Art Wars at Harvest Home

Dropping in once more to let the blogosphere know I'm still alive and well.  Mundane life has been especially interesting and distracting of late (not "baby" interesting, though).  My crafting focus for the next couple of weeks is an alpaca sweater for the Ravellenic Games.  Still working on preparing the Big Box-o-Linen for laundry torture.

During the impromptu re-shuffling of mundane life, I had to cancel my plans to attend the Academy of Performing Arts this past weekend.  It seems to have been a great success, based on the stories I've heard and pictures I've seen posted via social media, and congratulations are in order for Gleann Abhann's newest Laurel, Mistress Martha Effingham.

Preparations are underway for Kingdom A&S in September, and Art Wars in October.  Yesterday I was invited to join Team Viking Tunic for Art Wars.  Other team members are tackling the documentation, pattern drafting and ornamentation for the project - my job will be to show up the morning of the event, well rested, and hand-sew like the freakin' wind.  Onlookers are encouraged to ask questions during the competition, so I may be able to convince people that HAND SEWING IS NOT HARD.

It's not hard.  I promise.

Kicking around

I'm still alive, despite the continued radio silence.
During the past several weeks I've changed jobs - back to the "casual dining" scene for a few months, until DH can secure a transfer to a more metropolitan area (and a promotion, if things shake out as promised).  Not much to report.  I've been focusing on knitting - cranking out socks for family members, browsing sweater patterns, generally Killing Time on Ravelry.
What little sewing I have done lately has been mundane, primarily.  An alteration on a bridesmaid dress to earn a little cash.  Mending DH's slacks that he wears to work (this involved some clever engineering on my part; I am continually amazed at a grown man's utter ignorance about the destructive things he does to his clothes).  Occasionally I'll pick up some yardage from the stash and turn a cut edge under so it'll survive the Laundry Torture ... whenever I get around to it.
When I'm not doing any of that, my main concern is staving off heat stroke.  Despite what the calendar says, summer lasts six months in Mississippi.  After putting up with the screwy climate for seven years, I'm ready to go home to Tennessee, where they still observe all four seasons.
Maybe a little "hangout time with friends" and pub food this weekend will make me a little less crabby ... ?

Blip

Not an actual "hey, I made progress" post, just popping in to let you know I'm alive and well.  Lots of non-garb stuff has been on the front burner, and a good bit of that non-garb stuff wasn't even fun non-garb stuff.  (Some of it was ... Finished a pair of stripey socks!)

Anyway.

Working on getting all my ducks back in one cohesive clump.  I don't think linear formation is achievable at this very moment.  Hoping the mundane chaos sorts itself out within the next couple of weeks ...

Green belt

This weekend Gleann Abhann celebrated the coronation of Their Majesties Uther and Kenna. During court Saturday evening, Mistress Margot du Bois approached the thrones with a request to take a new apprentice. The Crowns gave their consent and the court herald summoned me to join Mistress Margot and give a public answer to her invitation. I accepted, and received a hand-woven green belt as a symbol of our relationship as student and teacher.

For anyone interested in the Arts and Sciences in the SCA, a formal apprenticeship is not necessarily required to become a Laurel. Nor is a peerage guaranteed to all who become apprentices. However, having a relationship with a Laurel has its advantages - access to their library and expertise; guidance and critiques on your research and works-in-progress; motivation to try new things and to produce more and better work; mentoring on the qualities of a Peer; and a voice inside the Laurels' circle to applaud your successes, or a shield to mitigate the blow if you deserve chastisement.

There are two paths to apprenticeship. Sometimes a student will approach a Laurel and requests to become an apprentice. Other times the student's work will attract attention. The latter describes my experience. As it turns out, I've been on the radar for a little while now among the costuming crowd, recognizable by sight, but, for most people, not by name. When Gulf Wars rolled around, I was camping in the same household group as Mistress Margot. She said she'd been keeping up with my sewing and knitting projects and asked if I was interested in an apprenticeship.

YES!!!

I sincerely wish to make my Laurel proud :)

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?