display a dozen sweaters on a column. I decide which samples to take, get my pattern binders in order, print up catalogs and figure out what I’m going to wear – done. This year is different. This year, I’m going to have my own booth for the first time and I’m ramping up to panic mode in terms of how much there is to do to get ready.

The sweaters are coming along nicely, thank you. Here are a couple of sneak peeks. I decided to add a touch of embroidery to the Imperial Yarn cardigan – subtle, but I like it.

I just finished up a lace wrap in Lark from Quince, I think the bobbles are so much fun. There’s also a little neckwarmer in Blue Sky Alpacas worsted hand dyes and a pullover in the most luscious 10-ply merino from Pear Tree (no pics yet for those).

But the whole point of this is to say that I wrote all of that at the end of last week and then got sidetracked and never posted it. Since then we were blessed with our first warm sunny day in weeks and played hookey on Sunday with an outing to the Eastern Shore. I’ve wanted to check out Easton for awhile and what a sweet town it is. We walked around the historic downtown indulging in two of our favorite pastimes – browsing menus and perusing For Sale notices in real estate offices playing could-we-live-here.

Had we been looking for dinner it would have been a tough choice, but we were hungry for lunch or brunch and we wanted to knife-and-fork it. Dining al fresco was also a must on such a gorgeous day. We settled ourselves on the front porch of the Bartlett Pear Inn and were treated to an incredibly scrumptious brunch. From the horseradish and grainy mustard-laced bloody marys to the homemade cinnamon donuts it was all fresh, local and fabulous. We’ll be back.

Oh, how I want one. copyright: Imperial Stock Ranch

This morning I heard from Jeanne from Imperial Stock Ranch. After all my oohing and aahing over her dogs she was sweet enough to share some news from the ranch. The new female guard dog made herself a little nest in a hollowed out poplar tree and had a litter of adorable spotted pups. I’m sure springtime must be all about new lambs, but these little loves are just as irresistable.

I should also mention that in my excitement to tell you about Imperial Yarns, I mistakenly named Erin, a worsted 3-ply, as the yarn I’m currently working with. I’m actually working with Columbia, a worsted 2-ply. Columbia works to a slightly heavier gauge, 18 sts = 4″ compared to 21 sts = 4″ for Erin. I’ve updated my previous post to reflect the correct yarn.

Babe and Bruno keep a watchful eye. copyright: Imperial Stock Ranch

By a stroke of cosmic luck I don’t have to search beyond my own studio for a yarn that treads lightly on the Earth. I’m currently working on a design with just such a yarn. In January, I attended TNNA, the industry trade show for all things knitting, needlepoint and embroidery. While there, I met Jeanne Carver from Imperial Stock Ranch in Oregon. I instantly liked Jeanne and the beautiful yarns she had on display. I’m a tree-hugger from way back (literally, I studied forestry in college) and Imperial Yarns speak to that part of me. With colors reminiscent of nature and yarn not too distant from the sheep, you can imagine a lovely bucolic scene of grazing sheep as you knit.

Columbia sheep grazing. copyright: Imperial Stock Ranch

Young Columbia ewes. copyright: Imperial Stock Ranch

Jeanne was kind enough to send me home with several hanks of yarn to swatch. I confess, there was a time I might have overlooked honest earthy wools like these while chasing after the next softest yarn, but no longer. I sampled them all and chose Columbia, a 2-ply worsted-weight mulespun to work with first. Columbia looks almost felted in the skein and knits up into a dense yet wonderfully light fabric. Washing your swatch is a must because this yarn will bloom in the wash, softening and causing an ever-so slight change in gauge.  

For my first time out with Columbia, I wanted an honest, straight-forward design to stand up to this honest, straight-forward wool. I went with a subtle A-line silhouette and 3/4 bell sleeve with a lace detail at the edge – simple, but not plain Jane. The cardigan has been seamed, but I haven’t quite settled on a treatment for the front bands and closure. I’m also toying with the idea of adding a bit of embroidery, but I’ll need to go shopping for more colors of embroidery wool first. Here’s a peek at my original swatch.

I have a sneaking suspicion this sweater is going to get a lot of wear, but what pleases me most, is stumbling upon a company devoted to the earnest stewardship of their land and flock. By committing to practices such as no-till farming and rotational grazing methods the Carver’s use less fuel, less fertilizer and less herbicides. Doing so reduces greenhouse gases, erosion and run-off resulting in improved rangeland soils, healthier water in the surrounding streams and lower costs all while producing a healthier, more sustainable product.

This commitment to sustainable practices doesn’t end at the gates to the ranch. The fiber from Imperial Stock Ranch is processed more gently and responsibly than most commercially processed wools. Raw wool is washed and scoured in hot water with a mild detergent, rather than harsh chemicals or acids, to remove grease, dirt and vegetable matter. Such custom milling is not only more earth-friendly, but results in much softer wool.

Imperial Yarn is hitting all the right buttons for me. The yarn is lovely. The sheep from which it comes, are raised thoughtfully with the health of the land in mind and the fiber is processed without harsh chemicals. Add to that Imperial Stock Ranch’s commitment to their community and to education by serving as a learning laboratory for the local school district. If that isn’t enough, this wonderful yarn is produced in Oregon on a family-owned ranch with a 140 year history and processed in a small mill in North America. I like that scale of things. In this nameless, faceless, global economy that just plain feels good.  

With Imperial Yarn, I’m off to a grand start on my quest to become an ethical knitter. These beautiful yarns will fill many spots in my design agenda. I’m looking forward to designing with Native Twist a bulky single spun and Tracie, a 2-ply sport-weight that I can only describe as a delightful little lamb.

Aren't they the sweetest? copyright: Imperial Stock Ranch

Just one more little darling. copyright: Imperial Stock Ranch