So, today I finished two dresses and constructed one chemise.

I cheated horribly, and I feel ... dirty. Yes, that is the word. I look at the hem I made on the otherwise entirely handsewn dress and I am disgusted. It is revolting. But there is no time before the event to do it properly, so machine hemming it is. I am currently debating with myself if I should leave the eyelets out, and sew myself into the dress, or push to finish the eyelets as well, which means making or finding a lacing cord to go with the dress.

I promised myself that I would not panic-sew before an event. *sigh*

Significant amounts of time spent in the sauna, and in discussing the sauna, and in figuring out the best way to lay the fire(s) to get the best possible sauna experience twice in an evening, or once in an evening.

There is much to be thought about.
--
In other news, my new broade kirtle has the skirt half-attached. I am still figuring out how to do the front half nicely. Tomorrow I expect to have the skirt whipstitched to bodice leaving only hemming and attaching shoulder straps together.

The long-sleeved GFD, cut using Mathilde's pattern, is wearable. Front closing is looking gorgeous (faced on the inside with red silk) and the neckline has a narrow turned in hem. I can now sew myself into the dress, fake the hemming of the sleeves, and if I just sort the lower hem I can pass for medieval.

No more progress on the green short-sleeved GFD. Maybe I'll throw it under the machine tomorrow. We'll see.

Dear oh dear... what have I done?

Next Thursday evening a local demo/event starts up here in Frostheim, and for once I am registered to come, work on my embroidery and stay on site through to Sunday.

Quite a few lovely people will be there, for me to hang out with and enjoy, but there is also the problem of clothes. I brought with me, to the sweltering north, one linen chemise, which was brutally re-hemmed at Coronation (I cut off 3-4 inches off the bottom with a pair of scissors and left it raw), and two cut-out but unfinished GFDs. One short sleeved, the other long sleeved.

I also went by the local fabric store and scored 5 metres of brocade for the low-low price of 100 SKR (approx 2 euro per metre). Out of this I've constructed a simple 16th C kirtle which now only needs skirt attached, hemming and shoulderstraps adjusted. But is probably going to stick out like a sore thumb at Hägnan.

The two 1410 gowns are not quite that close to finished.

First one is green, cut from the remnant of my English fitted gown fabric. Pendelton wool, thin, drapey, gorgeous. That had no seams at all done when I brought it with me. Now the short sleeves are stitched together and I am trying to figure out the skirt.

Second one is a red/blue/brown wierd but gorgeous colour wool twill. It's got long sleeves, and all construction seams are done and felled. It only needs the front closing fixed, bottom hemmed and sleeves hemmed. Of course, front closing means a packet of eyelets, and some sort of cord for closing, which is no small task.

I've no headwear, no belt, no accessories, no flatware.

Oy.. what have I gotten myself into?

• arrive, set up
• rained on
• party evening
• talking with people, fielding questions and marshalling forces
• fixing viking apron dress of ugliness made by pretty fabrics, ten minutes
• sleep, wonderful sleep
• up at eight, breakfasted til after ten
• gathering people, setting up vigil site
• running back and forth, back and forth
• empty staring into the air and stress
• first court at one o'clock with one order of business, sending Helwig to her vigil, I hide from cameras
• vigil starts, people start lining up, and don't stop until past 6 o'clock when second court starts
• I fetch my yardcloth to have something on my head, but do not change clothes
• principality and kingdom courts, I get called up at both wearing glasses and viking outfit of ugliness, but for quite awesome and wonderful awards. Nordmarks Malakit from the hands of Prince Franz and Princess Willhelmina, and Queen's Order of Courtesy from the hand of Queen Cecilia, I am humbled
• Elisabeth Gottfriedsdotter becomes a Lady, Ed gets a Lindquistringe
• Helwig becomes Mistress Helwig Ulfsdotter, marked by medallion, cloak and laurel wreath on her head
• I can finally relax
• sleep, wonderful sleep
• wake up, get pretty, spread a blanket and lounge and do nothing all day. remebering to eat and drink and hang with absent friends
• witness coronation, queen's champion's tourney where William of Richwood is her choice
• first court of judith and gerhardt seen from blanket in the grass
• feast, party time
• sleep, wonderful sleep
• wake up, pack, stress, pack, carry, drive home, unload car
• Shower
• Tea

ETA: Nowhere in there does it say, took photographs. I brought my camera and all my gear. Despite this, I took exactly 0 (zero) pictures. *sigh*

To do:

• unpack
• stow away
• re-pack mundanes
• clean apartment
• order taxi
• fly to the frozen north.

*runs around headless-chicken-style*

Do this, that, the other and a million other things.

It's Tuesday, and I've pretty much given up finishing the scroll before the event. It is entirely my fault. I left it too late to start, and at this point a persistant nagging headache prevents me concentrating closely.

I also want to make sure I don't rush through it and hand out a sloppy piece of work. The text is done, and that is the important bit. TRM can sign that and show it, and I can take the scroll back and continue with the illumination.

I feel bad, though. *sigh*

Woohoo - Kingdom, the third series!

I made chocolate fudge cake using my patented move of filling the muffin tray rather than bake one large cake.

Man, that was the best idea I've had all week.

Simple chocolate bakery FTW!

I started on it today, and the text is finished. Now to let it dry completely. Then go over it with a scalpel to neaten things up a bit. I should probably refer to it as project #24 (#23 was the AoA for Niamh).

My hand is a little crampy. I know I shouldn't hold the pen that hard, it should just flow over the page, but so should the ink. It's a constant struggle to get enough ink flowing, without getting too much fed at the tip. It's, like... hard.

Anyway, text is calligraphied. No major fuck-ups so far. Hurrah. I've blocked out the rest of the scroll as well. I started with that in fact, and now I just have to execute the illumination without screwing up majorly.

The event is now exactly seven days away. I expect to be on site by this time next week. Here's hoping everything comes together.

Step the first: Drink lots of coffee.

Step the second: Continue practicing new hand for Big Peerage Scroll.

Step the third: Realize all that coffee before? Was too much coffee.

Step the fourth: Take a nice hot shower, vigorously pick away stuff, flying around like a busy bee.

Step the fifth: Pick up pen and ink again, realize, all that coffee before? Still too much, and stomach is completely empty, screaming for food.

Step the sixth: Order pizza. Briskly walk to fetch pizza and back home.

Step the seventh: SCARF entire pizza, which admittedly wasn't the biggest one ever.

Step the eighth: Still hyper. All that coffee before? Too much coffee. But now also drowsy from full stomach.

Step the ninth: Scream and post to LJ in frustration!

Now: Pondering two laps around the house in the drizzle, a quick nap and then picking up pen and ink.

The coif, embroidered in red, is finished. Finished! Woohoo!

I will not be posting photos until after Coronation however. You have the preview in my last post, extrapolate from that.

I might even have enough for a forehead cloth. I shall make the attempt, but in any case the scroll gets priority.

Since I was horribly bullied(*) in a reply to my last post, I must post a picture of the embroidery progress.



(*) vikingsparrow said please.

I've been alternating calligraphy and embroidery today. Writing out the text of the first peerage scroll I'll be making. It's a long text, and a new (sort of) script to me. I've decided to write it out in full at least twice before I start on the actual scroll. First one down.

Also for the first time, I'll be working on parchment. I admit - it's a little scary.

As for the embroidery, work on the scarletwork coif is going splendidly. I chose a pattern that works up fairly quickly, and it's all stem stitch, so I'm already half-way done with the coif. Then if there's time I'm doing the forehead cloth to match.

I'm also sort of ... contemplating the idea of making something that can pass for "early" period-not exactly viking. Out of what fabric, I don't know, using what method, I don't know. I've got a kirtle I can use. The slumming-it-in-the-kitchen blue linen thingy that was supposed to be a herjolfsness dress. But, as I have previously written about, I feel like a slob in it. A comfortable slob, but anyway.

On a whim I dragged out my pavilion from the basement storage today.

I set it up on the sunny side of the building on a patch of grass. Started by laying out the tarp, then the ground-cloth of cheap-o wool-substitute to mark where I should stake down the walls of the tent. And then I went to raise it up. Well, I tried to, but found that the centre-pole still has trouble accepting the hub and went to fetch my toolbox.

I has a toolbox.

Then I spent some time sanding down the centre-pole, and some time sanding down the top end of the hole through the hub. It got kinda warm in the sun.

Then I continued the set-up; raising the centre pole and inserting the spokes. Then I crawled out of the saunapavilion and panted on the grass for a bit. At this point a trouble[totally the recognized group-denomenation] of young boys turned up. One was brave enough to lift the wall to peek in, then came to me to ask if he could go inside the tent. I panted a little bit more, then said to hold off until I adjusted the stakes and could open the door proper.

It was warm. I went to fetch a bottle of water. The boys played inside the pavilion for a little bit, considerately taking their shoes off as I was barefoot and explained that I didn't want the tarp or groundcloth to get dirty. Then the boys went away.

I noticed one tiny hole in the upper end of one wall-panel.

I lay down in the shade for a bit and finished the water.

I went upstairs to my apartment to bring some of the left-over canvas and my sewing kit, and proceeded to remove the spokes, and then I took down the centre-pole and pulled out the stakes. At this point I could sit down where the pavilion had stood, as the trees shaded this spot, and cut out two patches of canvas and stitch them over the hole in my wall.

Then I packed all the pieces away, carried them into the storage and proceeded to feel smug.

I've also brought up the hub and the centre-pole to my balcony, to continue sanding away at the -other- end of the hole in the hub, and to re-beeswax the pole where I rubbed it off with sanding. I don't think raw wood is good in a variable-humidity environment. And beeswax smells yummy.

I've also gotten a good start on the scarletworked coif for Helwig's vigil. And since I came over a little earlier to the sewing circle on purpose, we also picked a text for her scroll and a style of illumination that made her go "Oj, oj, oj!".

Tuesday is scribal night, I'm going to try to use that to practice the text. I want it to be as good as I can make it.

My photos aside, the following are the links that have been sent over the DML, and elsewhere.

Sigfuss
Zola
AElwynne
Hadewijch
Mariken van Oostbroeck
Melisende FitzWalter
Katheryn Hebenstreitz
Vrank
Gottfried Kilianus
Titus Flavius
Siubhan
Dorothea Weberin
Arenwald
Roidh

Whee - photos.
UPDATED 11/6

I came away richer in things from Double Wars.

One big tea mug courtesy of Alessandra Melusine. Got long ago, but languishing in ID until now. And also a bit of bling from Richard the Rampant, who had a bag of bling he let me pick over. W00t. It's a smallish penannular bronze-coloured brooch. It's pretty.

Alrighty then, that's all.

Oh, I might thanks to the very generous offer, start uploading event photos to tworavens.org instead of pixbox. I like that, because at pixbox they only store the sized variants, and Eirik at Tworavens runs the gallery software, which I like and understand. Plus, more statistics, and non-member comments. Whee.

Editing of all photos done. Am waiting on upload now. Check out pixbox in a little bit for the update. Should be 271 pictures.

I also have lots and lots of give aways. For example antonio, siubhan, gyles, melisende, matthew, franz, ludewic, george, garick and yasamine, alma, aska, astrid, arenwald, wilhelmina, william.

Lots of pepople shots that were duplicates or just not good enough - misframed for example.

If any of you want those shots just contact me with an address that can take a few megs and I'll send them on.

Photo-editing, eight at a time, to go through 300 odd pictures.

Boh-red. Boredboredbored.

Why bored? Because by this time I've gone through all of my photos about half a dozen times. First a scan through, then rough culling, then eliminating duplicates, then quality culling, then content culling, then more quality culling and now opening them all and resizing, repositioning and recutting. Plus sorting out even more unwanteds and give aways.

I always start a folder called give aways where I put duplicates of people that they might want to see. Then I mail them and ask if they want to see the photos and then either send then trash, or just trash them. I have kind of a hard time taking photos of myself, so I generally want to see the pics of me from others, I figure it's no hardship for me to offer it to others at least.

Bored now. *sigh*

Still, I am at photo number 347. Highest number to get to: 641. Progress.
I'll be posting them on pixbox.

Double Wars Over.

Wow. Yippie. Whee and other similar exclamations of joy.

New Prince and Princess of Nordmark: Franz and Vilhelmina. I ran the Coronet List and it went smooth enough I could call it a baby's bottom.

Writ of summons for the laurel: Viscountess Helwig Ulfsdotter. Vigil to take place at Midsummer Coronation. SQUEEE! ! ! I have so many plans. Offers of help taken gratefully.

Flatside won the Knäckebröd War. As is only fit and proper.

My Green Florentine Dream was finished and I wore it.

The food was excellent all week long.

I survived a dinner shift in the tavern.

Singing, lots of singing going on all over the place - hurrah!

Catfights witnessed: 0.

Wonders of the world constructed by Sir Sven and Duke Garrick: six that I witnessed.

Black silk dragons appliquéd: 50-ish. Amazing. All stitchers on the Crown Princess' coronation gown was then rewarded with a dessert buffet that cleaned out the entire pastry section of a local grocery store. Yummy stuff. Plans have been made for next year's communal project.

The backlog on LJ to read to catch up is going to take me days.

OK, I just ironed my camicia which was dried off after coming out of the washing machine. I hung it up on a hanger using clothes pins to keep it there (wide neckline).

And I keep looking over to it to see if it's really where, and to smile. Because it is teh awesome. TEH AWESOME!

Just wanted to share.