Sheilajeanne

One advantage of being retired - lol - kind of went down the rabbit hole with this. There's one group of people who made a living at peddling, the Karelians. They are Russians, who live on the border between Finland and Russia. A lot of their trade was in textiles, so their packs had to be wide enough to carry bolts of cloth. The packs could be collapsed/rolled down as goods were sold. The majority of their trade was with farm women, who did not have easy access to stores, and wanted the new, colourful fabrics woven by automated looms, as an alternative to those they had to laboriously weave and spin themselves. This is what their packs looked like: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peddler#/media/File:Kiestinki_”laukkuryssä”_peddlers.jpg From: The Limits of Patriarchy Paperback – Jan. 22 2019 by Laura Stark (Author)

Lost my old girl May 31st. She was 14 1/2 years old but that doesn't make it any easier. First time in 14 1/2 years I've only had one dog, and during those 14 years, I sometimes had 3, all German shedders. RIP, Star of Hope vom Bayou Land! You were one of the best1

I'm toying with the idea of making a packsack or tote I could use for taking my leatherworking tools with me if I'm going on vacation somewhere and have a project I want to work on! But first, I need to get that tool roll for my metric and SAE wrenches done...

Fred, too bad you don't have actual photos of the pack! Edit: found a picture, but not a great one for detail: https://mysteriesofcanada.com/canada/syrian-peddlers/

Very cool to know, Fred! Thanks for the info!

I'm sure he found LOTS of stuff with that metal detector, but it wouldn't have been money! Nuts, bolts, and bits of scrap for sure.

Always a pleasure to see your work, Mike! Remind me again: what do you use inside the leather to make the weight?

Yup!!

You need to get yourself a window AC unit!! I'd never be able work in those temps!

Had to share this - as a horse lover, it REALLY cracked me up! If you're a mounted police officer, you may find an alternate use for your holster... This picture was taken in Norway.

As for the advantage of holes vs. no holes, I've found rolled up newspapers and magazines seem to work just as well as the fly swatters I bought at the store, with all the holes in the business end of them. Their one disadvantage is they never seem to be around when I need them, but a magazine or even a piece of mail still in its envelope is read to grab on my desk, and often gets the job done.

I used to work at a riding stable, and have watched the blacksmiths shoe many, many horses. Every hoof knife I've seen has a plain blade, not a serrated one. It is used for whittling away the horse's hoof, not sawing it. And a serrated blade can't whittle. I've never seen a knife like that before, but I like what someone said about it being used to cut string. I sure could have used something like that for cutting tight string on hay bales when feeding the horses!

That's sad, Fred.

Fred, one of these days, I'm going to get around to making that portfolio I've been wanting to do, and the Cheerios cereal box cardboard will be the stiffener for the covers!

Cool idea! And you can always use the impression as a guide, and tool it to deepen it and make it stand out better. Glad to know I'm not the only one who uses cereal box cardboard in my leatherwork...except I make templates out of it!

Rahere, I can sort of follow what you're saying, but autocorrect has really done a number on your post. Suggest you read it over and fix it before the edit window expires!

What a nice thing for you to say, Jay!

One thing I like about the area I live in is that people will go out of their way to support local businesses and buy local. I'm in a very small town, which has ONE restaurant. It's been closed for most of the last year for in-person dining due to COVID. But it is doing very well with takeout, and sometimes even sells out its most popular daily specials! Of course, the food IS very good, and portions are very generous. They know how to keep their customers happy. There's a large town just 15 minutes away where local people could buy their food instead, but they know if they do that, the restaurant will have to close its doors. One of the best things I ever saw in the local WalMart was this: it was the height of strawberry season here, and the store I usually shop at (FreshCo) was sold out. I reluctantly went to WalMart, but all I could find were berries grown in the U.S.A. As I was making strawberry shortcake for company, and HAD to have berries, I reluctantly picked up a pint. THEN I got to the end of the aisle, the part that was at right angles to the main aisle, and there was another cooler with the Ontario berries in it! Yes, they were more expensive, but I didn't care! I took the U.S. berries out of my cart, left them there, and grabbed the local ones! What really warmed my heart was I could see a number of other people had done the SAME thing! The main local industry in this area, besides the Honda plant and other manufacturers that support it is agriculture. Local farmers support other local farmers!!

It's called a 'sales tax' here in Canada. EVERYONE pays it when they buy something in a store or online - the clerk doesn't ask to see your passport! A tariff is only paid on goods that are crossing the border for sale. Edit: wow, this is an old thread!

Klara, that was my mistake. The loom is actually 40" wide and can weave a piece of cloth that's 36" wide. Go to the Off Topic forum for pictures and a more accurate description. I know nothing about the loom, and am just reposting it because it was shared on another message board I belong to.

Yeah, the owner of the loom also spins her own wool from fleece, so I am sure she has a few contacts who will spread the word.

Okay, got it. It's a long shot, but it may produce results. Would be a shame to see this beautiful machine wind up in the landfill!

Rahere, this loom is located in the far north-west of the United States, in Winthrop, Washington, to be exact. I doubt ANYONE in England is going to have any interest in it even if it is free!

Rest of photos:

I know that some of us are interested in crafts other than leatherwork. I just saw this posted on another board I belong to. A lady in the Pacific Northwest has to go into a retirement home, and cannot take her loom with her. It's quite big, and will do a project up to 36". Brenda Dayne is the contact person: https://twitter.com/BrendaDayne Oh dear - definitely going to have to resize some photos!!