It's a Spin-off!

I'm moving my knitting research to a companion blog - Mathilde's Medieval Knitting Circle.
That's pretty much it for today. Lots of reading and some laundry to do.

Boo.

"John and Jane Doe" just won't do!

Meet my lovely new assistants!

Sure, they're not terribly handy when it comes to production, but I have the Musical Sewing Mice and the Knitting Octopus for that. I only require two things of them: 1. approximate the size and shape of a human head (mine, in particular) for blocking and display, and 2. sit very, very still for photographs. So far, they do these things rather well.

But they need names. I've got some ideas already, but I'm still open to suggestions. Please post your ideas in the comments!

Bye-bye, money. Hellooooooooo, fabric!

Today I was pretty bad. But I have some awesome stuff to show for it. And I didn't pay full price for any of the sewing or knitting supplies. Just for the styrofoam heads. (Yes, I have a pair of styrofoam heads now.)
And I bought DH a tiny model USS Enterprise kit. The naval ship, not the spaceship; he has one of those already. So he should be content for a little while.
Step one was to familiarize myself with the sales and coupons for each of the three stores I planned to hit. One was running an uber discount on fabrics, the next on sock yarn and my favorite brand of hand-sewing thread, and the third ... well, nothing that excited me very much, but I knew they carry foam heads and tinkery things for DH, and I had a coupon for one regularly-priced item, so it was worth dropping in for a quick browse.
Step two: write a list. What colors of thread and how many spools? How many yards if I find an awesome fabric for a gown or cloak? And be sure to have a pen handy so you can write yourself notes while in the store, comparing the relative virtues of each bolt of fabric that would look awesome in your stash ... er ... as a garment. Yeah, that last bit ...
Step three: feel free to talk to yourself and pet the fabrics as you scour every possible hiding spot for a special gem. I confess, I did put a clearance bolt of dark blue silk (that's how the bolt was labeled, anyway) back into the bin. Someday I'll play with silk, but not now. Instead, I snagged some deep red wool (cloak), dark brown wool (loose gown?), a wool/silk blend with an interesting pattern (I have no idea, but look! SHINY!) and linen for lining. Since some of the linen was labeled "flawed" (bit of discoloration), it was already cheaper than regular-priced linen, so when the 50 percent discount was applied, I was one happy shopper. One less bolt of inventory for the store to count.
Step four: fork over the money and revel in your bad-ness. You're stimulating the economy, and also not blowing your money on illicit drugs or movies with sparkly vampires.

That dark brown wool is going to attract every strand of dog hair in the house ...

Shenannigoats

I've been home from War for a few days, and I'm happy to report that I did not get sunburned, nor did I catch War Plague! Huzzah!
AND I will now attest that wearing the right medieval clothing - layers and all - is superior to mundane clothing in terms of comfort and practicality. Case and point: setting up my tent (80 degrees and humid, mid-day) nearly made me overheat. Walking back to camp from the parking area was miserable. Peel off the mundane t-shirt and jeans, though, and slip into a lightweight chemise and kirtle ... made a world of difference. I also did the whole "tuck the front hem of your skirt into your belt/apron so you don't trip over it" thing. Also promotes better air circulation. Day two, I wore the Maciejowski cotte. I made use of the convertible sleeve feature around lunchtime, popping my chemise-covered arms through the outer gown's underarm gaps and tying the outer gown's sleeves behind my shoulder blades.

(Thusly)
I could babble about the whole weekend, but I've received a half-off coupon for linen and linen-blend fabrics, so I'm gonna take a shower, hit the road, and spend until I have buyer's remorse.
Oh, I did do some shopping while at war. Picked up four yards of brick red linen, a yard and a half of gold, three quarters of a yard of blue, a big spool of linen thread and some period-looking thread snips, and a simple penannular brooch so I can finally make myself a proper cloak.
FINALLY ... Stay tuned, because there's exciting news that'll be "official" in the next three to five weeks.

Barricade the sewing room door!

Just make sure I'm inside it!

I've started my A&S submission for Gulf Wars (a new Monmouth cap) and the documentation. I have a sketch of my device proposal for a herald consultation, and somewhere on my harddrive is documentation for my name submission. I picked up some muslin for a quickie chemise, along with bias tape for use on my wool gown and a new box of ball-head pins. I manage to lose pins quite frequently.

Before heading in to work today I want to have all the rest of the body panels cut out for my wool gown. When I come home, I think I'll tackle the sensitive joining-of-the-brim on the cap. This time around I'm following the same method Jennifer Carlson used, but in a different gauge, so I'm not following her pattern stitch-for-stitch.

To add to the maelstrom of ideas pinging around in my head, I'm doodling ideas for a 15th century cap. More on that story as it develops.

Fashion cues from the Wife of Bath

Toe-up knee-high socks, knit from red fingering weight wool. Will I be able to resist the temptation to cast on another pair before I come home from Gulf Wars?

Fitted wool gown, part 1

I got the last of my pattern-fiddling done Tuesday and tortured a cut of heavy cotton/linen fabric (not quite canvas weight) to use as bodice lining. Before work yesterday I cut out the four cotto-lin lining pieces and the left front panel, including the skirt length, from the blue wool yardage I bought in December. I've since sewn the lining to the wool and whip stitched over the edge that will run along the center front of the gown.

I'm now off to grab some lunch, then MOAR SEWING!!!