For the masked ball this year, I decided to finish the green silk/linen blend bliaut I had started back in 2016 for the 2017 ball (original post here), as the theme for the year was Wear Your Heraldry.  In the 12th century, the only way that people really wore their own heraldry was on a mantle, which I doubt I would get much use out of during a ball, but which I will certainly make someday.  However, this dress is slightly fancier than the rest of my garb and features my colors. 

I never did make a ceinture or add bicep bands on this dress, but I'd still like to do so in the future.  I even bought a couple sets of pearls to sew on, which somehow were forgotten in the push to finish.

​I also experimented with set-in sleeves on this bliaut rather than my usual square construction, and it was a bit of a challenge.  Let's just say it's a good thing my arms are smaller than when I first made the dress, or it wouldn't have worked out.  The other challenge is that I let my darling husband help me pin and cut the hem, and it wound up uneven, so therefore shorter than I'd planned.  I was able to use some scrap bits of the silk to make a facing inside the skirt so I was only losing a little bit of length, maybe 1/4" instead of the inch or so I'd lose with my typical double rolled hem, but needless to say I didn't have any train for train wrecks.  Next time I'll try this great tutorial for hemming without help.

Sadly, the only photo I have is a selfie I took in the car before the event, so I will have to do a photo shoot if and when I wear this dress again. 

​I also made a mask using the bear from my device as the theme, and made a little circlet with garlic flowers made from pearl beads for it to wear.  Again, the only picture is a selfie I nabbed during the evening with my friend Bug, who also wore a bear mask.

​The challenge is that this dress is not breastfeeding friendly, and I'm still nursing at this point, but for this evening formal kid-free event it worked well.  This was also my first full night away from Freya, who my sister had to basically pry from my arms and hide for me to consider an evening without her.  Motherhood is weird.

The event was very nice.  I chose the dances for the ball and worked with the musicians to secure live music for all of it.  My friend Viscountess Morgan ran the dance practice and we shared the brief instructions before the dancing in the evening.  There was a bardic competition, a heraldic mask competition, and a lot of nice nibbles and drinks.  I also donated a period spinning lesson with all supplies (including distaff) provided, which was purchased by my friend Mistress Gilliana.  We'll have fun with that, I'm sure.

This is probably going to be a big post.  It was a long event and very full, but I'll do my best to sum up.  The preparation was so extensive I feel like that almost warrants its own post!  I will do a separate blog about the dress I started with the intent of wearing it there (didn't finish, which is fine by me).

In any case, the preparation for this event began months ago.  My husband had volunteered to run the Arts and Sciences portion of the event, including two competitions (Champion of Champions, for people to enter items that had already won a previous competition and overall A&S Champion, for three entries in at least two grand categories), all the classes, scheduling, and a laurels' salon and A&S display.  The event had a lot of hiccups along the road, so he was working hard to keep his part running smoothly.

The event was a long one, with site opening on June 29 for pre-registrants and closing on the morning of July 4.  Between all the extra A&S items for both of us to enter the competitions and teach classes, for my husband to run the various events, and for us to bring a full kitchen setup since we didn't have one to buy into at the event, our car was packed to the ceiling.  In the SCA they say that if you can see out the rearview mirror you still have plenty of space in your rig, but we truly were full up!  

The site, Fort Buenaventura in Ogden, UT, was about a five hour drive for us.  With highs predicted in the upper 90s throughout the event there was a burn ban in place, and even more challengingly, there really were only two showers available on site and attendees were not allowed to bring camp showers or swim in the nearby Weber river.  We made do with washcloth/baby wipe baths, but I felt really bad for the fighters who got truly sweaty and hot.  It wasn't a cake walk at 24 weeks pregnant, of course, but I managed to stay relatively comfortable with lots of hydration, naps, wet veils, and as little garb as I could get away with.  We also added a shade fly to our tent setup to give us some extra relief.

We arrived in mid-afternoon on the 30th of June and set up camp.  I wasn't able to help nearly as much as I would have liked to thanks to the heat and trying not to haul anything too heavy. Luckily we had some friends pitch in to help us get the tent up and then I was able to help by arranging gear, parking the car, etc.  By dinner time I was pretty wiped out, as was Aonghus, but once the sun went down we got into garb to attend baronial court, watch the tassehauen tourney our barony sponsored, and then to go visit with friends and explore the site.

Saturday, July 1, was my husband's busy day with the A&S competitions, the laurels' salon, and a full slate of classes.  We walked over early (it's a big site, there was a lot of walking)  to set up our entries and fill out our forms, and we were already sweating by 10 am when the competition opened.  My entries were my spinning demonstration and woven belt from the baronial championship in May (see below for info), plus my sauerkraut (documentation below), which was entered on its own and as part of a medieval sandwich that was a group entry (charcuterie, mozzarella, homemade mustard, homemade bread, and sauerkraut).  I spent the morning shooting archery (very poorly, might I add) and was completely worn out and overheated by lunchtime.  After some food and a rest I headed back to the A&S area to teach a class on spinning with period tools, and was pleased to have three attendants.  One was already a spinner and took to the technique very quickly once I'd reviewed it.  The other two were novice spinners, but hopefully I planted the seeds of interest while we sat and talked.  An hour long class just scratches the surface, really, and I have to remind myself that I've been spinning for more than ten years, probably closer to 12, so what seems natural to me is far from it to most people.  Then I hurried back over to the A&S display area to do my spinning demonstration for the competition and catch part of the display and salon.  It was nice to chat about my entries and share ideas with the other artisans.  By the time we were finished it was close to 4 pm and we gratefully trudged back to camp for dinner.  My husband did so much work and hauling and helping and answering that I think he was more tired than I was!  I'm really proud of him, and though he wasn't mentioned in any official way, I know his efforts were seen and appreciated.  After a fun opening court that evening, there was a great torchlight greatsword tourney and hafla/kingdom party attended by the site's many bats and dragonflies trying to keep the mosquito population at bay. We also stopped by our friend Baroness Tee's pre-laureling vigil, though I couldn't stand and stay awake long enough to give her my good wishes in person.

Sunday was an easier day.  I enjoyed looking at the display of items from Artemisia's history and the shield wall of kingdom members who have passed away.  I taught my sauerkraut-making class at noon, and was delighted to have five students who made sure I didn't have any extra cabbage or jars to haul back to Boise.  Everyone had a great time.  Make-and-take classes are my favorites to attend, and I was glad it was popular.  My husband and I even managed to take a class together, an in-persona presentation by Baroness Amanda de Spenser disputing the so-called Copernican heresy.  She did an excellent job of refuting the notion that the earth revolved around the sun.  Our friend and fellow Cavalry member Lord Innocent arrived part way through the day, and we had a nice time chatting in the shade with snacks and cards before dinner.  We ended up not going to the grand ball (after all that practice and research!), but Tee's laureling that evening followed by the St. Jude Mustache and Martini party was a hoot, and I'm not just saying that because the King and Queen had a roving court and named me the winner of the Arts & Sciences competition!  I truly didn't expect to win, as the two others in the competition were extremely talented, and I felt like I could take my art farther, but who am I to argue with the judges and the crown?  Check out my awesome rune stave scroll by Dame Varia.  

Monday was another long day, but full of fun stuff.  Innocent competed in the rapier championship for a while, but got annoyed at the heat and how slowly it ran.  We headed back to camp for lunch and cards in the shade instead.  It was nice to have a relaxing afternoon avoiding the heat of the day, even though Innocent decided to leave early instead of staying for the evening.  He missed a great final court with plenty of fun schtick and awards, including the gifts of champion banners for each of the champions (including yours truly) to display in camp.  I'll have to nab a photo soon to show off!

Tuesday we had to pack up and get off site, which is always unpleasant, but extra annoying when it's hot, especially since I was limited in how much I could lift or how long I could work without a break.  I did the first few hours of the drive home while my husband slept off the long hot morning, then he took a turn while I rested.  We were so glad to get home to showers, washing machines, air conditioning, and all the modern conveniences, and now, a week later, I'm finally recovered.  It was a great event, and fun to help the kingdom mark such a special anniversary.

Another month, another blog post!  At least I'm settling into a bit of a routine, but it's a far cry from my weekly posts last year.  In any case, it's been a few weeks since our Barony's annual spring event, and I have lots to share.

First, I'll say that we were not chosen to be the next Baron and Baroness.   Though it's never fun to lose, it's a relief to know I won't have to find out what it's like to be a first-time mom and a landed Baroness at the same time.  Our friends who won will do a great job.  Since I wasn't going to have to step up, I decided to renew my warrant as Baronial Chronicler for another two years.  It's a fun and relatively painless job that I'm good at, so why not?

The site was a park in nearby Mountain Home, ID, and in true Mountain Home fashion the wind blew all day long.  I had fun helping out with the heavy fighting championship.  The combatants held a large mug full of water in their off hands, and gained points both for winning the bout and for having the most water in their cup at the end.  I was head refiller of cups, which was great entertainment. 

I also competed in our Baronial Arts and Sciences championship.  My three entries were a loaf of my ale barm bread  with spent grains (with more info and updated documentation), a tablet woven belt based on the Snartemo II find, and a demonstration of period spinning techniques based on my research and practice shared on this blog.  Rather than rehash details of the projects themselves, I'll just share my documentation (see below).  If you look through it, use it, have questions or feedback, etc. please drop me a comment or email and let me know!

The Baroness held a competition for her personal champion, asking people to create and model a belt, garters, or a codpiece for the competition, so I was able to enter my belt for that as well.  The fashion show was pretty hilarious to behold, and nobody was surprised when Lady (soon to be Baroness) Merin won with a gleaming brass-plated brayette (think late-period groin protection worn on the outside) with a beautiful epousse weasel from her device on it.  

The competition for A&S champion was stiff.  There were three of us, and my friends Lord Ambrose and Lady Britta had some wonderful entries.  I really didn't feel like my work was going to win, but amazingly, it did, and I was named Arn Hold A&S Champion for the coming year.  I look forward to enabling other people's projects and sharing my work with the group!  Note to self: get a picture of the lovely scroll to share here.

My husband and I were also honored to be awarded with a relatively unknown baronial award, the Order of the Unicorn Meadow, created in memorial to a former populace member.  The award is given for research and skill in a particular aspect of the Arts and Sciences.  It was a real honor to receive this recognition, and to learn more about Lady Teckla of Unicorn Meadow herself.  The scrolls, created by our friend Lady Britta, were so beautiful and thoughtfully made that I have to share them here.  Recognize us?  She captured me perfectly, right down to the infamous teal and orange bliaut I love to wear. The picture of my husband, Lord Aonghus, is based on one he's always liked from the Silos Beatus Codex, and she even managed to incorporate parts of our devices and symbols of our arts.  

All in all a lovely blustery day, despite the abrupt tear-down in the storm that struck right as we were in closing court.

My belt, since there's no image of it in my documentation.

Well!  I have zero new or in-progress projects to share since I wrote about Estrella a month ago, but I have a pretty darn good excuse.

My husband and I are having a baby!  I actually found out the week before Estrella, hence all the chat about being tired and going to bed early when we were there.  I was already feeling fairly rough, and honestly, the last couple months got much worse before they got better, with all that first trimester fun stuff of fatigue, nausea, aches and pains, etc.  As of next week, though I will be done with the first trimester, and though my energy level is still on the low side I am definitely starting to feel more human.

We have plenty of events planned for this spring and summer, and of course, because I can't do anything halfway, my husband and I are also in the running for Baron and Baroness of our local group, a decision we discussed before I got pregnant.  We decided that baby or not, this was a challenge we felt we could live up to.  The polling is May 6, so we will find out before too long if I will need to make investiture garb I can wear in late August at eight months pregnant. ;)

I'm sure there will be some chat about garb making (though most of my garb has laces and will be wearable for a while yet), and baby-related A&S projects.  I found some research on medieval swaddling bands, christening baskets, and other interesting items.  I am trying to really relax and enjoy my pregnancy and to just listen to my mental and physical needs, though, so I won't be pushing myself to do projects like I did last year, but I'll try to keep sharing with y'all.

My next entry will be all about our trip to Honor War in the College of Lyonsmarche in An Tir, which was my absolute favorite event of the season last year.  We leave for that tomorrow morning, and this year about 75 Artemisians will be in attendance (compared to maybe 30 last year).  

I'm preparing to teach another class on the why and how of using period spinning tools based on my blog posts here and my own experience.  It's a great way to take your game to the next level, IMHO.  This will be taught at the Arn Hold Champions' Revel on May 6, the same day as the polling.  My plans to enter for Baronial A&S champion this year sort of fell by the wayside, but hopefully my class will show my laurel and the rest of the group that I'm not completely lazy, just working on a different sort of project these days.

So, for now, that's all the news that's fit to print.

Like Don Quixote tilting at windmills and thinking them monsters, we all have our windmills in life.  They are those things that seem important to us but meaningful to others, and one of my biggest windmills in the SCA is the use of modern tools to make period items.  To be more specific, it's those who pass on the misconception that the modern way of doing things or the use of modern tools is "just the same" or "easier" or "faster."  Of course, I use modern tools much of the time.  I use sewing machine, serger, titanium fabric shears, plastic rotary cutting templates, wonder under, polyester thread, etc. to make my garb.  I realize that I live in the modern world and have a full time job.  I have neither the free time of the peasant who made all her own clothes nor the money of the noblewoman who had servants to do it for her.  My issue, however, is that I understand that what I'm doing isn't the same as what they did then.  I understand I am missing educational parts of the experience that I would get by doing things the old way, and I try things the old way to see what I can learn.  I try to include this in my documentation, both on this blog and in competition.

In this instance, though, my windmill is specifically related to spinning.  Here are some of the things I frequently hear from spinners around the SCA:

"This is called a 'drop spindle.'  This is because you drop it a lot/because it drops from your hand as you spin"
"I don't use a distaff because it's too hard/makes no sense/inconvenient/easier without one."
"Using a spinning wheel is so much faster/easier than using a spindle."

These statements are as mythical as Don Quixote's dragons.  To perpetuate these myths is to harm the practice of medieval scholarship seriously.  The thing that prompted me to start writing about this was this article from a month ago, shared on the SCA twitter account, about the SCA and what it is.  What set me off, and what kept me going back to ruminate about this post, was the primary image of the piece, showing two women spinning, one with a modern drop spindle and very typical modern posture (sitting, left arm holding some roving wrapped around her wrist, elevated well above her head, right arm reaching out in front of her to work the spindle) and the other sitting and working at a very modern spinning wheel.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I love modern tools.  I came to the SCA primarily because I was already a knitter and spinner.  I have some beautiful modern spindles and a Saxony wheel that would at least pass for late period.  That said, it makes me batty to think anyone would show a modern skill like these at a demo or event (or even worse, teach it to someone else) and try to pass it off as either "the way they did it then" or "just the same."

This brings me back to my frequently-heard statements about spinning above.  Let's see if we can relate them to the photo from that article and to what we actually know about spinning in period.  For a look at some of this stuff, you can check out my post about why the distaff matters from almost exactly a year ago.

The lady in the article with the spindle is spinning a position that she can't sustain for long.  It looks awkward and will inevitably lead to sore shoulders/wrists/arms from her raised left arm, not to mention back/hip/tailbone issues from her slouching seated posture.  You can't spin like that for very long without pain, certainly not all day, definitely not frequently enough to spin the amount of yarn you'd need to make a garment or supplement your income.

If we take a look at some typical period images of people spinning, we see mostly stuff like this image of Eve from St. Mary Church in Martham, Norfolk (15th c):

This posture makes sense because it's downright ergonomic.  Both arms are at a comfortable height to keep the shoulders and neck comfortable.  The distaff is held under the left arm or perhaps in the belt.  The left hand feeds fiber out from the distaff, and the spindle is actively *in* the right hand.  This brings me to the first statement above.  What we should really call this tool is a hand spindle.  There are certainly plenty of medieval images of these spindles suspended below the hand, but due to the way they spin, they work best when within easy touching distance of the fingers.  Trust me.  I've tried it.  

P.S. you can see way more period images of spinners on my pinterest spinning and dyeing board.

Now, I should mention that in all my searching I have seen precisely one image of someone spinning with a posture like the woman in the photo.  I saved it, actually, specifically because the spinner is remarkable in several ways.  Firstly, the spinner is a man.  Second, he uses no distaff but has the fiber wrapped around his left arm.  Just for the sake of fairness, I'll share it here too.  If you need documentation of male spinners, here it is.

That said, literally every other image I've found of spinners in period has one hand around shoulder height reaching for a distaff, and one at around waist/hip height controlling a spindle.  I can happily report that you can spin like this, seated, standing, even walking, for hours without more than a bit of finger fatigue.

As I discussed in my why the distaff matters post, the characteristics of the medieval spindles (wobbly, short-ish spin time) necessitate having one hand on them the majority of the time.  The distaff acts as a second hand to hold the fiber, and if it is well-prepared ahead of time, the left hand can feed out the fiber all on its own while the right hand spins.  This brings me back to statement number two.  When I started with period spinning, the distaff was hard for me too.  It made no sense and seemed pointless and awkward.  It only works well when used with the spindle and fiber it's meant for, but in that instance it is crucial.  You can't use a period spindle easily without a distaff.  End of story.

Finally, I'll close by saying period spinning wheels are certainly a thing.  In addition to the modern flyer-style wheels first appearing in the 16th century, hand-crank wheels did occur in the 14th century, as in this image:

My guess is there might be some fibers better suited to distaff vs. wheel, but I haven't found that in my experiments yet.    As far as the spindle vs. wheel speed debate, I'll refer you to the queen of the spindle and author of the gorgeous Respect the Spindle​, Abby Franquemont (who learned to spin on a spindle in the Andes mountains) and her blog post about it here.  She has even hosted wheel vs. spindle races at various retreats and events, proving that really, speed is more about skill than about the tool (the spindlers usually win), and that different tools are meant for different types of yarn and different situations.

I guess my point in all this is that when we represent the medieval world, we have such a wealth of information to share with people about how medieval tools work and when they were used.  Medieval people were intelligent, efficient, crafty, and creative, just like we are.  They used hand tools instead of machines, and with those tools they created finer items than we could ever hope to create.

Well!  Hello, all!  I've been busy in the past month, enjoying my freedom from grad school immensely and filling up my calendar with all sorts of things.  I've been working on lots of projects, so I'll try to get back to my weekly posts to share all the good stuff!  I seem to go through phases of starting a bunch of things, then later phases of finishing all the PhDs (projects half done).

So, on to the first of the new projects I've got under way.

Over my gloriously long winter break (11 days, one of the perks to working at a school) I decided to take a look at the Icelandic lamb's fleece my friend Diane (what a nice name, eh?) sent me.  The sheep is named Tyrion and this was his first shearing.  I am going to spin up the yarn and in return I get to keep half!  I split it up into colors (black, gray and the bits of black and white I couldn't get to separate cleanly) and white.  He was shorn very nicely.  No second cuts and no real skirting needed.  As you can see, I combed a little bit of the gray with my viking combs.  The spray bottle contains water with a little oil in it to combat the static that is part of the joy of dry Idaho air.  This stuff is so nice!  The guard hairs are very fine and soft, so I'm planning to spin tog and thel together.  I will be spinning this fleece "in the grease" (aka no washing the lanolin out).  It's very clean, I love the way it leaves my hands soft, and the lanolin makes it easy to spin a fine yarn, helping hold the fibers together.

I am also still working on the gray fleece from my laurel's Icelandic sheep Rainy, my spinning sampler with the period spindle, and my modern project (a chocolate brown merino fleece that will be a sweater for moi).

That's all I've got right now, folks.  I graduated last weekend and I'm still kind of adjusting to life on the outside.  I have projects half-done scattered everywhere, but no real gumption to work on them.  A break from work is coming, and I'm sure it'll bring renewed inspiration.  In the meantime, here's the other chiengora yarn commission I got this fall.  It's poodle fur.  It made surprisingly nice yarn, all things considered, but the fur wasn't in great shape for spinning and was a bit of a pain to process and spin.  I survived, though!

I am buried deep in school and work and life right now, and the SCA has been on the back burner for a while.  This is just a quick post to let everyone know I'm not dead. ;)

First, I'd like to congratulate my husband, Lord Aonghus, on winning Kingdom Reserve Champion in the Artemisian Arts and Sciences competition, and taking home a bunch of other awards too.  You can check out his lovely work on his site, www.badwolfsca.com.

In the meantime, I have been trying to find time to make stuff when I'm not buried, mostly because I forgot to shut off my Etsy store and people bought commissions that I felt bad about saying no to.  Below is one of those commissions, some dog fur yarn from three lovely dogs, a golden retriever, a great pyrenees, and what looked like a mastiff cross.  The yarn came out really nicely, I just don't have the energy/time for commissions right now.  I have a couple more in progress though.  Argh!

 (Well!  I just realized I never wrote about the latest demo our group did, which resulted in a finished object for June.

June 4-5 was the Idaho Renaissance Faire in Caldwell, Idaho.  Frustratingly, it coincided with our first triple digit day of the summer, and some truly torturous weather.  The grass was very diligently watered, which kept the site humid as well as hot.  I know most in the SCA have done Pennsic in all its humid glory, and many just got back from fifty year, which sounds like it was also pretty muggy, but for a high desert girl like me, it was really difficult.

We didn't do any dancing, as we often do at demos, because it was too. dang. hot.  I spent most of the day camped out with my distaff and spindle, talking about fiber with people and working on my latest bit of spinning with the period spindle.  I got a bunch of sample fiber with the spindle (pictures here), which I've been spinning up with the intention of weaving a little sampler.  The white was rather kempy/hairy and uncooperative, but the next darkest, the ecru, was very fine and soft.  I think it may  have been alpaca.  I combed it and dressed my distaff, and spun it worsted.  As sometimes happens, my fingers wanted to spin this very thin, so it got thinner and thinner as I went along, and may end up needing to be plied.  I had fun, but man did it take me forever.  I'll nab a photo at some point, and try to work on being consistent.  Just because I *can* spin thread on this thing doesn't mean I have to.

Here's a picture from Saturday (credit: LaJohnna Honey), with my hubby and I looking as hot and sweaty as we felt.  I wore an underdress and sideless surcote the next day (scandalous!) and eschewed the head covering, but still felt pretty wilted by the end.

I was impressed with our group for coming out in the heat, setting up a beautiful area, demonstrating, sharing art, and chatting.  We have some possible new members out of it, and the fighters were amazingly tenacious even in the heat.  Most impressive of all is how quickly we've all learned to drop those pavilions and hit the road.  With eight of us or so we had everyone tidied up, packed, and on the road in less than an hour after the second day.

Coming up: lots of chatter about Gomez's pelican garb, my kirtle, and upcoming events.

This past weekend my husband and I, along with most of the Cavalry of the Sword and Horse, attended Celtic Revolt in Wealdsmere (just outside of Spokane, WA).  This event marks our one year anniversary as a household, and it's a truly wonderful way to mark the unofficial start of summer.  There was a record turnout this year (350 people!).  The household had teeshirts made, which we wore to the site and for setup, and we got to display our new gate and giant banner, along with the new benches we made (the one my husband made for us got lots of comments because it has a bottle opener attached to one side and a distaff holder on the other).  

I was able to deliver Sir Brynjolfr his trousers and in return he gave me some awesome trim in red, white, and black, which is going to go on the heraldic sideless surcote I'm wearing in several of the pics below,

Along with some great parties and evenings around the campfire, I enjoyed taking a nalbinding class (mastered the Oslo stitch) and a needle lace class, and teaching a class on how to incorporate period tools when spinning on a spindle.  We played a fun game of yak attack where we teamed up to wrangle the most toy yaks into our corral while fending off pool noodle attacks, sang songs, told stories, ate and drank great food, and made more wonderful memories.  Here are a few photos from the event, all by Arlen Donald

Oh, and remember that yarn I spun for my friend Lady Merin in return for a replacement loom part?  Now that she's got the yarn I can share a picture with you.  Nice squishy woolen-spun two-ply for a knitter who wants a warm hat.

I'm counting this as my FO for May.