Bent Hilt Projects?

I bent the hilt on my Darkwood Rapier. Leif and I had our hilts locked together and I had to take mine apart. Then it was like one of those metal puzzles to get apart. It won't be hard to rebend it back to how it was, but the real trick is to do it without causing any aesthetic damage. I like my things to look pretty.
Coming tomorrow..
Pictures of me as the Little Green Army Guy for Halloween

Neat Food Trick!

I found a really fast way to scrape the pith off of orange peels last week. I didn't like the idea of using the zester end of a citrus peeler because then I'd get really small pieces of orange peels. Instead, I quartered the peels, took them off the orange and scraped off the pith with the zester side. It took only a few minutes to finish each quarter, and each piece was almost intact so I can cut it into sizes I want instead of ending up with only small bits. I used to use a sharp knife to scrape off the pith, but that put too many holes and slices in the peels. This way works much better.
At Creating the Creative, I taught 3 people one embroidery stitch. Hopefully, I'll teach them more and they had time to practice. We worked on chain stitch only.

Creating the Creative

I'm nearly ready for the event. I am bringing along the Flemish underdress that is nearly rebuilt, the linen for Nordskogen Champion Baldrics, the corset embroidery project, teaching material and blackwork. It sounds like a lot but it isn't really. Most of it is small. I'll update the blog with how many more embroidery classes I've taught after the event.
I have a new plan for the A.S. 50 list. I haven't been adding to the list as much as I want, so the plan is to start adding one new project every two weeks until I get to 50. At last count, I was somewhere in the 20's.

Forge Night

I had sparks flying in my hair again. Luckily, I did not start on fire. All in all, it was a productive evening. Only Danr and I were in the shop so I was able to get a lot done tonight.
The last fold on my motorcycle chain knife is done. First, it had to be made into a billet and then I folded it four times. It will be a damascus knife, although I don't know how much of the pattern will actually be visible. I'll have to see about that when I'm done. This is my first knife and no welds failed! It will not have a full tang to the knife, and it isn't going to be that big. It'll be a small utility knife.
I nearly ruined it tonight, and Danr thought I couldn't fix it but in the end I had a good idea that worked to fix it. It took both of us to make it work. It was enough work to make it into a solid piece of metal so I could begin folding that I would be very unhappy if I couldn't fix what I did wrong. I was too thick at the end so the metal I had to take away to fix the mistake worked out just fine. I've now begun shaping the knife, and I need to consider what kind of shape I want. I'm hoping to hav ethis done by Boar's Head so I can show everyone.

Adventures with Animals

I was on my way home last night. I take Shepherd Rd which goes between General Mills and the Kare 11 News building. There is a small creek just behind the Kare 11 building. It was about 6:15 pm. All of the sudden I look to my left and there are three deer standing there and one almost runs out in front of me.
I yell something inappropriate and swerve to miss it, and it decides to run back to the bank by the little creek. I stop and it stops and we just stare at each other for a few minutes. My only thought was: "Where is my camera?"
I wonder how many other people almost hit a deer while riding their bicycles.