Matterhorn: Handmade Fort Collins

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M AT T E R H O R N questions, curiosities, & resources : fort collins, colorado

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Contents The Beauty of Craft: 5 Holiday Skeptic’s Guide to Cocktails: 18 How to Create a Linocut: 6 How to Screenprint: 19 How to Etch Metal: 7 How to Make a Mix-Tape: 21 How to Make a Pinhole Camera: 8 How to Crochet: 22 Crafter Profile: Casual Turtle Campers: 12 How to Make a Throw Pillow: 23 The Act of Building Toys: 13 Fort Collins Letterpress: 24-25 How to Build a Press: 14 Choice City Cider: 28-29

Plus Book Reviews, Local Holiday Gift Guide, Community Resources, and so Much More!

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wolverine farm publishing

Managing editor’s Note Handmade.

Made by the hands. Drawn, sketched, planned, touched,

folded, bent, measured, nailed, honed, clamped, sliced, chipped, sewn, glued, stitched, molded, sanded, welded, sealed, varnished, polished, wrapped and tied.

Anything handmade calls out for interaction—to be touched by the hands again. When I come across a handmade table, I reach out to slide my hand across its surface. When I rediscover the quilt my grandma made me when I was a child, I hold it up to my face. When I see a hand-felted winter hat in a gift store, I pick it up to see how soft it is.

Handmade things are imbued with an essence that can’t be replicated—the knowledge that someone made this, even if it’s only a tattered paper airplane destined for the recycling bin. Its quality is defined more in the way it’s created, and in the effort that its creation took, than in what the finished product actually looks like—although so many exquisitely beautiful handmade things can be found within these pages.

What is it about a handmade thing that attracts us? Perhaps some of its creator’s energy stays behind, inspiring us to reach out to another person, to see what they see and feel what they feel. To surround ourselves in the handmade, and explore.

f o rt c o l l i n s , c o lo r a d o

:

l i t e r at u r e w i t h t e e t h

managing editor

publisher/designer

Molly McCowan

Todd Simmons

Cover Artist Tiffanie Collins

board of directors

contributors

Evan Brengle Michael Bussmann Elizabeth Escobar Dina Alibrahim Fike Ethan Foore Nick Janzen Chris Jusell Beth Kopp Rico Lighthouse Melissa Mika Patrick Richardson Jane E. Roberti Steve Sadam Matthew Sage Robert D. Stefanek

est.

2003 : A 501( c )3

Heather Manier Bryan Simpson Nate Turner Kathleen Willard Wolverine Farm Publishing a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Fort Collins, CO. We publish books, this community newspaper, and collaborate with other non-profits, businesses, and people toward a more mindful engagement with the world.

Donations accepted online or by mail to: Wolverine Farm Publishing PO BOX 814 Fort Collins, CO 80522 n o n - p ro f i t o rg a n i z at i o n

Wo l v e r i n e Fa r m P u b l i s h i n g ’ s

MATTERHORN A Quarterly Print Supplement # 12 Winter 2013

special thanks Band-aids, sturdy work gloves, proper instructions, patience, the right tools, and the right jobs.

The Fell Types used in this newspaper were digitally reproduced by Igino Marini (www.iginomarini.com).

Everything herein © 2013 Wolverine Farm Publishing. All rights held by the individual authors and artists unless otherwise noted. All photographs © Wolverine Farm Publishing, or © by the company, organization, or individual in question, or used freely from the public domain.

Send monetary donations, comments, questions, story pitches, books and/or music to review, agricultural tools to try out, bicycles to ride, etc., to: Wolverine Farm Publishing, PO BOX 814, Fort Collins, CO 80522 Especially seeking letters to the editor. Please send in by January 15th, 2014. Letters 1-5 will be published and rewarded.

For more information, please visit: www.wolverinefarm.org. front matter

ATTENTION! ATTENTION! ATTENTION! LET IT BE KNown THAT THIS IS THE LAST ISSUE OF MATTERHORN. beginning in february 2014, we’re changing our name to

FORt CollINS

Courier

For more info please visit:

WolverineFarm.org

SHOP LOCAL THIS

HOLIDAY SEASON SHOW YOUR LOCAL LOVE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON WITH A CUSTOM MADE GIFT BASKET FROM

matterhorn winter 2013

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The Beauty of Craft Article and Photographs by Rico Lighthouse

I

magine a world where beauty and practicality inhabit the same space. Where art of the highest praise is found in the most utilitarian of objects. Where the ordinary things that we use every day are made by skilled craftsmen working within the limits of the natural materials at hand, guided by tradition and a love for the craft, the material, and ultimately, the person who will end up using it.

The crucial test of a craftsman’s work is not how something looks, however, but does it actually work? And does it work well? One of the first things a blacksmith learns to make is a nail. Hand-forged nails look really cool, but the smith is not going to be happy with them until they’re holding a shoe onto a horse’s hoof or keeping a fence from falling apart. It takes a keen eye to notice those hand-pounded nails: if you take a few steps back from that fence, you’ll mostly see just the wood.

But somewhere, a smith will be hammering away contentedly, knowing that his work is the reason that that fence held together. And that is a beautiful thing.

Those nails are beautiful because they are made for a job and they do it well.

I fell into a similar scenario years ago, after reading a book about Ishi, a man who made his own bows and arrows and hunted with them. I made a bow. It shot a couple of arrows, then broke. But I was hooked. I remember looking at that finished bow and arrow and thinking, “Wow, did I make that? I made that! I didn’t know I could make something like that.” And there, my friend, lies the allure of craftsmanship. With a little guidance and practice, you can make things that you never imagined. And with that confidence under your belt, your imagination is the only limit to what you can make. We all want to be useful, and one of the surest ways to get there is to make useful things.

But however much you enjoy it, however beautiful it may be, it’s still just a spoon.

It’s a tool, and it belongs in your kitchen, not in an art gallery behind a glass panel.

And as a tool it has a specific purpose, which cannot be separated from its aesthetics. It is most beautiful when it is being used, just like your favorite coffee mug. You love it so much you wouldn’t dare leave it in the cupboard. No! It’s useless to you without a steaming hot beverage in it. Sure it’s pretty on its own, but it’s not until your hands are wrapped around it, sniffing the aroma wafting from within, that it begins to ground you, to remind you who you are. But again, it is a tool with a specific purpose, and it was made using other tools: a potter’s wheel, a knife, an axe, maybe even a shovel if the craftsman dug his own clay.

The steps a craftsman takes to transform a lump of clay into a cup, or a log into a spoon, are not mechanical actions produced by a machine run by a man who hates his job. Rather, they are intentional skills learned through countless hours of practice and repetition, by a person who cares not only for the outcome of his work, but also for how the work is done. The craftsman strives not to fight against nature, but to work within the natural limits of the material at hand to make something that is pleasant to use. And the more an object serves its intended purpose, the more beautiful it will become, for the only way to truly see a tool is to use it.

This is art of the highest order, for it is the art of nature itself. This is why the art within the ordinary, quotidian things that we use every day has such an impact on our lives. Just like our habits, the things that we spend the most time with, the tools that we use the most, leave a lasting impression upon us and help to define who we are.

As a craftsman, I like to make things that people are going to use. Few things give I wake up in the morning, eat my breakfast from a bowl made from an aspen tree in me greater pleasure than to know that something I made is being used and enjoyed the foothills, with a spoon from a plum tree that was fed for 50 years by the Poudre by someone. I try to make things not to be striking or beautiful, but to be simple river. I go outside, grab a log from my wood pile, and an axe. As I work away at the and useful. To feel good in the hand, to remind you of what it is made from, where wood I think about the life of the tree; smell its aroma. I feel the axe in my hand, it came from. Take a wooden spoon for example. Nothing special, just a spoon. It is its weight, its balance, the rough knife cuts in the handle. I switch over to a knife made of wood, yes, but where did the wood come from? From a living tree—most my friend made. I remember the good times we had together. Before I know it I’m likely one that’s still alive and growing right here in Fort Collins. You can take your sitting in a pile of wood chips, holding a freshly hewn spoon in my hand, turning spoon to that tree, sit under its branches and eat your lunch. You can say, “Look it this way and that, feeling it with my eyes closed. This is a good spoon, I think. tree, I’m eating with a spoon that you provided for me. Thank you.” As you’re eatSomeone will enjoy it. Someone else will be happy because of the work I did here ing you can examine your spoon. You can see the knife cuts in the wood. See where today. Work? Was that work I just did? Well, yes, I guess it was. the craftsman made a cut here, took a cut there, how it was shaped to fit the hand just so. It’s a beautiful thing, eating with a wooden spoon.

Rico Lighthouse is a married father of two crazy kids. His family has been cursed with th’ desire to try and make any and everything they use in life (except computers of course, they leave that to the experts). His favorite things to make are wooden spoons, bows and arrows, and fire by friction. Find more here: lighthousefamilycrafts.blogspot.com

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Melissa Mika’s creations can be found on Etsy under PAGEFIFTYFIVE, or at the Wolverine Farm Bookstore.

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* IDAY GIFT G*UIDE FOR LocA L L O * S H MATTERHORN’S

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For the Local farmer

To some people, the gift of soil is the greatest gift in the world.

If you have someone special in your life who loves dirt, make them some! Composting is easy—almost everyone can do it in some capacity—and in the midst of the holiday hoopla consume-athon, we could all use a little more ground(ing). *Look for more local gift ideas throughout the rest of the issue.

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What You’ll Need:

How to Etch a Design into Metal

By Jane E Roberti

E

tching is an age-old artistic process that has a long history in printmaking as well. It involves dipping metals covered in insoluble ink in corrosive liquid. The areas not covered in ink are eaten away, and a raised image remains. The metal pieces can become parts of jewelry or accessories, wall art, sculptures, or used as a printing plate.

Here, I’ve taken some illustrations from 19th-century magazines and made photoetched key tags. The images were probably originally printed from etched copper plates to begin with!

Prep Images 1. Scan your images into the computer and convert them to black and white.

2. “Flip” the image horizontally to reverse text if present, then resize them and paste as many as you can onto a page.

Tip: No computer? At a copy shop you can copy, resize, cut and paste up the old-fashioned way, with tape or a gluestick.

3. Print this page onto transparency film—a photocopy or laser printer will do.

Prep Metal 4. Cut out your image and mark and cut a piece of metal to fit, using your shear or coping saw. Gently hammer the edges flat, and sand to remove all traces of oxidation and oils.

5. Turn iron on “high” with no steam.

When hot, sandwich the metal between a few pages of scrap paper, and preheat the metal for about 20 seconds.

Carefully place image ink-side down on metal. Sandwich and iron again.

Remove film with tweezers while it’s still hot. (Smaller pieces and copper will heat up faster than brass and small pieces, so times can vary.) Reapply and reheat if not fully transferred. Touchup with permanent marker.

Old illustrated magazines, catalogs, books Computer with a scanner or copier Transparency film Copper or brass sheet metal (approx. 18-gauge) Metal shear or coping saw Hammer Metal file Fine sandpaper Iron Tweezers Permanent marker Duct tape Styrofoam scraps Ferric chloride etchant Timer Plastic or glass tub Rubber gloves Safety glasses Apron Wooden chopsticks or plastic tongs Baking soda Brass bristle brush or scrub pad Metal oxidizer (liver of sulphur, Jax Black) Clear nail polish Etch Images into Metal 6. In a ventilated area, pour etchant into a plastic or glass dish.

Tip: There are many kinds of etchants and etching processes, but ferric chloride is easy to find, has low fumes, and no electricity is involved. But be forewarned: it will burn skin, stain clothes and sinks, blind you, and/or wreak general havoc if not respected. Gloves, safety glasses, and aprons are your friends!

7. Gently place metal piece in etchant.

(I duct-tape mine to a styrofoam float so it hangs upside down: this helps bubbles and deposits fall off as it etches.) After 20 minutes, use wooden tongs to pick up piece and check the depth of the etch. You should be able to feel the raised image. Put back in etchant for longer if necessary.

8. Wearing rubber gloves and over a sink with warm water running, remove the metal piece from the etchant and sprinkle with baking soda and a little water. While bubbling, rub with your fingers, a brass bristle brush, or a scrub pad to remove deposits and any remainder of ink.

Finish 9. Follow the directions on the oxidizer to darken your piece. With fine sandpaper, highlight the design.

File off sharp corners. Seal finish with a coat of nail polish. Drill a hole and attach to your key ring. Awesome!

Jane E Roberti is a jewelry maker living in Fort Collins. Find her work on Etsy (www. janeeroberti.etsy.com). Also find her work in local shops such as Curiosities and Trimble Court Artisans.

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matterhorn fall 2013

What You’ll Need:

How to Make a Pinhole Camera

By Dina Alibrahim Fike

A clean oatmeal box or can Black tape Aluminum drink can A pinhead Sandpaper Ruler Flat black spray paint Black fabric One rubber band Rubber cement Scissors Box cutter Photo paper Access to a darkroom (or a photo shop that will help you develop the pictures)

M

ost of the materials needed to create a simple pinhole camera can be found lying around the house. An oatmeal box will be used for this example, but the camera body can be created from any small lightproof box or can. By puncturing a pin through a piece of aluminum cut from a can and placing it in the center of the box, the hole acts as the lens of the camera body.

A piece of tape sealing light from the hole represents the shutter for this camera.

When the shutter is open, light is gathered at the small point of the pinhole and forced into focus inside the camera. During an exposure the image displayed will be reversed and inverted as it etches itself onto the light-sensitive photo paper placed inside the camera. The photographs created are characterized by their cloudy, distorted, dreamlike quality. Use these steps to create your own camera!

1. Begin by completely painting the inside, outside, and lid (if included) of the box black to help seal off any light leaks. Allow it to dry.

2. Use a ruler to find the center of the box and grab a box cutter to cut out a rectangle-shaped hole about one-anda-half inches tall and about two inches wide.

3. Carefully cut out a piece of aluminum from the can, also in a rectangle shape about two inches tall and three inches wide. By drawing an “X” with a ruler on the aluminum rectangle, the center can be easily found and marked.

4. Hold the aluminum piece perpendicular to the pinhead and puncture the marked center all the way through. Run a piece of sandpaper over the rough edges just created around the pinhole until it feels even and smooth.

Send the pinhead though the hole once more to be sure the hole is round. This tiny hole is actually the lens.

5. Set the lens in place inside the camera body by dabbing rubber cement around the very edges of the aluminum piece, being careful not to cover the pinhole. Place this piece on the inside of the box in the center of the rectangular opening created earlier and hold it there until the adhesive bonds completely. To make sure there are no light leaks, cut pieces of tape to fit along the edges of the pinhole.

6. From here all that’s left is sealing the lid. The preferred method utilizes a piece of black fabric and a rubber band, making loading and unloading photo paper easy. To do this, cut a piece of black fabric so it fits under the lid of the box and secure it in place with the rubber band. Replace the lid on top making sure it’s a snug fit and secured. Finally, rip off a piece of black tape, folding one side over onto itself and sticking the other side to the pinhole to make the shutter. Check the camera for light leaks and use tape or glue wherever needed to help keep it sealed.

7. Your camera is ready to load with photo paper! Place the photo paper on the opposite wall of the lens and secure with tape if necessary. Semi-matted photographic paper is recommended for pinhole use and can be either black and white or color depending on your resources. Since the aperture is much smaller on a pinhole camera, the exposure times will need to be much longer to obtain a proper exposure.

This means you will need to somehow anchor the camera down by either using plenty of tape or by placing a heavy object on top.

8. Develop your pictures! Access to a darkroom is essential to developing photographs, but a local photoshop may be able to develop them for you if you don’t have one.

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matterhorn Fall 2013

Lyric

An Informative Chart!

Watch Free Cartoons whilst enjoying a Refreshing Sangria while you snuggle up with your bros and lady bros in the rose petal bath in theater 1.

Reunite with your long lost cousin during Happy Hour, where you can drink a $10 Micropitcher of your favorite beer and wrestle with our in-house muscle man, Hans von Hans.

Later, meet up with your special lady/man friend to watch an Iranian documentary and enjoy a delectable Baked Camembert. The most spirited couples might be invited to view our collection of Nic Cage wigs in the attic.

NO SUBSTITUTIONS, LIMIT 1 PER CUSTOMER (DON’T BE “THAT GUY”). EXPIRES 12/31/13

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Acupuncture - Chinese Herbs Massage - Qigong - Diet Therapy

Hugh’s Acupuncture clinic fort collins source for acupuncture and traditional chinese medicine

970.215.7419 : www.hughsacupuncture.com

Sam@greyrockrealty.com 970.412.7786

23 Old Town Square, Ste 100 Fort Collins, Colorado 80524

Sam Moes Broker

Laurel and Meldrum today w/ bike lane right of right turn lane

Laurel and Meldrum w/ bike lane to the left of right turn lane

West Elizabeth bike lane

Power Trail bridge over Harmony

Harmony Underpass

College and Laurel scramble crossing

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Crafter Profile:

Peter Pavlowich of Casual Turtle Campers

P

eter Pavlowich designs and builds custom campers (and is open to building mobile workspaces, cargo haulers, and more) with an emphasis on adding the details that only something handcrafted could provide. His campers have a nautical feel, with arched tops and freshly sanded wood interiors offering a comfortable environment to kick back and relax in after an adventurous day. Matterhorn caught up with him to learn more about his growing business, Casual Turtle Campers.

WFP: When did you start the business?

Pavlowich: I’ve been kicking around the idea since the summer of 2010—playing with designs, drawing plans. I actually started pushing wood through a saw in October 2012, and I organized the company in May 2013.

How many campers have you built so far?

I’ve completed two campers, of different design: one full-size cabover model with a finished interior, and one smaller, more utilitarian non-cabover model. And I have a few different campers for potential customers still in the design phase.

What led you to start your own business?

I’ve always loved the idea of being self-employed—I think there are some of us for whom it’s the only real option. I tell people this all the time, but I always thought that if I could execute the vision that I had in my head, that it would be a sellable product.

So that’s where we’re at now—trying to round that corner and become a successful small business.

Tell me about what you do: sum it up in a few sentences.

I usually tell people that I design and build wooden campers. For some reason, I rarely use the word “custom,” but I suppose it describes my products as good as any.

My campers are decidedly small, simple, and lightweight. I’m hoping to build them to order one at a time, on my own.

What kind of work goes into making a camper?

The first step is to figure out the general idea/purpose of the unit—is it to be an honest-to-goodness camper, a simple sleeper, mobile office, cargo hauler, etc. Figuring out what size truck it will go on is crucial, as this informs ultimate dimensions. I then draft complete framing diagrams using a CAD program. Gathering materials comes next—a lot of wood; western red cedar for the exterior and western hemlock for the frame, but also hardware, fasteners, finishes, etc. If I’ve done my prep work, the actual construction comes together pretty quickly. Zip on a few Casual Turtle Campers name badges, and put it on a truck.

What is your favorite part in the process?

I really enjoy the design process, but I’m never happier than when I’m screwing together a wall section on a chilly fall day.

Is there a lot of problem-solving involved?

The design/build process is a constant exercise in problem-solving. Figuring out how to make something comfortable, practical, and good-looking is a challenge. Of course, it’s also extremely rewarding. The domed roof is one of the most compelling features of my designs and the biggest challenge. It’s unique, practical, and gives the camper good lines—but it is tricky to build.

When did you first get into woodworking?

I’ve enjoyed making and building things since I was a boy, and I think wood was always accessible. It sounds kind of funny, but the truth is I’m not much of a proper woodworker. continued on bottom of next page

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The Act of Building Toys

By Michael Bussmann

I

have never been much of a handy guy.

I’ve put a few dimmer switches in (mostly upside-down), and I built a deck once, but it is slowly sinking. Plus, I have never completed anything on time. Based on these things, my wife, Megan, prefers to call her dad for project work, no matter how small, even though he lives 900 miles away. Through this series of constructional and emotional defeats I had developed very low self-confidence in my build-abilities.

project to come in well under budget. (And taking stuff out of a dumpster does not constitute theft in my eyes.)

But when our daughter, Ellie, was born, everything changed. She has a non-judgmental eye and very low standards in regards to straight lines and true angles. Her view of overall craftsmanship carries an undeveloped sense of sophistication, and she has no concept of time (none). She is two now, and I have jumped headlong into building toys for her. It’s awesome—she always appreciates and uses them and she never says “Daddy, I wish that thing you built had fewer jagged edges.”

First, I cut the 2x4s into eight-inch sections with a circular saw. I sanded these down, rounded off the corners, and then set them aside. I then rested the 4x4 atop two sawhorses. I used an orbital sander to go over the entirety of the large beam. I was figuring that Ellie would walk on this barefooted and I did not want to expose her young tootsies to splinters.

Building things for Ellie has allowed me to regain my self-esteem in regards to my—wait for it— “man-stincts” toward power tools and creating things that have a place in this world.

For instance, the balance beam I made for her second birthday. In the lead up to Ellie’s birthday her mother and I were at a loss for a gift. She is two, and has everything that she needs and wants. With two sets of generous (and geographically removed) grandparents she has colorful toys, art supplies, and all the clothes she could ever wear (even during the difficult—and soiling—potty training times).

What were we going to get her? “Nothing” was my original suggestion, not out of neglect or lack of affection, but more from not knowing what to buy. Her mother was unimpressed with this first gift ideation session. She suggested that we get something that Ellie could play on, not with. Then it hit us: a balance beam. Ellie really likes walking on top of retaining walls, and curbs, and other things in our environment that resemble balance beams, so it made sense. Her mother started the search to buy one. Balance beams don’t lend themselves to affordable shipping, and an in-town option was not presenting itself. I offered to build one. With (very) severe trepidation, Megan agreed.

I figured a 4x4, with small feet attached at the ends, would suffice as a balance beam, and a Google search confirmed this idea. Another wonderful aspect to this plan included the several construction sites, and their accompanying wood-filled dumpsters, in my neighborhood. The salvaging of materials would allow this

I decided that the feet would be ten-inch sections of 2x4, and that I would screw them to the bottom of the longest piece of 4x4 I could find.

In the end, that piece of 4x4 was a hair under six feet. With the major materials procured, I set about the building.

After sanding, I set the 2x4s on the floor and rested the beam on top of them in an attempt to mock-up the final product. I started walking on it. I was looking to see how inset the feet could be under the beam without risk of turning the beam into a giant lever. It appeared that four inches of inset would be ideal. I put the beam back on the sawhorses and penciled in the lines for foot placement. I smeared wood glue over the area of the first foot and clamped it into place on the underside of the beam. I pre-drilled four holes through the feet and into the beam, and followed those with three-inch screws. Glue, and four screws per foot, is probably superabundant, but I wanted this balance beam to be bombproof. I then repeated this process on the other side.

Finally, I went over the whole thing again with the orbital sander, making sure to round corners and get all the splinters out. I then took the beam inside, taped a bow to it, and hid it in the closet until Ellie’s birthday.

Ellie loves the balance beam. Four months later and she still plays on it several times a week. It can be used inside and outside and will (probably) last forever. And now if she makes the U.S Olympic gymnastics squad I can take full credit.

Megan likes it too. It is starting to rekindle a trust in my project execution. The other day she even asked me to rehang a picture that had fallen off the wall (I should get to it in the next few weeks).

Michael Bussmann is a writer living in Fort Collins, Colorado. He like popsicles, even in the winter.

He also builds toys and stuff for his daughter sometimes. And most of the corners are rounded off.

Did you learn the craft on your own, or did someone teach you?

My dad is a very capable man, and he always had a simple woodshop while we were growing up. I think what I really I learned from him is that if you’re reasonably handy, you can pretty much build or fix anything. Then I studied Wood Construction and Design at the University of Idaho, where I learned how to engineer with wood. The actual craft of building campers is something I’ve taken on solo.

What was the inspiration behind the style of campers that you build?

The Tiny House movement has influenced my work, and that whole scene has really responded positively to this venture. I really like the vernacular architecture of the northwest—a lot of cedar and unique design elements. I’m also inspired by the cabins of sailboats, and I love the idea of designing my interiors like them.

What got you interested in building campers?

I always liked the idea of truck campers—having your shelter right on the back of your vehicle. I always thought that I could design a simple, lightweight, and attractive alternative to what’s conventionally available. And when I finally came up with a general design that I thought would work well, I saw building and selling them as my best chance of becoming self-employed to date.

Are you available to do custom work for clients?

I’m most interested in doing custom, one-off builds for customers. I’ve always appreciated purpose-built items, and that’s what I want my products to be.

I’m especially interested in building these for alternative uses—not just as traditional campers, but haulers for specific cargo, mobile offices, regular toppers, keg coolers with taps on the outside... these are all things that I’ve worked on designs for. And I’d love to discuss any other designs that might work on the back of a truck.

Anything you’d like to add?

I guess it should probably be made clear that I’m designing these to be rather simple—without a stove, fridge, plumbing, etc. I’m really interested in providing an alternative to what’s typically available: large, heavy, ugly, complicated campers that cost a fortune. [Casual Turtle Campers] have a general price range of $3,000 to $9,000, depending on the particular unit. *** Find out more about Casual Turtle Campers at www.casualturtlecampers.com, or email Peter directly at casualturtlecampers@gmail.com.

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Knitting Pretty, by Kris Percival Reviewed by Elizabeth Escobar It’s that time of year again—the days grow cooler, and it becomes necessary to sip warm drinks and pull on sweaters and scarves. As it just so happens, one of the nicest ways to pass the time is by knitting such cozy things for yourself and friends. In Knitting Pretty, Kris Percival provides the perfect knitter’s handbook. From teaching you what knitting needles are to recommending the right hat pattern, the book is filled with writing and instructions so easily accessible that it won’t matter if you’ve never even heard of yarn before.

Percival’s colorful book leads you through 30 useful projects, with each piece given a difficulty rating. If you’re new to the craft, Kris provides all of the basics that you’ll need to know, and eases you into fun-yet-easy first knits, like a bookmark for the lovely used book you just got. By no means is this book solely for beginners, however. If you’re more confident with your knit one, pearl two skills, you’ll find a wide selection of projects to fit your skill level. Percival’s ideas also make for good gifts to give as the holidays draw nearer—like the cozy mittens! Or the beer cozy!

Maybe the urban folk shawl? No matter what you want to make, Knitting Pretty will be sure to keep you warm (and busy) during the brisker months of the year.

Happy knitting!

True Brews, by Emma Christensen Reviewed by Nick Janzen You may know someone who brews their own beer.

Maybe you even make your own. Homebrewers aren’t terribly uncommon in Fort Collins—I mean, I’ve cooked up a few ales myself. But do you know anyone who makes their own wine? Or mead? What about sake or kombucha? If you don’t know what kefir is, maybe you should take True Brews home to your kitchen and find out. That’s right: it’s a cookbook for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic fermented drinks.

In each of the eight chapters a different kind of drink is offered. Then, at least six flavor options are offered in each chapter. Geniously, Emma Christensen starts each chapter with a Master Recipe. It’s a base for any of your creative notions that will inevitably come about. Until then, you’ll need to follow Christensen’s directions. At first, I thought they seemed a little wordy, but when working with yeast or cultures, it’s important to get it just right. With that in mind, they seem easy enough to follow. The pictures that accompany many of the recipes show you what your creations should look like, if not just to whet your appetite.

So, whether you’ve had a long history of brewing and want to branch out a bit or some tasty home science experiments seem like a fun new venture, add True Brews to your book collection. As it says in the introduction, “There’s nothing more rewarding than pouring yourself a glass of homebrew and drinking every single drop.”

Pieces, by Tess Perez, Sylvia Lopez, Lolbette Moreno, Terra Dawson, and Jon Alston Reviewed by Evan Brengle

Made By Hand: A Collection of Projects to Print, Sew, Weave, Dye, Knit, or Otherwise Create,

by Lena Corwin Reviewed by Beth Kopp Lena Corwin is an artist, illustrator, and textile designer living and working in Brooklyn, New York. A few years ago, Corwin invited her designer friends to teach workshops to the public in her top-floor brownstone studio. The classes were on everything from screenprinting to perfume blending to sewing. While she no longer hosts these workshops, she has used that experience to create her newest book, Made by Hand. In this book, Corwin and 13 of her artist friends show the reader how to make 28 creative and impressive projects.

Corwin begins the book with a rotary-printed cloth napkin tutorial, possibly one of the most interesting projects. It involves gluing small foam shapes to a rolling pin and printing on cotton squares. The photos show several people in a workshoplike setting printing bright orange polka dots and little cactuses onto fabric. It looks easy and fun and is definitely a great “craft party” project.

Another tutorial that caught my eye is from jewelry designer Jennifer Sarkilahti of Odette New York. She shares a technique for making simple bracelets and necklaces with silk thread and brass beads. You will likely have to buy a few supplies for this one—things like crimping pliers, clasps, and beads. But the finished products look amazing and if you make a lot for gifts, this project can be extremely affordable.

Pieces is a forthcoming work from writer Tess Perez; illustrators Sylvia Lopez, Lolbette Moreno, and Terra Dawson; and bookmaker and designer Jon Alston. The work is an exercise in—and tribute to—creativity and collaboration, blending written and visual art. All copies will be mostly handmade using a variety of papers, and printed largely with hand presses, handmade stamps, and typewriters. The pages themselves are loose, collected together in fabric, able to be read in any order, allowing for a new experience with each reading, making the reader a final collaborator in the creation of the narrative.

Pieces is both an homage and challenge to the fairy tale form. Perez’s poetic prose delivers the magic of the fairy tale, while the story questions the assumptions and attitudes typical of the genre. Evie, the heroine, is no Sleeping Beauty; she is willful and self-reliant, determining her own path—both figuratively and literally—as she treks deeper into the woods in pursuit of a mysterious music which rationally should not be there but which, nonetheless, is. Perez’s text is complemented by Lopez’s linocut images, Moreno’s paintings, and Dawson’s scientific illustrations.

Pieces is tactile, interactive, and even playful, reminding us that books are themselves objects, their beauty resting not only in their words, but in their art and artisanship.

Pieces will be published in early 2014 by the independent California-based Copilot Press in a limited edition of 100 copies. Once released, copies can be ordered at www.copilotpress.com.

There are also candle- and soap-making tutorials, a few sewing projects, some crocheting and knitting (cat toys!), and a couple more printing-on-fabric DIYs. I would be happy learning any of these projects, or just flipping through the book for a few hours, drooling over the pictures. Lena Corwin has an eye for modern craft and this book is a great example of what’s new and exciting in the handmade world.

WOLVERINE FARM P U B L I SH I NG CO. & BO OKSTORE WOLVERINEFARM.ORG : 970.472.4284 : 144 N. COLLEGE AVENUE FORT COLLINS, CO 80524

Book reviews by Wolverine Farm Bookstore Volunteers. If you’d like to volunteer with the Wolverine Farm, go here: www.wolverinefarm.org

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Matterhorn Staff Picks Our Favorite Books from Local Authors Motel, Diner, Liquor Poems by John Dorsey, Jason Ryberg, Jason Hardung, and Seth Elkins Spartan Press, October 2013 Paperback $20.00 Poetry featuring the Fort Collins Poet Laureate, Jason Hardung.

A Bushel’s Worth: An Ecobiography by Kayann Short Torrey House Press, August 2013 Paperback $14.95 Farming memoir.

The Disappearing Cowboy Trick by Kristin Abraham Horse Less Press, 2013 Paperback $15.00 Poetry.

The Climbing Zine, Volume 5 The Dirtbag Issue Benighted Publications, 2013 Paperback $9.99 A rock climbing magazine from publisher, writer, and climber Luke Mehall.

Atomic City Crime Story by Ray Nelson Raymond E. Nelson, 2013 Paperback $7.50 A crime novel full of mystery, secrets, and murder.

Legendary Locals of Fort Collins by Barbara Fleming Arcadia Publishing, June 2013 Paperback $21.99 A history of our city and the people who have lived here, from pioneers to the present day.

Backwards by Todd Mitchell Candlewick, October 2013 Hardcover $17.99 A young adult thriller for ages 12 and up.

Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle Harry N. Abrams, August 2013 Hardcover $17.95 A story of summer romance for teens and young adults.

The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum by Temple Grandin and Richard Panek Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, April 2013 Hardcover $28.00 An Impenetrable Screen of Purest Sky: A Novel by Dan Beachy-Quick Coffee House Press, September 2013 Paperback $15.95 An autobiographical novel about metaphysics, Moby Dick, and parallel universes.

More New Books We’re Excited About Bikenomics: How Bicycling Can Save the Economy by Elly Blue Microcosm Publishing, December 1, 2013 Paperback $14.95 Craft-a-Doodle: 75 Creative Exercises from 18 Artists by Jenny Doh Lark Crafts, August 6, 2013 Paperback $19.95 Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Symbols, Punctuation, Symbols, & Other Typographical Marks by Keith Houston W.W. Norton & Company, September 24, 2013 Hardcover $25.95 To The Letter: A Celebration of the Lost Art of Letter Writing by Simon Garfield Gotham Books, November 14, 2013 Hardcover $27.50 The Gorgeous Nothings: Emily Dickinson’s Envelope Poems by Emily Dickinson New Directions, October 29, 2013 Hardcover $39.95

“All of these 11 stories arrest the reader from their opening paragraphs . . . a collection to be held up as evidence that the short story not only endures but also flourishes.”

—Booklist, Starred Review “The stories in LITTLE RAW SOULS represent a triumphant second act in the life of American writer Steven Schwartz.”

—TheRumpus.net “Set in a variety of landscapes across the southwest, from northern Colorado to Tucson, Santa Fe to Sedona, each of these stories is a gem. They give life to souls who might be cynical but still hope for meaning, souls scraped raw with living. They are anything but little.”

—Arizona Public Radio “Good short stories drop us into the middle of situations we can’t help but find riveting, no matter how strange or uncomfortable they may be. Steven Schwartz’s latest collection, LITTLE RAW SOULS, is full of such stories.”

—Small Press Picks “LITTLE RAW SOULS is an apt name for this collection of short stories from Colorado State University professor Steven Schwartz: Every stand-alone chapter pulls the reader into the psyche of a character charged with making complicated, emotionally trying decisions.”

—5280 “A strong pick for any modern short fiction collection.”

—Midwest Book Review “Expertly rendered stories” —ForeWord Reviews

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Unpublished Manuscript Documents the Arduous Lives of Northern Colorado's Pioneer Women Article by Ethan Foore

We build, we break, we smite, we make, We rear and overthrow— With that unrest that stung the breast Three hundred years ago.

With dauntless prows we break the years, And mountain waves we climb; We still are western pioneers, Upon the seas of Time.

-—Sam Walter Foss

first settlers. In it we can also observe Hoy’s characteristic rich (and sometimes convoluted, though not unpleasantly so) imagery, his conversational voice, and his skill in the ennoblement of his subject matter:

“This man was not afraid of anything nor anybody; he always went armed with a revolver or rifle or both, and was not afraid to use them against wild beasts or wild men, red or white. When game was abundant he enjoyed hunting, with the result that there was always plenty of fresh meat about the cabin. When game was scarce and hard to get, he killed a beef [cow] without caring whose brand it wore. He was a good provider at all times. In addition to his regular business as a ranchman, he was also somewhat a soldier of fortune, a Robin Hood in disguise. In the pursuit of this avocation, whether ome months ago while scouring the library for books about the settlers of for pleasure, profit, or adventure, he was obliged to be absent from home for months at a time. Her Northern Colorado, in particular Ansel Watrous’s indispensable History of story was that on this particular occasion, before leaving, he moved her and the two children to a vacant Larimer County, I came across—by means of the informal “next-to” rule of but comfortable old-time trapper’s cabin in one of the most remote sections in the whole country: high library decorum, a rule stating that the book you need is often the one next to the in the mountains, 8,000 feet above sea level, with dark forests all about, among whose heights wild book you thought you needed—a curious manuscript. Typewritten, smudged, and beasts roamed and fed, while far below tumultuous torrents rushed and roared. To arrive at this haven disorganized, it records the history of northwestern Colorado during the late 19th of rest—an ideal summer resort for tired city folks—they were compelled to follow a trail at times and early 20th century from the perspective of local bullwhacker-become-rancher steep, rocky, and precipitous, on horseback. Pack horses carried their supplies, consisting James Smith (J.S.) Hoy. In it he not only documents his own personal of bedding and provisions sufficient to last all summer. Thus safely provided for and experiences around the region but others’ as well. Some of the events hidden, her lord and master left her and the two children, the eldest about four years old. he remarks on are relatively well-documented, while others are entirely In answer to her question, ‘When will you be back?’ he made answer, ‘When you see me new; in some passages he freely espouses his own opinions, while in coming.’ He was gone more than two months, in which time she didn’t see a human being. others he allows his sources to speak for themselves.

Robinson Crusoe’s plight was more endurable than this deserted wife’s; as the days and weeks dragged slowly along, the solitude seemed to deepen, while the helplessness of her From Native American philosophy to the adventures of wild Robin situation more vividly revealed itself. All around everything foreboded ill. At night, when Hood-types, Hoy, despite his broad scope and the unfinished nature the mind is alert and thoroughly aroused, are conjured up the bloody traditions of the past, of his manuscript, still successfully captures the zeitgeist of the first bringing about an indescribable sinking of the heart and apprehension of impending evil; few generations of settlers in Northern Colorado, taking special note at times when every thing one sees and hears takes on an attitude of terror; everything, of their development from a wild to a more stable culture. Indeed, J.S. Hoy every sound is distorted and exaggerated, objects shape themselves and form the things we I have yet to come across a history of Colorado’s early settlers with comparable most dread. All this and more she felt in the obscure and fearful silence of the night.” social sensibility—of particular note being Hoy’s steadfast deference toward pioneer women. The pioneer life, a life that was inherently handmade, was largely An educated man who spent much of his life chasing livestock between southern maintained by the handiwork of these oft-forgotten women, women whose lives Wyoming and Denver, in his later years J.S. Hoy grew to be known as one of the were: main authorities on the region’s history. In the introduction of the manuscript, Hoy explains: “[...] akin to the lives of martyrs; from first to last they were up against the hardest proposition that

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ever fell to the lot of women. Their lives were lives of self-denial, living under the roughest, rudest and crudest of conditions, at times ill-fed and poorly clad, all work and little pay or play. They slave their lives away working for others; their hopes and ambition blasted, they die and they and their good deeds are forgotten. From an intimate knowledge of the careers of many pioneer women I wondered and wondered that they put up with as much as they did. At the very best they got the worst of everything.

All they had to do was to bear children, wash, scrub and cook, in other words—do woman’s work.

If they wanted a garden they could make one; if they wanted butter, milk the cows; slop the hogs—do woman’s work, that is all.”

To further illustrate the lives of pioneer women in Northern Colorado, the following is a story told to Hoy by the wife of a pioneer, one among this region’s

For the children

“For years people [...] requested me to write [this history]. Not caring to undertake a task which I knew was a serious matter for me, I for a long time—several years—declined to consider their demands; but at last I yielded when men told me it was a duty I owed myself and the State. They knew I was the only one left who knew the inside and the outside happenings of that notorious section.

Well, I have done what they asked me to do.”

Besides being a writer, Hoy was also involved in regional politics and was affiliated with the United Workers of the Blind. He died on May 31, 1925 at the age of 78, rumored to have been poisoned by disgruntled relatives who’d been left out of his will. Upon his death his manuscript was yet unpublished and remains so to this day.

For the home

The wooden toys from A SUMMER AFTERNOON are beautiful, functional, and durable. Go to: www.etsy.com/shop/ asummerafternoon# for more information.

Wool Hat’s new shared location with Smokestack Pottery is a treasure trove of new and re-purposed handmade goods.

Visit them at 119 E. Lincoln Street in Fort Collins.

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Build a press

By Steve Sedam / InkPop Studio Letterpress At InkPop Studio, we’ve acquired some seriously cool antique Letterpress equipment, but our very first press was this simple home-made one. We still use it for small posters and linocuts (at right) and also for bookbinding and workshops.

Known as a “book press” or “copy press,” it’s based on the same principal as Gutenberg’s famous press 500 years ago: a central screw exerts pressure, which transfers ink to paper, making a print.

Here’s how we made ours - now you can make one too!

Base, Top Bar and Platen The press has three main components: a wide Base, narrow Top Bar and a moveable Platen in the middle. Each component is made of plywood layers, stacked and glued together to the proper thickness, finished with a layer of smooth black melamine.

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Frame Supports The top bar and base are permanently and securely fastened together to form the rigid frame of the press. The frame supports are made from simple, off-the-shelf supplies: lengths of all-thread rod, attached to the Base and Top Bar with washers and nuts.

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Clamp and Bracket The Clamp that “powers” the press is a standard lamination clamp used in woodworking.

It is attached through a collar installed in the Top Bar, and joins up with a bracket on the Platen. Turning the screw handle provides the necessary force for press operation.

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1. Plywood cut to size. Base: 12 x 16 inches. Top Bar: 4 x 16 inches. Platen: 12 x 12 inches.

2. Gluing up the plywood layers. Many layers makes for a strong and resilient structure.

3. Stacking the layers. Make sure to use enough glue to ensure solid adhesion.

4. Clamping the stack with a layer of melamine-faced particle board.

5. The Platen was shaped with a circular saw, followed by a power plane.

6. The final Platen shape. The black smooth melamine is on the underside of this component.

7. The underside of the Base gets footing made of 1x2 hardwood.

8. The Base, assembled and ready for Frame Supports to be added.

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1. Using a template to mark holes on Base and Top Bar ensures good alignment for Frame rods.

2. Drilling the holes for the Frame Supports 3. The base will get two sets of holes for right and left Frame Supports 4. Top Bar with both sets of Frame Support holes and a central hole for the Clamp collar 5. Frame Support rods are inserted into Base.

6. Washers and nuts attached on the underside of Base. Top Bar is fastened the same way.

7. Washers and nuts tightened on upper and lower sides of Base and Top Bar. 8. The structural framework of the press is complete.

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1. Remove the base and collar from the Clamp.

2. Insert the Clamp collar into the pre-drilled central hole in the Top Bar. 3. Reattach Clamp base on underside of Top Bar. This is the point of contact with the Platen.

4. The finished Clamp/Top Bar assembly 5. Platen Bracket components include a metal plate and recycled brass window tracks.

6. Metal plate is attached to the Platen. This will help to distribute the force of the Clamp.

7. The brass tracks are attached over the metal plate at the proper width to fit the Clamp base.

8. The Clamp base slides into the Platen Bracket. They can be joined or separated as needed.

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Now the press is finished and ready for use! To see this how-to online, or to see InkPop’s antique press equipment or to find out about our workshops, markets, and where to find our prints, go to Inkpopstudio.wordpress.com. For a schedule of upcoming workshops, email us at: hello@inkpopstudio.com. Happy printing!

Text and images copyright 2013 InkPop Studio Letterpress

For the spirited You won’t need to rename your car the Midnight Runner, or worry about raids at any time of day— owning your own still is legal in Colorado. And lucky for us, Fort Collins-based Clawhammer Supply is making it easy (check out their 100% copper still kits), providing everything you need to start making your own moonshine. We especially like their informative howto videos, and the straight talk they offer up on their website on subjects such as “Will moonshine make you blind?” to state distilling laws (do consider Colorado’s stance on actually distilling moonshine). Starting at $149, Clawhammer Supply is doing it right. Check them out here: clawhammersupply.com.

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What You’ll Need:

How to Make Screenprinted Art Prints Article and Photographs by Patrick Richardson

Edited by Molly McCowan

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efore you get started, please note: Screenprinting takes a lot of trial and error and patience. You will most likely mess up your first few dozen prints and maybe more. Don’t be discouraged if you over- or under-expose your screen—I’ve been doing this for years and I still make mistakes from time to time.

Step 1: Prepping the Image The first thing you’ll need is your artwork. It’s important to remember that in screenprinting, the blacked-out image will “burn” itself through the photo emulsion layer that you dry onto the screen (Step 2), creating see-through areas in the screen that ink can get through. Therefore, simple designs work best for your first time. A printed black image on a transparency will work best. If you don’t have a printer, go to a local print shop.

Step 2: Prepping the Screen There are ways to make a screen on the cheap, but if you plan on doing lots of printing I suggest buying a quality screen from an art supplier.

Once your screen is in hand you will need photo emulsion (I like Speedball Diazo emulsion). After you closely follow the directions on the emulsion box you need to find a very low-lit room in which to put the emulsion onto the screen. Lay down your plastic floor covering, then fill your emulsion tray generously—you can always scoop the leftovers back into the container.

Hold your screen (or lean it against a wall) at a 70-degree angle, place the emulsion tray against the bottom edge of the screen and slowly slide it up the screen, making sure to cover the entire printing area. Have a spatula handy to scrape the remainder of the emulsion back into its container and flatten out the edges of the emulsion is there is extra buildup around the sides. Now all you have to do is put the screen into a completely dark place and let it dry. If you have the time you can wait a few hours; otherwise aim a fan at it while it’s drying to reduce the dry time to an hour or so.

Remember during this time to keep it in absolute darkness: otherwise the UV exposure will burn the screen prematurely and ruin it.

Step 3: Burning the Image into the Screen Next you must expose the screen. First put your artwork face down on your light box first, then place the screen on top of that. I would suggest weighing the screen down to make sure it is flat against the artwork— any light seeping around the edges will ruin the exposure. The exposure time on my light box (using UV lights) is 25–30 minutes, but different lights will take different amounts of time. This will take some trial and error.

If you don’t have a light box or a light stand with a UV bulb, you can use the sun to expose your image: put the image on top of the screen, place a piece of clean glass on top of it, then use C-clamps to sandwich the screen, image, and glass together. Next, place a piece of cardboard or paper over the top of the “sandwich”

Artwork (a printed transparency is ideal) Screenprinting screen Low-lit room Photo emulsion (Speedball Diazo) Emulsion tray Plastic floor covering (optional) Completely dark area to dry the screen in Large fan (optional) A UV light source (light box or sunlight) Piece of glass (if using sunlight method) C-clamps (if using sunlight method) Large sink or bathtub (anything with a spray nozzle is preferred) Screenprinting ink in the color of your choice Screenprinting squeegee Rags Art-quality paper to print on Photo emulsion remover (optional)

to protect it from early exposure, walk outside and place the entire contraption into bright, direct sunlight. Sunlight exposure only takes a few minutes—watch for the emulsion to darken a couple of shades: this means it has been exposed.

Step 4: Rinsing the Exposed Screen After you have exposed the screen, wrap it in something dark or cover it with cardboard because it is still light sensitive. Make your way to a sink or bathtub and put the screen under some water pressure. I bought an extendable shower head with different settings for this very purpose. I choose the setting with the highest pressure. Wash the screen and make sure to really hit the area where your image was.

After a minute or so you will start to notice the coating wash away where the image is. Make sure you completely wash that image out. Once you are finished you can return the screen to the light because it is set. Wait an ample amount of time for it to dry, about 30 minutes, and you can begin printing!

Step 5: Printing your Design onto Paper The best way to print is with a screenprinting squeegee. Printing is a lot of fun but it’s also very messy—I suggest having lots of rags around and wearing clothes you don’t care about. If you are printing multiples, have enough paper around ready to be printed on: you don’t want to be cutting paper while you have ink drying on your screen. After you are all set up, apply a straight line of screenprinting ink across the top of your screen. Place the squeegee at the top of the screen at a 45-degree angle, apply pressure, and drag the ink toward you in one fluid motion, stopping at the bottom and lifting the squeegee straight up to “pile” the remaining ink at the bottom. Ideally you’ll want to be able to do this in one motion, but sometimes it’s necessary to quickly push the ink up to the top of the screen and drag it down one more time. Just be careful not to push ink under the screen. When you’re done, make sure the ink is at the bottom of the screen, put your squeegee to the side and carefully take the screen off of the paper.

Voila!

Step 6: Cleaning Up Want to “clear” your screen so you can use it again with a different image? To get the emulsion off, you’ll need to use the appropriate emulsion remover. Screen life varies depending on how well you treat your screens. Eventually ink becomes more difficult to remove and you will know the life of your screen is up.

I hope this was helpful to give you a brief overview of screenprinting from home.

There are tons of tips and tricks online but all in all this is how it’s done. Happy printing!

Patrick Richardson is a local graphic designer, illustrator, and all-around maker of things. He received his Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids Michigan and moved to Colorado two years ago. His artwork is largely inspired from his passion for the outdoors which includes cycling, backpacking, and mountainous scenery.

This winter, hops pile up like snow in Colorado with

ACCUMULATION WHITE IPA. Flurries of Mosaic and Amarillo hops bring citrus flavor and bright aromas as a perfect blanket of white spills over the top.

Make the season white and visit

accumulation white ipa is brewed by new belgium brewing fort collins co

NewBelgium.com for wintery winnings.

Find the newest addition to our family of IPAs on the Beer Mode app.

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With: Matthew Sage

an

ETHICAL DESIGN STUDIO

DESIGN FOR GOOD, NOT BAD.

OPEN

CRAFT & INTEGRITY

WHAT IS ETHICAL DESIGN?

FIND OUT AT OUR WEBSITE: www.bonnieandcaprice.com

| Fair Pricing | High Quality | Dependable Service | Sustainable Practices |

hello@bonnieandcaprice.com

https://www.facebook.com/bonnieandcaprice

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How to Crochet: A Beginner’s Guide Article and drawings by Beth Kopp

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his tutorial will teach you how to make a slip knot, a foundation chain, and a single crochet stitch. There are many, many other stitches to learn, though, so don’t stop there! Check out the websites and books below for further instructions and patterns.

SINGLE CROCHET 6. Insert hook into the second stitch from the hook.

7. Wrap yarn over hook and draw up a loop. You should have two loops on your hook.

Supplies: A ball of yarn and a crochet hook. (The yarn label will tell you what size of hook to purchase.)

8. Wrap the yarn over again and draw through both stitches.

SLIP KNOT 1. With two fingers facing you, wrap yarn around them counter-clockwise and pull up a loop.

9. You now have one single crochet. Repeat in every stitch until you reach the end.

2. Slip the loop off of your fingers and transfer to your crochet hook.

10. To crochet the next row, chain one and single crochet across, starting in the second stitch from hook. Make sure to insert the hook under both top loops of each stitch.

3. Tighten the loop on the hook.

CHAIN STITCH 4. Wrap the yarn once over the hook.

5. Pull the yarn through the stitch on the hook.

Repeat until you have the desired amount of stitches.

Tips: • Crochet loosely when you are starting out. If your stitches start out too tight, it will become difficult very fast.

• Practice by making lots of washcloths. Buy some cheap 100% cotton yarn and crochet a square of about 25 stitches across. These are also an excellent way to practice more advanced stitches and they make great housewarming gifts.

• Join a local group or crochet with a friend. This will help keep you motivated to finish projects and it’s always fun to chat crafts with other people and see what they’re working on.

Where to go to learn more Websites: • www.ravelry.com – Tons of patterns for both knitting and crocheting. You have to create an account, but it’s definitely worth it and it’s free!

• www.purlbee.com – Great tutorials and some really nice patterns.

• www.crochetme.com – Blogs, forums, videos, and lots of patterns from the folks at Interweave Press. They also publish the quarterly magazine Crochet.

Books: • Molly Makes Crochet by Mollie Makes (Interweave, September 6, 2012) • Simple Crocheting: A Complete How-To-Crochet Workshop With 20 Projects by Erika Knight (St. Martin Griffin, June 19, 2012) • So Pretty! Crochet: Inspiration and Instructions for 24 Stylish Projects by Amy Palanjian (Chronicle Books, May 2, 2012) Beth Kopp lives, works, and crochets in Fort Collins, Colorado.

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For the crafter KITCHEL KRIATIONS 100% alpaca yarn from local farmers Majean and Ed Bender. Each skein of yarn is between 53 and 61 grams and costs $24. Available at My Sister Knits, 1408 W. Mountain Avenue, 970-407-1461.

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FORT COLLINS

Cabinpress studiO

Oak ROOT Press

Denise Newberry, Proprietress

John Major Jenkins, proprietor of Oak Root Press and director of the “Traditional Book Arts Museum and Printing Office”

Years in Business: Founded in 2008, our brand specializes in bespoke design and letterpress printing.

A true labor of love, vintage typography and our awesome wood type!

Machines currently in use: We operate from two studios—one in Fort Collins and one in the Gore Range, high in the Colorado Rockies. We print on a range of four lovely vintage printing presses, including a Century Old Golding Map press, using traditional methods that include hand setting type. All the paper we use is tree-friendly stock and a lot of the ink we use is recycled from printers who have closed down due to the impact of digital on traditional print methods. We use all four presses to produce our work including a favorite Chandler and Price old-style letterpress that dates back to the late 1800s.

What do you make?

CabinPress Studio offers a completely custom experience, whereby we will both exclusively design and letterpress your printed products—your wedding invitations, note cards and other finely printed handmade paper pieces—to create something that is truly, uniquely yours. We are known for our Pine Beetle Recipe Box Sets which are all lovingly handmade by us, signed, and numbered.

Where can I find your stuff?

All of our one-of-a-kind products are shipped worldwide through Etsy. Locally you can find us at The Cupboard, National Park gift shops, The Right Card and always directly at CabinPressStudio.com Why do you print this way?

We utilize the modern wizardry of computers to create our bespoke designs, but our true passion and mission is creating these finely handmade paper products for exquisite, interesting people. Every single CabinPress Studio product that makes its way to our clients has been hand-fed into our vintage, some a century-old in age, platen printing presses. Every ink color has been mixed by hand. And each card that is received has been manually cut down to size with an antique guillotine cutter. We are especially devoted to developing ideas that help tell your story, since seeing your ideas translated by the press is so rewarding—for us as well as for our customers!

So if you have something in mind, we would love to hear all about it.

Come visit us at CabinPress Studio.com . . . happy trails!

More info?

ARTISTIC :: CHARMING :: ELEGANT {words that describe us!} Letterpress printing is truly the most beautiful craftsmanship—it is a centuries-old art form, which is timeless, classic, and results in a beautiful tactile impression into the paper. We just love how exquisite it truly is!

Here at CabinPress Studio we are holding all of this history in our hands, we enjoy being its advocate, and it is our vision to keep this craft alive. Each day is always bringing us new challenges on our antique presses—we like being perfectionists, and we love letterpress with a passion, and could not imagine printing any other way.

Years in Business: Since 2007 Machines currently in use: I use an 1892 Shneidewend & Lee 7 x 11 foot-treadle platen press, an 8 x 12 Chandler & Price platen press (foot treadle or motorized), a 10 x 15 Chandler & Price, a Potter proof press, a Poco no. “0” proof press, and a Chandler & Price table top hand-pull press. I’ve also been experimenting with poster-sized prints on my 1890s Campbell “Century” Pony press (a historic cylinder press that printed the newspaper in Leadville, Colorado over a century ago).

What do you make?

My main focus is hand-set, limited edition, hand-bound books. I’m still working on my first book offering. I also am developing a line of cards that use images and poetry. My first run of cards is just completed. Since 2007 I’ve also done job work for friends and customers, including posters, flyers, poetry broadsides, business cards and postcards, wedding invitations, text on cardboard boxes, and a CD cover for the local band The Holler!. I currently have two commissions in the pipeline: a limited-edition poetry broadside for a yoga center in Ohio and a 3-color poster for an artist in Buffalo, New York. Recently I’ve been doing my own linoleum cuts.

Where can I find your stuff?

Right now I am offering my limited-edition poetry broadside as a fundraiser for restoring one of my presses. See the description at the bottom of this page: www. alignment2012.com/Campbell-restore.html. The access to all of my work, including the many tentacles of my Letterpress Printing obsession, can be found at: www.johnmajorjenkins.com.

Why do you print this way?

I am an author who has been fortunate to have my books published with many different publishers since 1992, in the standard industry way. However, I’ve witnessed “standards” in book publishing change dramatically in the last five years. For me, letterpress design and printing allows for greater engagement with a creative process. I believe that there will be a niche for this kind of limited-edition publishing as trade publishing continues to morph into digital formats, Kindle books, and so on. I also have a love for printing history and the old equipment, and have devoted much time and effort to saving and restoring old presses. Many of these would have been scrapped without my intervention.

More info?

My efforts to save and restore the old equipment has required formalizing the Traditional Book Arts Printing Office and Museum, which was featured this year in Forgotten Fort Collins online: www.forgottenfortcollins.com/traditional-book-arts-museumand-printing-office. Demonstrations and tours of my “museum print shop” can be arranged by appointment. I am also available for custom commissions of business cards, postcards, poetry broadsides, and posters. Email: kahib@ix.netcom.com.

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LETTERPRESS

Meadowlark Creative {Design + Letterpress}

INKPOP STudio Steve Sedam, Proprietor

Shelby Montross, Proprietress

Years in Business: Four years

Years in Business: Four years Machines currently in use: 10 x 15 Chandler & Price, 5 x 3 Kelsey, Vandercook 317. I also have a Heidelberg Windmill, Miehle Vertical Letterpress, 12x18 Chandler & Price & Vandercook Proof 01 Proof Press (these presses are in working condition also, just haven’t had the time to mess with them).

What do you make?

Invitations, coasters, posters, prints & more.

Machines currently in use: Chandler & Price 8 x 12 foot treadled platen press (circa 1905) and a Showcard 12 x 18 tabletop press.

What do you make?

I make cards, postcards, limited edition art prints and posters. I also print custom wedding invitations, business cards, and other custom work.

Where can I find your stuff?

Local customers can find my prints at Wool Hat and Wolverine Farm Bookstore.

Worldwide customers can find my prints online at www.etsy.com/shop/inkpopstudio.

Look for me at the upcoming Freedom Market, December 14, 2013, and see some history on my blog at www.inkpopstudio.wordpress.com.

Where can I find your stuff?

Rain Boutique in Old Town Fort Collins and Impress Studio (located in the Downtown Artery); www.meadowlarkcreative.com.

Why do you print this way?

Sometime in-between the invention of moveable type and proliferation of 24-hour copy centers, the craft of letterpress printing evolved from an essential trade to a forgotten one. Abandoned by all but a few craftsmen, the art of letterpress printing became that of a bygone era. Printing, it seemed, had lost its soul, its beauty, and its individuality.

Why do you print this way?

I just had a wild idea to work with metal, wood, ink and paper instead of pixels and microchips.

More info?

Come to one of my workshops. See what it’s like to get your hands inky, and make things that are real. Reach me anytime at hello@inkpopstudio.com.

Meadowlark Creative is bringing it back. Meadowlark Creative meticulously designs and prints custom business cards, stationary, invitations, and announcements that are as unique and memorable as the message you wish to communicate.

More info?

Collaboration of Fort Collins Letterpress printers and info can be found at www.fortcollinsletterpress.com.

aaaa

LOOK FOR OUR LET TERPRESS SHOP opening SUMMER 2014!

Located in the River District at 316 Willow Street, Wolverine Farm Letterpress & Publick House will feature a full print shop, retail space for local makers, an event hall, coffee/beer/wine bar, and an outdoor workspace & patio.

More information at wolverinefarm.org

PLEASE ENJOY RESPONSIBLY

A non-profit charity whose mission is to protect & restore the ecology of the Cache la Poudre River using public education and scientific research.

Our activities

Annual Poudre River trash clean-up Public education about healthy rivers & water conservation Protecting the river from new reservoirs that would drain it

John Bartholow

Promoting river restoration & removal of abandoned dams Supporting the new whitewater park downtown Inviting the public to weigh in on proposed water projects & policies

Volunteer, Donate or Join Us

www.savethepoudre.org

John Bartholow

at

Contact

info@savethepoudre.org 970-493-4677

Mike Barry

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© Robert Stefanek

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Matt Fater of Branch Out Cider © Aaron Fodge

CHOICE CITY CIDER can a craft beer town embrace its roots ?

Article by Robert Stefanek

T

he process of making cider is closer to that of wine than it is to brewing beer. You grind apples, press them, and ferment the juice for two weeks to a month. From there it can be stored for aging—different batches can be blended to create more complex flavors and to attain the desired dryness or sweetness. Its effervescence can be created naturally through bottle conditioning, or it can be injected with CO2. Patience pays off: “Cider will pick up ‘off ’ flavors pretty easily if you go too fast,” says Jennifer Seiwald, General Manager of Scrumpy’s Hard Cider Bar in Fort Collins.

The simplicity of the process is one of the things that attracted Aaron Fodge, co-owner of Branch Out Cider. “The beauty of cider is that once you know [how to make it], there’s really not much to it. As long as you’re clean, you’re in your acid range, and you’ve got enough sugars to reach the alcohol level you’re looking for, it’s pretty simple. It’s old, it’s traditional, it’s been around a long time,” Fodge says. “You don’t need water, you really just need a supply of good apples that are handpicked.”

While the process is simple, the range of ciders you can make are limited only by one’s imagination. “You could differentiate it with spices, you could differentiate it with other fruits,” says Fodge. “You could blend it like a mead,” fermenting apple juice with honey to make cyser. “There’s a lot of ways you could go with it.” Seiwald is planning to make both a blueberry lavender and a peach habanero cider.

Fodge and Matt Fater, Branch Out’s second co-owner, have a winery license for their basement operation, and their cider is taxed as a champagne. None of which is surprising if you’ve tried their cider, which is startlingly dry if you’re expecting the overpowering sweetness of most commercial ciders. Fodge says that “the sugars are pretty much the same” in cider apples and wine grapes. “When it ferments out, it really is a dry white wine. The difference is that it has an apple finish instead of a grape finish.”

The idea for Scrumpy’s was born when Seiwald, a cider enthusiast who left a career in financial services in the wake of the housing crisis, had an epiphany while sitting on the patio at Pateros Creek. “No one’s doing cider in Fort Collins,” she thought. “Maybe I could do cider.”

Branch Out had its genesis not in the ruins of the global financial system, but in the abundance of apples going to waste around Fort Collins. Fater and Fodge began by making small batches of cider using apples from an overloaded neighborhood tree. “We decided we’d rent a press, press some cider, and make a few carboys,” says Fater. “We started doing that as an annual fall neighborhood effort, and then after a couple years of doing that, it was like, ‘There seem to be a lot of apples, and people like the cider we were making from it.’ And so we started doing some business planning.”

As American as Apple...Cider?

Scrumpy’s and Branch Out are poised to capitalize on the renaissance that cider—or hard cider, as Americans persist in calling it—is undergoing in the U.S. Cider sales comprise significant portions of UK and European alcoholic beverage markets. But as Seiwald explains, “In the United States, it’s never even amounted to 1 percent until recently, and in the last four years it’s almost doubled every single year.”

The reemergence of cider may not only lead to changing taste buds, but also to changes in the apples that we plant and consume.

“I’m struggling a little bit with the apples because we’re not quite growing the apples that I want to make my cider out of,” Seiwald says. “In Colorado we grow mainly dessert apples, or culinary apples, and they don’t make that challenging of a cider.” The apples that make the cider “a little bit more challenging, a little more astringent, a little bit more like a British cider apple,” she continues, “are a little harder to find.”

Currently, about 30-40 percent of Seiwald’s apples come from the Front Range, with the rest coming from the Pacific Northwest. Her ultimate goal is to have all her apples come from within a 50- to 100-mile radius. But achieving that isn’t as simple as finding apples with the characteristics you like and planting them here.

Soil, climate, and elevation all play a role in how an apple turns out. As Seiwald explains, “You can pick a wonderful, astringent, tannic apple tree and plant it here, and it won’t produce the same types of apples. In fact, sometimes it will produce up to 40 percent fewer tannins depending on the soil.”

Eventually, Seiwald’s cider has the potential to be more local than much of the beer brewed in Fort Collins, which often relies on grains, hops—and water—that come from much farther away.

Fodge echoes these sentiments. “We’re proud to say that all this stuff is local local.” Fater’s and Fodge’s apples come mostly from Fort Collins, with some from nearby Loveland and Wellington. Their solution to the lack of tannin in most American apples is to add crab apples to their mix, because most crab apples do have tannin.

Fodge advises apple eaters and cider makers alike to “experiment with different trees and learn about the different types of apples, because if all you know is what you’ve gotten from the grocery store, the reason they’re in the grocery store is because they’re really hardy and they last a long time. It doesn’t mean they actually taste good.”

Fodge points to a statistic that was one of the biggest inspirations for Branch Out: “80 percent of the apple-derived product or juice in this country comes from another country. It’s imported. Yet we’ve got apples going to waste all over

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© Lucas Mouttet

this town.” Americans buy apples in grocery stores that have been shipped from places like Turkey, China, Argentina, Chile, and New Zealand. Adds Fater, “And here we are riding our bikes around Fort Collins writing down addresses of apple trees.”

Crafting Landscapes, Crafting Community If cider is back to stay, it may have a part to play in remaking our landscape. Seiwald envisions a partial return to our agricultural past: “When you look back in Colorado’s Front Range history, the Devil’s Backbone was historically a fruit-producing region, until we decided we wanted to put subdivisions and really expensive houses up there,” she says. “It was filled with apple trees, cherry trees, peach trees; it was a very fruitbased agricultural region, and so we can get back to that, at least in part.”

Fater and Fodge make the city their orchard, and they hope to encourage people to plant more trees. “Why go take up other farmland, and irrigate that land to plant trees, when you could plant them in people’s yards?” asks Fater. “They’re going to water their yard anyway, so the tree gets the benefit of that already.”

“There’s definitely room to grow this idea, and there are other uses for apples too.

For us it would be really inspiring if we could get more people to plant more,” says Fodge. At the end of the season, Branch Out will offer community grants available to neighborhoods and nonprofits to support urban agriculture projects: planting new trees, taking care of existing ones, community gardens, and the like. Fodge envisions a day when their whole alley will be lined with trees. And why stop there? If we as a community have money to spend on repaving alleys around Old Town with bricks, why not line our neighborhood alleys with apples, apricots, sand cherries, and blackberries available to all?

Fater and Fodge invite everyone who signs up their tree to their orchard party in the springtime. Ranchers and homeowners, seniors and students attend. “You get all kinds of different people coming together, and the common element is their apple tree,” says Fater.

Fodge also envisions the by-products of cider making helping to fertilize communities. They work to compost their pulp, sharing it with their neighbors, community gardens, and chickens.

“It would be nice to see this urban agricultural movement with more distributed compost areas that are shared amongst neighborhoods,” says Fodge. “It’s changing behaviors, and this town seems ripe for it.”

But their most important message for now is to stop letting local food go to waste. People shouldn’t feel bad if their apples don’t look like the waxed, polished, and imported ones available in grocery stores. “They don’t have to feel like their apple isn’t perfect, so therefore it should just go to rot on the ground,” says Fodge. “Give us a call. It’s okay. A worm’s okay. It presses out. It ferments out.” *** Scrumpy’s is located at 215 N. College Ave. Scrumpy’s Hours of Operation: Mondays 9 a.m.–11 p.m.

Tuesdays 11 a.m.–11 p.m.

Wednesdays through Saturdays 11 a.m.–12 a.m.

Sundays 11 a.m.–9 p.m.

Branch Out Cider can be found for sale at many of Fort Collins’ restaurants and bars, including Scrumpy’s. Find out more at www.branchoutcider.com.

Robert Stefanek lives, writes, and crafts two small children in Fort Collins, Colorado.

© Robert Stefanek

But perhaps the bigger question is whether craft cider can create stronger communities.

The Yama slow drip brewer is a beautifully crafted brewer that rewards patience with incredibly sweet, smooth coffee that’s perfect for serving over ice.

The slow drip of ice water is dispersed by an absorbent paper filter to wet all the coffee grounds evenly and ensure full flavor extraction.

You control the extraction time via an adjustable brass petcock that allows you to adjust the drip rate (15–20 drips per minute).

Visit us downtown at 144 N. College Avenue

The water makes it way through the grinds and exits at the bottom of the chamber through a permanent ceramic filter, then slowly spills through a spiral of glass tubing to finally drip into the carafe at the bottom.

thebeancycle.com

For the music lover

Made in a tiny shop near downtown, the dulcimers made by Williams and Sons Luthiers are humbly described as having, “a lively sound [and are easy and fun to play].” Made of red cedar, cherry, elm, maple and walnut, this dulcimer sells for $800 and looks to be worth every penny. Check out their selection of violins, violas, other dulcimers, and ukuleles here: www.williamsandsonluthier.com.

For the adventurer

Tucked in a cozy storefront and workshop downtown, Akinz handmakes all their own beanies, available in a wide variety of colors and patterns. This Ahab Striped beanie sells for $28 and features a double layer around the brim for extra warmth. Check out the rest of their fine selection here: www.akinz.com.

colorado’s

1st

non-profit

bar!

wolverine farm letterpress & publick house

r i v e r district

1

fort collins, colorado

1

wolverinefarm . org

a new community space devoted to craft—complete with a letterpress Print shop, bicycle exhibits, literary and art workshops, local goods, Event HALL w/ beer & coffee, and more!

Coming summer 2014 For more info please visit:

WolverineFarm.org