Adelheid in the SCA

 This is a bit of an odd post - I have been updating my wiki and wanted to show some of my favourite things that I have collected and/or been gifted along the way. There was no real room for explanation, so I thought I'd put them out here. My very first token was from Fjordland Rising in 2012 (give or take a year). Due to some life circumstances, it was a few more years before I actually found the local SCA again, this time through a friend. This reminds me to never give up. My newcomer beads were given at Baroness' Inspiration, which would have been November 2018. This was my first official event. These remind me that everyone starts as a newcomer. My mousetail came from my second event, probably February Investiture, where I was volunteering for gate and I met the loveliest person who was a nalbinder. I asked how the tail of her very cute mouse was made, and she showed me. I actually laughed and clapped like a little kid seeing a magic trick! This reminds me to be humble and ...

The next learning goal is holes. I love holes! I love knitting holes. I'm going to learn bobbin lace one day. And my lovely språng mentor can make net using a series of holes. I have made eyelets before, so today's the day! The snow is pretty but I will be staying inside. Miscalculation #1 - I grabbed the nearest string which was way too fine for a learning project. I finally got the frame warped and started going for it. Plain weave... Ok so far. For the eyelets, I started on a single pickup row and did the pick one drop two, pick two drop one pattern. Being clever, I knew I had to reverse it so I did pick two drop one, pick one drop two for the second row. Not quite. I re read Halima's instructions and realized I missed the plain u1d1 row in between. Ok so I tried that, then offsetting the second row and... Still no 🤣 I threw together a practice warp to figure out what I'm doing wrong. I'm used to things coming easy...

After thinking about it for a week, I got my mind around s-twist. I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself! There's a very cool looking error on the left which I'll have to learn to reproduce. This is the log cabin pattern. My dear friend and mentor explained it as alternative Z and S rows, which it was. The pattern comes from the warping. So pleased. YIS AW

It's been a while since I've had time it head space to craft. This interesting piece of sprang showed up in one of my feeds and instantly I wanted to make it! https://sprangart.com/musings/log-cabin-pattern-in-sprang?/fbclid=IwAR2pP1-t6DEhvXmChbswezT9zojUd9OmqqfncNhMzaDE971c3EfjCAhic0U  As I sat to warp my frame, I realized I have no idea how to warp a frame. My first frame was warped by someone else. So today's activity pivoted to learning how to warp. After reviewing the materials I had, I went with wrapping the frame "up front, back down" until I ran out of wool. Then I wove a stick thru the middle (over under over under) and that created the warp. Then I happily went about my business. Within a couple of warps, I realized I was just creating twisty strings. Snapdragons. So I untwisted and started again, this time picking up two from the back. Back in business. One row... Pick up one from the back, second row pick...

Språng was the art that initially drew me to the SCA back in 2012. There's a bit of a lag between first learning about the SCA and eventually joining in 2018, but that's not the story being told here. This story is about a 10 year long search for an ancient fibre art. I had a book about it, back in 2012, originally found in the inter-library loan program of BC. The book, now out of print, has mysteriously been "lost". Grr. A book and DVD by Carol James came up on the local buy and sell. I POUNCED! No joke. Mid COVID-19 shutdown and everything - dropped everything at work. Luckily, in a small town, it wasn't that far. I don't know who I thought was going to try to squeeze me out for a språng DVD. I dropped my lysol wiped money on the doorstep and picked up the wiped down goods. Took an online class, and got as far as warping a frame. But by the time I had that completed, the class had moved on so I put it down. At August Investiture, someone was selling pre-war...

What an honour! At Hartwood Yule, the Princess gave out three of her favours, and one was to me. I've enjoyed being part of their Highnesses retinue as an attendant. It has really opened my eyes to previously unknown parts of the SCA - especially service and outreach. I've so much admiration for their Highnesses, and their wish to spread (inflict!) joy! I've a deeper appreciation for how much joyful work is involved on their parts and through the work of their considerable and impressive team. With much gratitude, AW

It was time to try doing sleeves.  Using Morgan Donner's "Drafting a Medieval Kirtle Dress Pattern" video as a guide, I drafted sleeves.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yED06QFK2Q4  These were ok, but I wanted them sightly looser and the swirly twirly s curve was a bit too voluminous. So tried again... I cut down the s curve and the seam allowance, that's why it looks so much shorter. I also widened the sleeve to the original seam allowance at the wrist.  This seems to have worked. I measured the s curve on the pattern against the armscythe and they seemed to match. I went ahead and "mounted the arm piece". It fit so much better than I anticipated, and didn't have to gather or fuss over anything. And here's me with it on, lacing not done up but you get the idea. Could be a touch higher on the shoulder. Could be a curved sleeve like some kirtle patterns have so it's not so bulky especially around th...