We have around here what we like to refer to as, “The Plague”, which is a yearly epidemic that sweeps the campus. It changes every year, and this year, it’s a 24 hour stomach bug. And I have it.
So while I’m here in my self-imposed quarantine, I thought I’d bring you some fun things from the Internet.
I preface this by saying that I’m one of those people that, if it weren’t for things like ice, heat, glass and other foreign particulates that can easily become embedded in the epidermis covering the soles of my feet, etc., I would never wear shoes. I just love to be able to feel the ground under me. My favorite pair of shoes I ever owned was an old beat-up pair of ballet slippers from a play I acted in in high school. Being leather, they gave a decent amount of protection from hot pavement, debris, detritus and other foreign objects, but still let me feel everything that was going on beneath me. They looked something like this:
They were also super comfortable and always made me want to dance. 🙂
Being barefoot (or near enough to it) has it’s health benefits. Recent science has even proven that running barefoot results in a better stride and is, over time, less taxing on your body than running in sneakers- thus the advent of Vivram’s FiveFingers shoe. Toddlers and children who go barefoot more often develop faster both mentally and in musculature- ” ‘The barefoot walker receives a continuous stream of information about the ground and about his own relationship to it, while a shod foot sleeps inside an unchanging environment. Sensations that are not used or listened to become decayed and atrophy. There is a sense of aliveness and joy which I experience walking barefoot that I never get in shoes,’ he says.” (Dr. Paul W. Brand, 1976)
Shoes are also really expensive. The last pair of sneakers I bought cost me around $20, and were retired after 18 months of use.
So while searching around Instructables the other night, I found these beauties, which seem to remedy the problems of price and sensitivity-
Norse-Inspired Leather Shoes!
Skymring's Norse-Inspired Shoes
They look so incredibly comfortable and easy to make, I’m making myself a pair as soon as I get a hold of some leather.
Many thanks to Skymring, who put these up for all to see! The full instructions are freely available HERE.
Open Source Stitches 