Skælingr scouted through the woods, for once unaccompanied by his wife. Instead he traveled with his lemur companion, Sowelu and Wyndelin, the young man he'd met at the festival. They both had an interesting in crafting so it made sense to spend a weekend together crafting. He imagined Ragna would be glad to have them out of her fur. HIs goal was to make a travois wand so he started looking for two large, slightly springing branches that he could use for the main poles and then a few he could break down into cross beams. His previous travois had finally fallen apart so he found himself in need of a new one or at least a temporary one til he and his wife settled somewhere for the upcoming summer season. Finding suitable branches he dragged them back to camp, one by one. He took a moment to assess the project and then laid out the branches in the way he intended to use them. "Speech"

Wyndelin trotted along after Skælingr then settled down in the clearing they were going to use as their crafting space. The older male went off in search of supplies for his project. Wyndelin didn't need to go looking for much as he already had what he needed. He had several stands of leather that he wanted to braid together to form a stronger cord. Wyndelin laid out three strands of leather, carefully maneuvering them so that they lined up at one end. He'd done his best to cut them into equal length ahead of time. Holding the middle of the strands still with one paw he used his teeth and his remaining paw to tie a simple square knot. It was a little messy but there was only so much he could do. While he could've had Sowelu tie it for him he knew he could do it on his own with a bit of patience. "Talk"

Skælingr fidgeted with the branches that would form the main frame of the travois until they were just perfect. Pulling out some of the yucca rope he and Sowelu had crafted earlier he worked to tie a clove hitch around one end of the two branches to form a triangle. It was a bit hard to hold up the branches to shape and tie at the same time so in the end he left the knot tying to his lemur companion. Some day he would sit down and just practice his knot tying. Maybe with enough practice he could get more comfortable tying knots himself, just in case he and Sowelu were separated for a time again but he really didn't see that being very likely. Skæ set the travois down and took a step back to examine the work they'd done so far. "Speech"

With the three of his leather strands tied together Wyndelin placed a good sized rock over the knot and the short loose ends above it to anchor the strands while he worked on the braiding. He separated out the three strands. Using his teeth he folded the right strand over the middle so that it became the new middle strand. Next he took the left most strand and crossed it over the middle strand so that it was now the new strand. Taking the right he crossed it over the middle again and kept repeating the process. He carefully used his claws to help pull the braid tight. He hadn't quite decided what he'd do with the braids but likely he'd use them as some time of rope. He didn't really have much use for just decorative items. "Talk"

Once the main frame was done it was time to add some cross beams. Skælingr selected some shorter branches and laid one of the cross beams on the travois. Taking more of the yucca rope he and Sowelu tied the crossbeam to the main branches in a square pattern to make frapping. Seeking to make sure it held Skælingr started heating some pine pitch while Sowelu secured the other crossbeams. Once they were in place Skælingr used his pine pitch to seal the rope and bind it to the wood to help secure it in place. Hopefully this method would make for a more secure travois that would hold up better to his level of travel. It would be a good test either way and he could take what he learned with this one and apply it to a new one later in the future. "Speech"

Wyndelin continued to create the braid, folding the outside strands over the middle and pulling tight when he could so that his project would keep its strength. Finally he got to the end of the braid. Using one paw to help keep things tight he carefully tied a knot in the other end of the strand. Perfect. Wyndelin removed the rock and admired his little braid strand before placing it in his scrap of deer hide. Wyndelin wrapped up his crafting items and put them away. It was about time for him to head back to Lirim so he thanked Skælingr for his time and the two parted ways. Wyndelin was enjoying his crafting time with the other man but he also didn't want to overstay his welcome. After all, they didn't know each other quite that well and he was eager to get back home. "Talk"