Threading

JWise Photo of the Day

Caroline Wise threading her homemade 4-shaft counter balance loom

Here’s my wife, Caroline Wise threading her 4-shaft homemade counterbalance loom. She’s on her way to making her first cloth with a purpose, cloth that will be in the form of kitchen towels. Previously, she made a test piece of cloth, but that was just to determine if the loom worked and if she could figure out the process.  It was just a little more than 3 years ago that Caroline and her mom Jutta took a Navajo rug weaving class with Sharie Monsam over at Fiber Factory in Mesa, Arizona. Since that time, Caroline has developed an ever greater interest in weaving and the fiber arts in general.

Fibery Day

JWise Photo of the Day

Jessica Aldridge and Caroline Wise on our balcony where Caroline was teaching Jessica how to dye roving that Jessica would later spin into yarn

Today would be dedicated to Jessica and Caroline spending time together. It started out on our balcony where Caroline taught Jessica how to dye roving using acid dyes that she would later learn how to spin into yarn. Jess had the opportunity to spin on a drop spindle and also on Caroline’s wheel. The next lesson was how to knit. With those two busy in their world of fiber, I was free to make one of Jessica’s favorite meals she was first introduced to on a previous visit, I made Pani-Puri. This Indian snack popular on the beaches of Mumbai (Bombay) makes for a great dinner – if you have a full day to prepare everything.

Rabbi Wise

JWise Photo of the Day

John Wise of Phoenix, Arizona

The tragedy of it all as the day has come when the beard must go. Not all of it, but what is left could be construed as dirt from a distance. For months I was certain that I would careen through the Grand Canyon with a beard befitting a mountain man. Sadly, the reality of not being able to properly bathe for 18 days and a couple of experiments here at home with letting the thing get nappy convinced me that I would probably be better off reducing my responsibility of facial hair maintenance. But, this is certain – I am not going to trim my beard again before my next big backcountry journey, which happens to be next September when we are scheduled to do some horseback riding in the northwest of Yellowstone for ten days. Shalom Aleichem.