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!
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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.
+6Well! This one has been brewing since December when I finished this hat. Our household has an annual winter solstice gift exchange/party and this year I drew our beloved leader, Master Killian. His persona is late period, and he presented me with an opportunity to make something I'd had on my list of things to try for a while, a knitted and fulled flat cap. I've been making berets and Scottish bonnets for a number of years, mostly for reenactors in the Jacobite/French & Indian War/Revolutionary War circles, so I had some experience with making fulled caps, which turned out to be a good thing because the only online pattern I found that looked viable turned out to seem needlessly complicated to me. Not having had the chance to examine an actual period cap myself, I decided to use my Scottish bonnet pattern as a staring point. In the future I'd love to do a bit more research about if these caps were knitted top-down or bottom-up, how they were cast on and bound off, etc. Some of those variables are impossible to sort out, so we just have to do what we can. Others are probably only discernible from examining physical objects. In any case, I based the shape and look of the cap on this one from the British Museum, though I did not copy the 11 stitches per inch gauge of the original, opting for a worsted weight yarn that's probably closer to 6-8 stitches per inch when fulled. This makes for a warmer and more waterproof cap, which can come in handy in our neck of the woods. Because I designed the pattern myself, I decided to offer it for sale through my Etsy and Ravelry shops to the general public, but I've given it to several SCA folk who are interested in historical knitting, and would be happy to share with any blog reader who's interested in giving it a try, in the spirit of free and open exchange of info. If you'd like a copy, use the contact me link above, or email me at [email protected] and I'll send it to you free of charge. I'd love to see photos and hear your feedback! For now, though, here is a picture of the finished item, and a few photos of Master Killian himself modeling it. Thank you to my husband, Lord Aonghus, for the photos, and to Master Killian for excellent modeling skills. Well, it's been almost a month since this event and I'm just now sitting down to write about it. Sorry I don't have a lot of pictures. I never take enough at the events themselves. We set off in our matching household teeshirts on Friday morning and made it to the site by mid-afternoon. As the first arrivals from the household, we staked out a spot to set up tents, and then set up a few besides our own for later arrivers. Nobody likes putting up a tent in the dark. After checking in with the kitchen folks to pick shifts and pay, we got into garb and settled in for a relaxing evening. Things turned out to be fairly chaotic for some fellow cavalry members who had car trouble along the way, but I'm proud to say that a dozen people from our household and our local barony stopped to help out, keep them company, etc. Friends swapped out cars to get kids taken care of, and to send tents on ahead for those who would be late while waiting for help to arrive. I'm not sure how many tents we earlier arrivals set up, I think about half a dozen, but that kind of thing is why I love my SCA family. The whole household was settled in by 1 am. On Saturday, there were lots of activities taking place to score war points in this battle between the forces of Artemisia and An Tir. I decided to participate in the Iron Needle competition, where we were given a square of linen and challenged to create a largess item by the end of the day. This was a lot of fun, but meant we spent most of the day in camp sewing instead of watching the other contests and seeing friends. We sewed furiously right up to the 3 pm deadline, and I'm proud to say my friend Mistress Giliana won the competition with her gilded fabric bag complete with documentation, with my student sister Beatriz taking the novice award for a pulled thread embroidery pincushion. I made a cup cover with rolled hems, pearl beads on the corners, and an embroidered A on it (for An Tir or Artemisia). Did I remember to snap a photo? Of course not. Overall An Tir took the competition and kept their seaport on the Columbia River. The best part of court for us, though, was watching my husband accept a well-deserved Golden Maple Leaf (our kingdom's AOA level arts award) for his awesome work. I was so excited for him. That night my husband took his oath to become a man at arms to his friend and knight Sir Brynjolfr. There were a lot of friends in attendance to lend their support to the ceremony. it was a lovely moment. I turned in fairly early, then it was up on Sunday morning to pack and get on the road back to Arn Hold. This was a fun and low-key event. Though my energy level still wasn't what it was before getting pregnant and I was/am still dealing with some other fun symptoms (walking to the biffy in the cold 3 times a night, anyone?), it was nice to feel more with it than I did at Estrella. I should say a special thank you to my husband, our household, and especially Beatriz's other half Nick for making me take better care of myself than I otherwise would. That whole learning not to burn myself out business is still a challenge. Photos below, and more blogging to come! 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. Well! Here I was, staring at my blog wondering what in the world I'd write about, then I realized I went to one of the biggest events in the country and hadn't said a word about it here! Ha. Here, then, is a brief rundown of my time at Estrella. As usual, I was pretty busy having fun and didn't take many photos, but I definitely have stories. We drove down to Arizona with our friends Duke Ronan and Duchess Clare. What was supposed to be a 14 hour drive wound up taking more in the neighborhood of 17 hours due to stops, wrong turns, construction, etc. I drove the last three or so hours while the rest of the truck slept, and we rolled in to site at 3:30 am on Wednesday, Feb. 22. We did our best not to wake the entire Atenveldt Royal encampment (where Ronan and Clare were staying). We basically set up their tent, laid out the bedding, and all four of us crashed on their floor until about 8:00. At that point people were waking up and we were able to get some breakfast and find the land coordinator for the Artemisian encampment (next door to Atenveldt) who helped us find our spot. We had a lot of great help getting our camp set up. I hardly had to do a thing, actually. By the time I came back with a cup of coffee, the tent was up and everything out of the truck and put inside. Thank the gods for good friends. After breakfast I basically got garbed up, did a brief exploration of the site, then my husband and I took a two hour afternoon nap, which felt awesome. Most of Wednesday was pretty relaxed, which is just as it should be. I went to bed pretty early because the nights are chilly and I wanted to shoot archery the next morning, which is always first thing at SCA events. Thursday morning was cool and sunny, and I did indeed get to head to the archery range for a "In pursuit of the dream" themed shoot, including counted sheep, a monster under a bed, the sandman, a dreaming knight, and an "aquatic" dream target (it was Disney's little mermaid with SCA escutcheons over her bosoms). I did well for about the first three rounds, but then it quickly became evident that not shooting for three or four months made for an arm that got tired quickly, and my aim went downhill, especially on the tall and narrow targets and those low to the ground. Something to work on at practice. In the afternoon I did some window shopping at the many merchants, took a nap, and did some handwork and socializing with friends. The evening was capped by my charming husband winning the Best of the Branches bardic, reserved for current bardic champions of local groups. He's so good. It was a lot of fun to see some performers from different parts of the known world. Friday morning was another archery morning, and as we hurried out to the range we got to watch parts of the big parade procession to the battle fields, which are out past the range itself. It was great to see so many kingdoms represented. I loved looking at all the garb, banners, armor styles, etc. The shoot was a traditional clout shoot, with six targets ranged at between 60 and 90 yards (actually rather close for a clout). We were required to shoot one arrow at each target, and had to fire as if shooting over a six foot wall, so arching rather than straight shots. The closest arrow to each target scored a single point with categories for heavy and light. With only six points at stake each round, the scores were low, and the challenging nature of the shoot made me very proud to have scored a single point, especially because we cut out before the final round, certain we weren't going to win anyway, to take a couple of classes. I had a fun moment when a nice young person on the golf cart shuttle introduced themselves to Clare and I. Clare had her coronet on and introduced herself, and the person was duly respectful of her rank, title, and gorgeous garb, but when I introduced myself as Lady Ursula from Artemisia, the person became truly excited and exclaimed "I read your blog!" It was awesome to know that someone out there I have no connection with found this page and found it interesting enough to remember me. Does this mean I can say I'm a famous blogger now? If you're out there, my friendly reader, hello! Please leave a comment and say howdy if you're reading and enjoying (or hating) what I have to say, Anyway. The first embroidery class I took on Friday morning was a bit of a bust. No discussion of how the technique was used in period, no historical examples, no real context. We were given a photocopied guide to how to do the stitch, and materials (class fee $1) to make a needle book with embroidered cover. By the end of the class I hadn't really learned anything, but I did figure out a more thread-efficient way to do the stitch than the method taught. The second embroidery class, on the Egyptian art of pattern darning, was a night and day difference. HL Bernadette, who taught it, was so well prepared. She had a great grasp of how the technique developed from necessary clothing repairs to reinforcement of areas that would wear in the future, to simple decorative technique, with excellent photos of extant pieces. In my mundane life, I am a huge fan of the visible mending movement (the amazing tomofholland is an excellent resource), and the idea of handmade clothes and slow fashion, so I was really excited to learn about this art, which actually extends to many parts of the world and is still practiced. It's essentially counted thread embroidery as a technique for darning or patching clothing. Anyway. We had very nice kits with coarse woven linen and wool thread to practice on, plus a charted sheet of period patterns. The fabric was enough that when finished it can be sewn into a little bag. I will probably line mine to protect the back of the embroidery once I finish it. Anyway, the teacher was so knowledgeable and helpful and friendly and charming (and the South African accent was so fun to listen to). After class, her Laurel, Mistress Morgan, who sat in on it while working on some whipcording, gave a few of us a demo of the technique and let us try it oursekves. It was so quick, fun, and interesting. I see lots of whipcording in my future. It's so much faster, more portable, and more versatile than fingerloop braiding or even lucet. So cool. I spent some time with Her Highness (now her Majesty) Gwenevere in the afternoon while we watched the rapier fighting. Her husband is a white scarf and a lot of fun to watch. It was clear everyone was having a good time. I have got to get authorized soon so I can get in on it myself. We did more shopping in the afternoon, and though my budget was somewhat limited, I did find a pair of gorgeous cinnamon-brown calfskin rapier gloves at Dark Heart armory. My hands are one of the few parts of my anatomy that can really be called small, and bless Dark Heart for having gloves in such a huge range of sizes and colors. I loved the colorful gloves, but was truly taken with the buttery softness of the calfskin. I may even embroider the cuffs to spiff them up a bit. The gloves came in handy because the nights were quite cold, and the leather was enough to keep my hands warm around the fire. Our King and Queen held court that night, and it was great to see some of my friends awarded for their skill and good works. I even got tasked with giving a scroll to my friend Lord Pieter. It had been languishing somewhere waiting to be given to him. The date on the scroll was 2013, making it quite vintage indeed. That night after dinner the Brotherhood of the Black Unicorn (some of our friends from Northern Artemisia) hosted their torchlight tourney. It was great fun watching the fighting. The Landsknecht group from Drachenwald was a delight to watch. They fought so well together, and it was no surprise that they won the day. I was lucky enough to meet the King of Drachenwald earlier in the day. He was very charming, and we had fun talking about making garb, which is one of his favorite parts of the SCA. I love a man who can sew. Really, I love anyone who loves fiber. Due to the cold and the walking and the playing hard I decided on another early night, but not before we had wandered over to the Outlands encampment, who hosted a big belly dance hafla and drum circle. There must have been at least a dozen drummers playing, and I was lucky to get to watch a bunch of different dancers, with all different styles and techniques. I wasn't brave enough to get up there, especially because I really don't have much skill yet and really wasn't dressed for it in my cloak and Rus get-up, but I had fun thinking about which one of those dancers I'd most like to emulate when I grow up. There was a huge variety as far as the period-ness of the garb and the dancing itself, but it's an evolving art form, and the SCA does have "creative anachronism" right in the name. So, Saturday morning I was in a bit of a state because the solar phone charger was not working, and my phone was dead, but one of my parents, Abby, was going to be visiting the site from her home in Tucson, and I had no idea how to find her/when she'd be arriving. I was not at my camp most of the morning because we all went to the fighting fields to watch our friend Sir Dunkr get knighted, and of course nothing was running on time. This did mean that I got to see a bit of the hound coursing, which was excellent fun to watch. I'd love to get our dogs into it. Luckily, my husband managed to connect with Abby when she got to the site, and we eventually met up. I got Abby garbed up and we had fun walking around the site, watching the fighting, and even running into one of her work colleagues, who is the Baroness of the Tucson group. We did some shopping for souvenirs and even went to grand court in the evening. It was so cool to see the eight crowns all lined up with their beautiful garb, thrones, and traditions. It was especially pleasing to receive my very own Oleander, an award given to all women who participate in the combat arts at Estrella, which apparently includes archery. Watch out, world. I'm beautiful but deadly, just like these desert flowers. ;) Really, though, the highlight was that my husband, Lord Aonghus, won populace choice for his A&S display that day, along with best beer and best mead at the brewing competition! I married a winner. I packed up most of the tent on Saturday night and went to bed early (again). I know I missed some amazing parties and bardics and midnight snacks, but playing that hard just wore me out, and we wanted to get on the road early Sunday morning. Unfortunately, this was thwarted by my husband having a night so late it was early. Then we had to make a stop at a tire place to get a leaky tire checked out, and we were finally on the road around noon. We ended up having to stop in Jackpot, NV on our way back due to blizzard conditions. We got a hotel room, and finally limped home around noon on Monday, a full day later than planned. Oops. All in all it was an awesome event. As usual I hardly took any photos, but here are a few I did manage. |
UrsulaI like to: play with fleece, spin, knit, weave, sew, garden, cook, eat, bake bread, dance, read, sing, and learn new things. Archives
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