Adelheid in the SCA

Recently, thanks to the generous nature of Mistress Afra, I had the opportunity to help with a garb project. It is important to note that I enthusiastically asked to help. I mention this because I eventually reached a point in the project that was so frustrating and disappointing that it drove me to tears. Here's the final project, which I feel comfortable sharing because it has already been posted to Facebook with attribution. The process of getting there was full of very high highs and very low lows. The short version: I learned a great deal about reaching out and not working in isolation. When we first spoke about the garb, Afra had been given some details about the style and a reference photo of similar clothing. She handled all of the fitting and sewing, as well as the embellishment around the neckline. My part was to create white appliqué stars on a Tir Righ blue band around the bottom, along with matching cuffs on the same linen. I spent a great deal of time joyfully plannin...

 Again, not strictly an SCA post but a reflection of what I can call "my process". I find that a low stimulation, "self-running" environment makes the difference in my life between having mental/emotional capacity for my arts or not. Service oriented tasks are one thing, like processing heraldic submissions, answering emails, doing little administrative projects for people... these are all easy enough to accomplish, have timelines, and don't require that rested, uncluttered brain. For me at least. Others' experience may vary. I find that a quiet environment promotes my ability to settle into something that might require more problem solving or creativity on a cozy weekend, or an evening after work. In the pursuit of a calm home, here's some of the tasks we've accomplished since January. First is the recycle closet. This isn't really a showstopper in design or anything but has meant that our cupboard is functional as a recycling spot, pantry, and ...

This is the second time I've been part of a retinue. The first was for the amazing Viscount Saif and Viscountess Alessandra. I was simply an attendant for them, mostly Viscount Alessandra, as Viscount Saif would take off with his long legs and I'd promptly lose him in the crowd. But it was a great learning experience about the amount of work, organization, outreach, communication, and heart that goes into nine months of a reign.  This time I am much more involved in the lead up to Investiture. And despite presenting my Pelican with a "scroll" of stick figures and a poem about "How I'll Never Be A Scribe", apparently I am. It took her 10 years but she caught me using copy calligraphy and wordsmithing. I was asked to do another couple of assignments for copy, which worked out pretty well in terms of confidence boosting. Is it perfect? No. Do I have a lot to learn? Yes. However about part way through my last draft, I had the feeling that I could in fact do ...

I was asked to do some copy Calligraphy for the upcoming reign of F&E. It was very flattering to be asked and I jumped on the task right away!  I pulled out my scribal stuff, which is a bit rudimentary at best, and realized that I had no ink and my nibs were a bit dodgy. Any scribal I had done to this point was done with the borrowed tools of my Pelican. But a bit of practice, playing with nibs, and some determination (and an amazon order) I was ready to tackle the assignment. HAVOC:  Doing the Havoc was a lot of fun, and I felt pretty successful. The font was quite large and bold, so it was easy to get the thick/thin line effect that I really enjoy in calligraphy. However, this was not without issue.  I did my first “final copy”, and noticed there was a missing letter. I did another “final copy” and left the word blank until I could circle back to it and add the “w”. I was sure to practice and practice, wrote the word a number of times, and then was feeling confident...

I haven't had the headspace to work on any big projects lately. However, I have been making HUGE strides on my physical space. For several years, I feel like I have been holding on to stuff. Now the baby birds have flown and it's time to let go. All I want to do is to organize my home and spaces. I started with what I'll lovingly call "the green room", which was one of my children's bedrooms. All three slept in there at various points and it was filled with furniture, lego, clothes, musical instruments, books, water bottles, school supplies... Just filled.  I had made an agreement with my workplace to work from home one day per week and I wanted this to start as of October. I was motivated to create this space. It started with clearing the room and painting the walls cream. Where did all that stuff go? Garbage and obvious donations were sorted and hauled to the appropriate places. I put the bunks, bedside table, and a bureau up on freecycle, and most of the ot...

At the last event, St. Crispin's hosted by the Shire of Lionsdale, I got a chance to see it a little more up close when my wire weaving class teacher walked another student through fingerknüpfen. I've seen the lovely Duchess M of Insula Magna doing this technique, but until tonight I've never tried it. I will definitely use this again. It engages the brain (no muscle memory yet) but it's simple and satisfying. Practice will fix the tension, right? Otherwise, I am working hard on digging out my craft room, which is taking up a lot of my time. It's going well, and I'm also working on a secret project. Oooohhh 🥰

Long time since my last post, but I have kept busy with things that are hard to photograph!  I put in an emergency bid for August Investiture, which was approved 5 months out. I expected maybe 100-120 people, until the King and Queen of An Tir decided to attend!! All of a sudden my little event ended up being higher profile, and luckily for me I had a team of people who had a better idea of what to do than I did ha! We had 221 people through gate at a very rustic but charming site. There seemed to be non-stop issues to contend with, some site related, some situational, and some due to my inexperience. However, as with all events I've planned in my modern life role, eventually the momentum takes over and things run themselves. The photos of the day were gorgeous because the beauty of the Sunshine Coast is unparalleled. Did that mitigate the pain of sore feet for attendees? I hope so.  Event Stewarding under non ideal circumstances seems to have a lot of "staying calm and trying...

I made this lovely creation. I'm determined to start making "things" instead of just practicing techniques on swatches. My confidence is a bit low on sewing upv side seams but some practice will help. This little pouch is made from chunky acrylic, 38 wraps, as long as my frame could accommodate. I thought it would end up longer but there was a lot of take up.  I did a 4 row repeat of S then Z, which makes a cool pattern. Here's a swatch that shows it a little better as the variegated yarn is busier: I chained across the middle, successfully, and did up the sides, less successfully.  I thought this might be enough to make a little hood, however once off the loom the dimensions were off. I'm looking forward to trying again. As I had zero expectations, I'm happy enough with the result. I think my little water bottle will fit in here.  YIS Adelheid 

To be of use   By Marge Piercy  The people I love the best  jump into work head first  without dallying in the shallows  and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.  They seem to become natives of that element,  the black sleek heads of seals  bouncing like half-submerged balls.  I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,  who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,  who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,  who do what has to be done, again and again.  I want to be with people who submerge  in the task, who go into the fields to harvest  and work in a row and pass the bags along,  who are not parlor generals and field deserters  but move in a common rhythm  when the food must come in or the fire be put out.  The work of the world is common as mud.  Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.  But the thing worth doing well done...

I officially became a student of Mu'allima Halima al-Rakkasa last weekend at an event hosted by the Shire of Hartwood. This marks the end of a long process, and the start of a new journey. In the SCA, a "student" is someone engaged in a structured learning relationship with a teacher, who may or may not be a Laurel, for mentorship. It allows for teaching with expectation of feedback to promote the growth of the student. When I joined the SCA, I wanted to learn the art of språng. I found someone selling pre-warp språng frames at an event, although the person who created the frames wasn't at the booth. It wasn't until a later event that I meant that person, Halima, who took time to walk me through pretty much every item on her table as I asked question after question about the nalbound and språng items she had created. She was the person who challenged me to create anything, didn't matter what it was, but create it and sent her a picture by December ...

Happy New Year! While I am not making any resolutions, I am committed to continuing my study of Sprang, under the tutelage of an official teacher in the SCA.  For Christmas, I asked for one of the "Year Long Sprang-a-Long" programs found at spranglady.com. I previously did a more introductory course that described various stitches, and slowly worked itself into a variety of projects and reading charts. The program I selected for 2025 was the "S and Z" course, which features patterns from the sprang artist Sharon Wichman. You can read a little about Sharon at this link: https://www.sprangart.com/musings/a-passion-for-s-z  Switching from Z leaning stitches to S leaning stitches creates a row of crossed, as opposed to interlinked, threads. It also means that the direction of the stitch leans in the other direction. Creating rows of Z and then S stitches creates, in my mind, an interesting look to the fabric. This is what my failed Maminka scarf was supposed...

I have just returned from the Tournament of the Golden Swan, and I'm happy to announce it was a success!  Golden Swan is a female persona development challenge (a challenger does not need to identify as female to enter). There are several categories: Persona Creation, Everyday Life, Habitat, Food, Textiles, Costume, Correspondence, Games/Pasttimes, Performance, and Survival. Most are mandatory, but the last three on the list you can select two out of three. Full information on the Tournament of the Golden Swan can be found here, including the full evaluation rubric: https://www.goldenswan.org/  I visited the event with an SCA friend of mine in 2022, and we travelled with two other people who soon became friends as well. We rolled into Cawston at something like 3:30 am and walked into a dark, quiet, welcoming building that smelled of apples. It was the first time I experienced "hall camping". The whole weekend was amazing. I was so moved by the entire experienc...

More swan prep... To complete the outfit, Adelheid needs an overgown. I found an inspiration piece in someone else's work for a loose, unfitted over gown where the shaping comes from the apron. I had some red wool (or wool blend) fabric donated to me, but I didn't have very much. The inspiration piece is fabric conservative, lower to middle class German, and is easy to put on. Perfect for a middle aged widow to travel in. Essentially, it's wide rectangular panels gathered into a neck band. I've never made a dress like this so I made a mock-up. See, I do learn. It seemed successful so I moved on to step two. I called a friend, Wulfwyn, to help me figure it all out. First, we burned a piece of the fabric to see what it was. There was some melting but overall it smelled like singed hair. Wool blend! We folded the fabric to get the rectangular panels, maximizing the piece of cloth and minimizing seams. There she is, showing off her cool seam ruler, to cut off a ...

To decorate the collar of the linen hemd, I'm going to do a little counted stitch embroidery from the modelbuch. How cute is that! The design is documented to 1529, and likely in use earlier. I first tried another design but it was too large for the space on the collar which is quite narrow. It was quickly apparent in the test I did, seen below. I cut a piece of linen very similar in size to the lining and then did a blackwork "Holbein" stitch, counting 10 holes as a stitch length. I love blackwork for the way it makes the same design on both sides. So tidy, so satisfying! Here's a picture of me counting my threads. I would run in between the threads of the linen, using the top of my needle to count two threads at a time. I used cotton embroidery thread, 2 strands. I would have preferred to use silk but I was eager to get on with the project as time is ticking by more quickly than I'd like. Cotton is a period fiber... Technicall...