Holiday Faire

Another medieval event! Two in a month is extraordinary!  I spent a fair amount of time watching the rapier fighting.  They had lightning rounds, where the round can't be more than 30 seconds, and definitely the fighters fought differently.  There was an all out scramble to score and lots of wild thrusts and parries.  It was fun to watch, fast paced and exciting.

I also spent time with old friends, and met some new ones.  I tasted what may have been the most vinegary pickled veggies I have ever had!

And, of course, the shopping!  I commissioned a cup for my sister, she loves the one I got a year ago from Eadric The Potter,(thatpotteryguy on fb and Etsy).  I love pretty nearly everything he makes.   I also got my son (who might read this blog) a commission, though not from
Eadric, and John made it while I shopped around!  That is service! A few view pins and I was done shopping.  Not, however, done wanting!  There was much to see, cloth, fiber, furniture and jewelry.  Food, boxes, sundries and tapestries.   If it is medieval, or plausible, it was there.

I am back among the living, feeling good and busy as can be getting ready for the holidays.  My son comes to visit for Thanksgiving, and my daughter for Christmas.  I am lucky enough to have my sister here full time, and there are parties and concerts beginning to fill my schedule.  Making gifts, teaching classes and planning projects are in full swing.  I think i may need a day off for rest soon!

Medievaling

Today I got to go to a medieval event for my kingdom, Crown Tourney.  This is where the next King and Queen are chosen, by feat of arms on the battlefield.  They serve as Prince and Princess for 6 months, a sort of training period, and then step up to replace the reigning monarchs.  There was good fighting today, and the victor threw some perfectly lovely shots in the semi-final and final round.  It was a victory well won.

I sat and sewed for the vast majority of the day, occasionally walking the site and seeing old friends, making new ones.  I have another event in two weeks.... one of my favorites, the Holiday Faire.  A great place to buy gifts and procure needed bits and bobs for the coming year.  My favorite merchants are always there, Gryffon Furniture, Eadrik the Potter, and others too.

I am grateful for the weather, grateful for friends new and old, and grateful that traffic was only moderately horrible!
Back to sewing and making Christmas presents and cleaning tomorrow.

A Gift Indeed!

I was having trouble visualizing the pieces for this skirt for my daughter.... she simply drew a picture, we hadn't a pattern, and I wanted to make it for this weekend's event. I was working on a couple more projects simultaneously, so felt a bit overwhelmed. As I was talking with a couple of the ladies where I work, who are amazingly talented, I said (facetiously) and you can have this done for me by next Friday, right? Mahtaub, a lovely woman from Iran, looked seriously at the pile of fabrics, then at me, and said, yes! Skipping many details, 6 days later she presented me with this finished skirt, exactly what Meghan drew, and after squeals of glee and big hugs, I showed it all around where I work. Before she left, I asked (not for the first time) what I could pay her, and her reply was that it was a gift, that for her friends, those she loves, she makes things! Makes things! What an understatement! I am still reeling from the generosity of this amazing friend I have made. I am very fortunate, very fortunate indeed.

The coat, somewhat anticlimactically, has been an ongoing project for some weeks, patterned after a couple of Pictish carvings on stones in Scotland. The coats there were short, I wanted mine long, and I added the collar for sheer pleasure and warmth, but the bones are there. It is all hand sewn, a lovely soft purple wool, lined in a navy silk. I will be warm at all my winter medieval events this year!

Ponte Alto Baronial Investiture

This is how I spent my Saturday.... it was nice to see old friends and make new ones too. The King was here but the Queen was down south at a different event. They are trying to get to as many as they can. It is a noble effort.

We have been blessed with a succession of excellent Barons and Baronesses here, and I am sure the new ones will be every bit as good. They have begun well and graciously. I met the Baroness at work a few days ago, and she was delightful. I hope I get to go to a few more events this year.... I enjoy the chance to live The Dream!

Tidbits and garb...

Not too much going on right now, creatively speaking. I did finish up a little coptic bound book I made in prep for Christmas, and I picked up 1/2 yard each of two too cute fabrics... don't you think they are cute? I have been preparing for and giving the first two classes in my surface design series. I have had 7 students in each, really a good number. They were all in both classes and I hope will stay with me for the other two as well. I am glad this time that work was slow, so I could sit down... No time off my feet during my "weekend" makes for a tired me! I haven't any pics yet but I am working on a wool/silk gown modelled on a french piece about AD1000, though my own persona in the SCA is a bit earlier. The design was around for several hundred years with very little change. I am sewing it all by hand, and boy does it ravel! I need to put in the sleeves and stitch up the sides, all the gores are in already. I am excited because this morning when I went to work I walked by the silk special table and hey presto! there was a lovely bit of silk in a shade lighter of the same color as the tunic. It will become my cotte beneathe the gown or surcotte. I really am looking forward to covering the seams to clean it up. I will take my camera to work tomorrow and get a few pics. I also finished reworking my red cotte to fit better. I will make the next one with the new technique and won't need to gusset the gusset! I get to wear that one this weekend to Challenge of the Sun God... yippee!

The Middle Ages, housing

There is a wide variety of domiciles at Pennsic, ranging from common dome tents to perminent structures, from truly primitive to outrageously luxurious! Some are rebuilt on site every year, like Casa Bardicci (at least I think that is how it is spelled) and takes 1 1/2 weeks to set up, and some stay all year and are just hauled out by tractor from the storage area. I take a wonderful "A" shaped tent (called a geteld) that I made myself, andd it goes up very easily every year. I rent a modest storage shed so I don't have to drag everything back and forth each year. Some folks fly in and have little more than their clothes, and some have large yurts or trailors that have a skin on top to disguise their modern looks. One group of Romany (gypsies popularly but incorrectly) brings life size wooden horse profiles made from plywood, and then carry them around the site, making clipclopping sounds ala Monty Python! As a whole, we have a somewhat warped sense of humor!

This weekend

I got to spend a wonderful day with my dh, something I haven't done in a while, too long a while. We went to the Museum of the US Marine Corps. It was terrific! They cover at least in a perfunctory way, the complete history, from Tripoli to now. There are plans for more in depth displays on several subjects, and they have a building fund to that purpose, but it really is good right now too. I have put up some pics. The wall with all the Marine insignia has one Eagle Globe and Anchor (and a few Navy Eagle and Anchors) for everyone killed at Iwo Jima. Mindboggling. The flag pic is the actual flag (2nd) raised there, seen through the famous photo. Say an extra prayer for all our men and women who serve us so valiantly, often far from home and loved ones. All give some, some give all.

Last weekend I went to an SCA event, and it was 98 degrees. I sat in the shade drenched, and then had a terrific supper, got rained on (cooled off!) and dragged home, tired but happy. I have put a couple pics from that up too. Cheers!