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.

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?

Procrastination: not a marketable skill

Hi, everybody! I'm still alive and being a slacker, at least when it comes to expanding the garb wardrobe. Since my last post I've completed one knee-high wool sock and have made it past the heel turn on the second. I fear my Dear Husband now harbors a secret wish to possess a pair for himself, perhaps something with a split after the big toe so he can wear them around the house with his flip-flops. Yeesh.

I've made a little progress cleaning and reorganizing around the house. DH brought me some storage tubs for my yarn and fabrics. This is certainly a step in the right direction, but my "To Do" list is (and, I fear, will almost always be) orders of magnitude larger than my "Mission Accomplished" list.

Well, that last bit was depressing. I should talk about the jewelry I snagged at [Internet Auction Site]. Basically, I perused the vintage costume jewelry auctions for pieces that looked medieval-ish (like from portraits, not swords and dragons entwined with Celtic knotwork and inscribed with elvish runes) and didn't break the bank. Shipping and all, I haven't paid more than $10 for any single piece slated for resale. My current stock consists of necklaces and brooches, with some pieces targeted toward Laurels and Chatelaines. Leaf and key motifs, get it?

It's time to let the dogs out for a few minutes, then a little more poking through the fabric pile. I did manage to finish some raw edges on yardage that has been waiting for a trip through the Mundane Fabric Torture Devices (i.e. washer and dryer), so I think I'll go ahead and launder them so they're ready to use when I finally get around to sewing again.

"Shoeless" Joe Jackson

According to Jonathan Coulton, who is, hands-down, the most thorough researcher in the world, he played for the Black Socks, and he always wore his black socks, but he never wore no shoes.
Coulton is actually a very talented and hardworking musician. Information about the song referenced above can be found here.

Now, back to the next-most-recent tangent:



Waa-Laa! Yeah, I know it's red, not black, but it's getting late. Now I've got to load the dishwasher and get ready for bed. Need plenty of sleep so I'll be able to bring my A-game to tomorrow's career fair!

Yarn: Mathilde as Squirrel: Dog

Yep. I'm having one of those episodes again. I've recently come to grips with the fact that I'm weighed down by an unfulfilling job that leaves me with little time or energy to do things I actually enjoy. Deep down I know I should be working on my fitted gown, but I'm finding it so much more convenient to pick up some knitting instead of hauling out yards of fabric, cutting board, and all the other tailoring implements necessary to the project. Not a lot to report on that front, other than my decision that the grey-ish cotton/linen blend I snagged for $3/yd would enjoy lining the sleeves and bodice of the wool gown. Just gotta run it through some laundry torture.

So, specifically, what's the big distraction this time?

Socks. Red wool toe-up socks. I put the pink and grey yarn (I think I mentioned that already ... ?) on the waiting list, because, really, RED wool sockies! That is a must-have item, at least in my book. I snagged some gold/brown patterned sock yarn at the same time as the red, for another future project.

Oh, yeah. And I'm actively looking for a better job. It may involve relocation, but that's fine. I'll definitely miss the friends I've made over the past few years, but social media and whatnot will help us keep in touch while I'm making new friends and starting down a more satisfying career path. And maybe I'll have some babies. Time will tell ...

Wiki wiki, to you, too

I'm on the Wikipedia now!

The other night I was looking over my Flickr account and I'd been left a message from a Welsh gentleman asking if I'd be interested in changing the license on a photo of my gold Monmouth cap so it could be added to an article. This is part of a project to get the people of Monmouthshire involved in developing a cluster of articles about their corner of the world - notable people, events, and artifacts associated with Monmouth.

Warm hands, less complaining

Well, I've made some progress on the hood, just, you know, not a whole lot. I've been distracted for a few days, knitting my first ever pair of full mittens and writing the pattern. They're not strictly A&S material, as I used purl stitch (whether or not this is period-appropriate is debatable) and didn't bother to look beyond a few period paintings and one photo of an extant child's mitten. Still, they may be able to squeak by in a costume review.

Now that my hands are suitably clad for the rest of winter I can maybe turn my attention back to tying up the loose ends on the hood and get down to business patterning my wardrobe for event season.

Monmouth cap

Until very recently I avoided knitting in the round. Most of my projects consisted of rectangular shapes, with the odd hat every now and then - always with a seam up the back. Well, no more! I bought myself a set of straight double-pointed needles, an interchangeable circular knitting kit and some lovely soft wool yarn as a birthday treat, and got to work that very night.

My gauge for worsted-weight yarn on size 7 needles is about 4 stitches and 7 rows per square inch. I decided to work the brim in a double knit stockinette, so I rounded my head circumference up to the nearest full inch and cast on double the number of stitches I would need for a single layer. I think my mind wandered a couple of times while I was working the brim, but the mistakes aren't glaring. Once the brim reached the desired height, I joined the two layers (K2t, repeat to end of row) and continued in stockinette stitch until the total height reached 4 inches.

I divided the total number of stitches into 8 sections for the decreases, and did some maths to figure out how many rows to knit between each of the decrease rows. The crown of my hat has a more gradual slope than the extant piece referenced by other recreationists, textile archaeologists, etc., but all in all, not a shabby attempt. I'll jimmy with the decrease scheme to try for a flatter crown and try my hand at fulling the next cap.



Now I'm working on a dark blue wool cap for my dear hubby, who doesn't dig the whole "dress-up" scene, but does appreciate a warm cap knit with love.