Suzanne brought the pattern for this baby shoe in because she kept getting stuck on the finishing of it. She was to find out that I was not the person to solve the problem, what with my lack of spatial skills and all. In sitting there and getting more and more frustrated, we did have ample opportunity to chat, and while we were talking, she mentioned that she had really enjoyed reading Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides; it focuses on Kit Carson and the 19th century history of New Mexico. I found it on Audible (since I don't read any more as it interferes with my knitting) and started listening to it this morning. It's great! Some things I learned about Navajo sheep herding: The Navajo discovered that the Churro sheep brought by the Spaniards in the 1500's were perfectly adapted to the New Mexico desert; their lifestyle became centered on the sheep. They moved with the flocks according to the seasons, they sang songs to them, the sheep became their most valuable possessions, actually becoming currency. A blanket was worth 10 buffalo robes in trade. The wool was the raw material for their beautiful weaving (tight and coarse with little lanolin so it could be spun woven without washing) . Interesting to me was their philosophy of art: they hated to have anything completed or closed-ended; hence all of the weavings having a small imperfection, allowing the creation to breathe, the "spirit outlet".

Anyway, thanks, Suzanne, for the book recommendation.
And, I did keep working on the shoe until I had figured out how it went (some hours later); see pictured.