I posted last week about what I'm learning about making baby garb and shared a few pictures of Freya in her first SCA outfit.  She has a plethora of lovely hand-me-downs from friends, but I wanted to make something special for my little treasure.  Anyway, when I shared last week, what you saw was the assembled dress with raw edges everywhere.  However, I wanted to make an heirloom piece, one that might be worn by a future sibling, or handed on to other babies.  One that would be soft and comfortable to wear, and pretty enough to merit our lovely firstborn.  I firmly believe that handmade items are a physical manifestation of love.  They show the hours we spend thinking about the recipient and giving them our good intentions.  If billed by the hour at a rate worthy of the skill it takes to make these items, they would be cost-prohibitive.  To that end, I knew I wanted to put some hours into making something special for my wee dove. 

Here are a couple of photos of the final product.  All the hems and seams are rolled and stitched by hand in linen thread.  The neck closure button is a wee Nazar bead that my husband received as a gift (I believe from previous Artemisian Queen Esther).  Nazars are ancient amulets to protect against the "evil eye," and would have been common trade goods throughout the medieval period, as they are even now.  Honestly, I'll take all the good vibes we can get, whether real or not.  The loop to go around the button is a bit of needle lace in linen.  Making that wonky loop was a good reminder that I need to practice my needle lace some more!  The embroidery at the collar is split stitch done in white spun silk and features a ramson flower from my arms and an acorn from my husband's (convenient that we both have white plant bits on our devices, eh?  We didn't plan that.).  This style is universal enough that the dress could work for either my husband's 9th-century Viking persona or my Norman one.  Baby clothes haven't changed much, really.  I put enough extra room in this dress that Freya should be able to wear it more than once, which is great, since it was certainly a labor of love.

So!  Next weekend is my first official event with the baby. I'm not counting the ball in January because we hadn't planned to be there and didn't even last an hour thanks to the plague.  I have various garb specifically made for nursing in the works right now: a cotte with a button front and a hood to go over the top which will be really convenient if I ever finish it (it's been a UFO for TWO YEARS, original blog post here) and an early high-waisted Italian Renaissance dress that will have hooks and eyes or ties at the top of the shoulder straps, originally envisioned as maternity garb last June, but with a busy life, a baby, an impending houseguest, and other excitement I wanted something a little quicker and more trusted for next weekend, so I decided to look at what I already have.

Way back in 2014 I made my red bliaut and gold underdress ensemble for the coronation of TRM Konrad and Kortland.  Here is the original post about that, and I will say that those hand-felled seams have lasted incredibly well.  The garb still looks good, and has only needed a few minor repairs.  Should last a good many years more, though I would like to line the bliaut sleeves and add trim at some point.  Anyway, that red dress had a bug that turned out to be a feature.  I cut the v-neck way deeper than I meant to, and it reaches almost to the bottom of my ribcage.  Wearing the dress without an underdress proved that I could comfortably shift the neckline and get a breast free for nursing, but I still need an underdress for the sake of decency and historical accuracy, of course, so I decided to get creative. 

I have looked at a lot of period nursing images to figure out how women did it back in the day.  You can see a selection on my Maternity, Nursing, and Kids' Garb Pinterest board if you're interested.  Nursing garb in period seemed to either involve vertical slits over each nipple, pulling a breast out of a low neckline, diagonal slits from center front over the nipples, or front-opening dresses, but as a bustier lady I like a little bit more coverage, so I used a different technique copied from my favorite nursing top.  I tried on the good old gold underdress, marked the line below my bust line across the front (about where my bra band sits), then girded my loins and cut a horizontal slit from one side seam to the other along that line.  I double turned the edges under and sewed them down with my machine.  Here's a visual.

Then I sewed five hooks and eyes along the slit (because that's how many I had handy, and that seemed to be enough to keep things secure so there wouldn't be big gaps between them).

With this setup, the slit is low enough not to show with the bliaut on.  I can unhook the hooks and eyes and lift the front up enough to nurse the baby but still be decently covered.  I'll report back after the event next weekend and let y'all know how it works out.  

I'm learning two things about baby garb as I work on dressing wee Freya.  1) hand-me-downs are awesome and I have several friends who have given us lovely ready-made garb.  2) when you are using non-stretchy fabric you need big armholes to wrestle babies' arms into submission.

Here are a few pictures of Freya in her first little gown.  This is basically just a tiny T-tunic.  Next time I'll skip the underarm gussets and just make wide sleeves.  I added extra width and length for her to grow into, but could have added even more.  I also had to go back and lengthen the keyhole neckline because baby noggins are enormous, especially babies related to me.  

​Photos by my hubby.

Well!  This event was one of those ones that I looked forward to and planned to attend as my first post-baby event, and first "date" with my husband.  My mom was going to come for a weekend visit (she lives about 3 hours away) to see the baby and watch her for a few hours so we could go enjoy.  Then, the week before, Freya (aged 2.5 months at that point) came down with the flu after a busy religious service where a lot of people held and kissed and snuggled her (stupid me for even bringing her there!).  It was so scary.  She was too little even to take baby tylenol.  Her breathing got so bad they xrayed her lungs because they suspected pneumonia.  It was awful.  Then, a few days later my husband and I (a few days after that) caught it from her, despite both having had our flu shots.  This was the week before the event.  My mom decided, prudently, not to come down and catch it from us, so we lost our babysitter. 

My husband was the bardic champion last year and needed to be there to run the competition for the new one, and I am head of the dance guild and was supposed to be there to teach dance.  Hubby felt well enough to go (though he probably should have stayed home), but Freya was still miserable and I was feverish and achy and not fit for anything.  Thank goodness, Baron Aelwynn of Loch Salann volunteered to teach the dancing (I had already arranged music, chose the dance program, and wrote up instructions of all the dances), so I thought I was off the hook.  The event ran from 1pm to midnight, and it was about 5 pm that I got a text saying my presence was "strongly encouraged" and hinting that hubby might be receiving an award. 

I was annoyed, and torn, and it was Freya's bedtime, and I felt obligated, and had no one to watch the baby, so I put some garb on myself and dragged both of us (her in the mundane outfit she already had on) to the event.  I think if anyone realized how sick we were they never would have pushed us to attend, and when I walked into the beautiful site with a screaming baby the then Queen (a nurse in her mundane life) saw us she said "You didn't have to come if you're sick."  I groaned inwardly, comforted the baby, and found a place to sit until court.  Freya got hungry (as she often does, and did, especially as a rather small baby), so I threw a blanket over my shoulder and started nursing her (Roman garb is great for that!).  It was at that moment that we *both* got called up to the thrones.  I looked down at the happily nursing and dozing sick baby, got up, and approached the thrones with her still on the breast.  The king was somewhat taken aback, the queen was entertained, and they were happy for us to stay standing, which was probably the only option given a still healing c-section and an actively breastfeeding baby.

Lord Aonghus and I were both awarded with Golden Pillars of Artemisia, the Award of Arms-level service award.  I felt like it was one more moment to check of my list of "odd times to breastfeed your baby," which now also includes leaning over her carseat so she can nurse while the car is moving and while lying on the floor doing yoga.  Anyway, the award was a big honor, and I've since heard from several other ladies who have accepted awards while breastfeeding, but I certainly hadn't ever seen it happen.  Mistress Gilliana made me a beautiful scroll, though I've yet to receive the token (they're all out, apparently).  I admit, Freya and I basically fled home to bed as soon as court was over, and it was quite a while before I got back on my feet again.  When Aonghus finally made it home he informed me I won Lady of Color for Or (favorite gold-colored garb), and he was also given a token to give to Freya as a memento of her first SCA event. Photos, courtesy of my sister Lady Thora, are below.

I actually caught another strain of flu (people tell me it's a year where many have gotten both Influenza A and B) after coming back to work, but thankfully Freya dodged that one.  I have to admit, it was a tough winter at our house. 

Next up: baby garb, photos, and planning for our next event with 100% less plague.

Well, there's still much to catch up on here, and I'm chipping away bit by bit.  I don't want to write a novel about Freya's birth, but I'll say this.  I had planned on a natural birth at a birth center, my care was handled by a nurse midwife, and I took a hypnobirth class.  I wound up with an emergency c-section at 41 weeks and 6 days after a couple days of on and off labor helped along with castor oil, membrane stripping, and other un-fun interventions.  Freya was born on November 4, 2017, and spent a week in the NICU after meconium aspiration and two collapsed lungs. We all struggled to recover, especially me, since I spent four days in the hospital after surgery, then another couple days in the NICU with Freya.  I wound up with an infected incision, a week on antibiotics that didn't work, then another week on ones that (thankfully) did, and a long slow healing process.  Thank goodness for modern medicine.  We are both alive and well, and likely would not have been had we been in my persona's period instead of mine.  That said, we are all healthy and happy and processing our experience.  Here's a picture (credit: Arlen Donald) of our lovely little warrior at one week old, posed with her daddy's (mostly decorative at this point) helmet, shield, and weapons.  More SCA chat to come!

 Somehow, in the flurry of the last few months I managed to not blog about Raptor War at all!  It was a lovely event, and the last we attended before our daughter, Freya, was born.  I'm going to just give a brief rundown here.  I know there are some photos floating around, but darned if I can find them right now!

Our household decided that since the event is in the heat of summer, and to honor our brother Titus, who became a squire at Raptor War 2016, we would put together some Roman garb for the occasion.  It worked very well for maternity wear, since I was about 28 weeks pregnant at that point.

I took it easy for the most part, but did teach a class/workshop on identifying knitting techniques used in period pieces and trying/using them in recreations.  I'll share the handout below for anyone interested.  Please let me know if you use it and refer people to my site.

I was honored to receive a few awards at the event, which I certainly didn't expect, but which made me glad to be there! Den Grimme Aeling (the Ugly Duckling) is an award from the Principality of Cynagua in the Kingdom of the West.  We hosted the Prince and Princess of Cynagua in our encampment, and they gave the honor to the whole household.  I also received the Golden Maple Leaf, Artemisia's AoA A&S award, and was again nominated for the Blackfox Award for the baronial newsletter.

Finally, our new Baron and Baroness, Gomez and Merin, stepped up at the event.  Their investiture was so cool, and I am really looking forward to their time on the Moose Thrones.  My husband and I have volunteered as largess coordinators for them, which should be a lot of fun.  

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.

Well, with another event about to take place, it's high time I wrote about Celtic Revolt last month in An Tir.  This is an excellent event, and as always, I had a great time.  We drove to Wealdsmere (Spokane, WA area) on Friday the 26th and got to site in late afternoon with time to set up camp and relax before it got dark.  Our household had a great spot, and it was fun to get everyone together again on the second anniversary of the Cavalry's formation.  The event was an army-style competition, with teams competing for points in a variety of activities.  I really enjoy this setup, because it always seems to get people participating in ways they normally wouldn't.

The event itself was packed with fun activities.  Saturday was hot and sunny, and Duchess Clare and I spent a good chunk of time keeping the lists for rapier, heavy, and youth combat, which mostly kept us in the shade and entertained us.  We also wound up supervising a pack of extremely enthusiastic children who volunteered as water-bearers but spent a lot of time squirting each other, eating the pickles and oranges, and generally being unattended kids.  After the fighting was done, we all took part in the dancing held on the dusty fighting field (pro tip: if you offer war points for dancing, especially double war points, EVERYONE will show up.  There must have been at least 50 of us!).  A great photographer came to the event to take photos (Adventure Bound Media, check them out!), and you can see one below with me, my husband, Master Gomez, and a bunch of our friends getting ready to dance.

The evening was full of socializing and a welcome break from the heat.  I admit to turning in fairly early each night of this event.  Once it gets dark and chilly and people are drunk (and you can't be one of them) I tend to get bored.  I'd rather be in bed with a flashlight and a book, or just catching up on sleep since I'm terrible at sleeping in, especially camping, especially at an event full of unattended feral children (look, don't get me wrong, I like kids.  What I don't like is parents who aren't responsible about their kids.  The SCA is clear.  Under 12 years old, they need to be within sight and sound of a parent AT ALL TIMES.  This isn't daycare).  I am still trying to forget finding a tick in our bed that night, but it was the only one I saw all weekend, and neither of us got bitten, thank goodness.

Sunday was cooler, and I enjoyed helping run the populace choice Arts & Sciences competition and watching the war scenarios and various melees.  There was also a fair bit of napping and crafty time, as usual, and then a nice household dinner to round out the day.  Our group also enjoyed attending the medieval pub trivia competition that evening, along with Viking prom and medieval celebrity dress-up contest.  My excellent husband, who stepped down as Wealdsmere's bardic champion at court that evening and was enjoying his freedom, wound up being named their new Baronial Arts & Sciences champion, which was no surprise to me.  His Norse mead and Oseburg backpack recreation were very well received.  He sweetly bestowed his prizes on me, a new ceramic cup (I have lost my favorite somewhere this event season and have been using an old one with a chip in it all summer) and a lovely necklace.  What a guy. 

Our household team also tied for winning the war competition overall, and split the booty with the Ship's Crew folks who were the other main contenders.  There was a lot of good loot in there, but I just took candy for my share. ;)

We packed up and hit the road home by 11 Monday morning, and came home, as usual after events, sunburnt, dirty, exhausted, and full of stories.

Gomez, moi, and my husband (all facing camera) ready to dance.  Photo: Adventure Bound Media

Waiting for dinner!  Photo: Nicole Scofield

About a month ago our Barony held a banner-making day to help members display their heraldry at the upcoming Artemisia Twenty Year event.  I made a banner several years ago, but have since changed my arms a bit, learned a bit more about banners in period, and picked a motto I like, which is a customary addition to devices in these parts once one becomes an armiger.  The motto is a French saying (appropriate for my Norman persona, eh?), bien faire et laisser dire, which means "do good works and let them talk."  Good, eh?  I think it's a good fit for my personality.  I'd rather roll my sleeves up and get to work on what interests me, and leave the gossip/drama/idle chatter to others.

Mistress Gilliana and Master Braden from our local group have a pretty good system ironed out for silk banners.  We use the 20x72 inch silk scarves from Dharma Trading Co., along with their gutta and acid dyes.  Participants sign up ahead of time and pay for the scarf to use and chip in on dye that we all share.  They own probably eight frames (built from 1x1s, corner brackets, and small nails), and the other supplies needed.  There's a lot of good info and discussion on the process on the Stayner de Silk Facebook group for interested folks.  

I cheated a bit by printing out large black and white images of the bear, garlic flowers, and crenellation from my device, along with a typed out version of my motto in a period-looking font, then traced them onto the banner in pencil ahead of the actual painting session.  The silk is then stretched on a frame and gutta is used as a resist to trace outlines and prevent dye from bleeding.  The gutta is left to dry, and afterwards the dyes are painted on.  We always do these sessions on nice dry sunny days so the gutta and dye will dry well, but that creates an issue when filling in large areas.  If the dye's leading edge is allowed to dry, it creates a line in the finished colored section that's impossible to fix.  This is annoying, and inevitable, even when working in teams.

I've since learned it's possible to avoid this by wetting the scarf (after gutta has dried) with a mix of rubbing alcohol and water, the same solvent used to dilute the dyes.  You can even carry a spray bottle with this mix in it to keep the scarf wet while working.  Oh well.  Live and learn.

Anway, the scarves are then rolled in paper to prevent bleeding, steamed to set the dye, and rinsed.  Here's a few images of my banner before steaming.  Can't wait to get it up in the air and fluttering!  You'll notice I didn't bother with the more traditional/historic practice of including kingdom/baronial/household affiliations and award insignia.  I did this on my last banner, but I wanted one that was just all about Ursula!

Note: the white strips at this end will actually be cut out, leaving three tails at the end to flutter in the breeze.  You can really see the lines in the dye I was writing about above.  They aren't a big deal, but they do annoy my perfectionist nature, as do the little drips/bleeds that always seem to happen.

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.