The potholder weaving charts are now located here:
Embroidered pouch
Last week, I found some pre-cut wool and linen in my workbasket, packed with a bobbin of embroidery floss. I’m pretty sure it’s from a kit someone gave me – alas, I do not remember who. So I whipped up a new pouch for Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin, to relieve some of the strain on the nålbound pouch I made him a while back. This one is phone sized, with space for business cards, flyers, and pens.
Netted drinks holder
My sister wanted a water bottle holder to attach to her hammock chair. Netting to the rescue! I had a lucet cord in progress, from a ball of yellow hemp, courtesy of Ursula’s Alcove. I pulled thread from the inside of the ball to load my netting shuttle, then cut off the start of the lucet cord in progress to use as drawstring and handles. I knew the hemp would wash up to be softer and still sturdy, and she likes the color yellow. Win!
Seastars lucet cord
For local service to our SCA group, the Crown Province of Østgarðr, the viceregents hand out seastar charms. This past Sunday, our canton of Brokenbridge (Brooklyn, NY) had a class on ‘what to do with your seastar collection!?” I demonstrated how to attach charms to cords, 3 ways: using a secondary thread (lucet cord with a gimp), pre-threading onto the working thread (kumihimo), and incorporating them as you go (fingerloop braiding).
Here’s how the lucet cord turned out:
hemp lucet cord
2 oz. of cherry wet spun 10/6 hemp yarn from Ursula’s Alcove, approx. 113 yards, turns into 37.5′ of square lucet cord, pre-washing.
Sea Urchin embroidery
Mid-November, 2020, I was honored to be recruited by my Vicereine (ceremonial head of the NYC-area SCA group) to help make regalia for the newest inductee into our Order of the Sea Urchin of Østgarðr. The Sea Urchin is for youth who excel in service, arts or martial accomplishment — “and” in the case of this extremely deserving young person.
Springerle cookies
Earlier this year, my province hosted our kingdom’s Twelfth night celebration. I contributed cookies (and a subtlety, which deserves its own “Doin’ it WRONG” mention, ha ha) to the feast.
We be Soldiers three
I asked my friend Lilie to compose a song for our province’s largesse presentation to their Eastern Majesties, for which we parade from our Østgarðr encampment at Pennsic to the East Kingdom royal encampment, singing as we march. Her contrafact (filk) to the tune of We be Soldiers is delightful.
In preparing for the presentation, I discovered that the melody with which I was most familiar is not the original melody, but is instead an interpretation by Curtis & Loretta, who learned it from a Renaissance band, possibly after an arrangement by William Chappell. You can go down this rabbit hole yourself — there is much interesting information out there. I began here: http://www.lizlyle.lofgrens.org/RmOlSngs/RTOS-Soldiers3.html
Desirous of returning to the original melody, I turned to Greg Lindahl’s helpful scan of Ravenscroft’s Deuteromelia, and typeset Thomas Ravenscroft’s original harmonization with my own interpretation, so we can practice beforehand.
Whipstitching a decorative element to a base fabric
A friend asked for help stitching Girl Scout patches, so I made her a video, since we don’t live near each other. The technique is the same as I would use to appliqué trim or an embroidered element onto a medieval garment, so I share with you the video I made for her.
Pride cord
My local SCA group, the Crown Province of Østgarðr, is participating in Brooklyn Pride festival this year, yay! What better way to show off our affiliation and support than with a period cord worked in Pride colors? Presenting a lace bend round of 8 bowes in the inclusive (Philadelphia) Pride flag colors: black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.