pink pouch!

Three years ago I met Lydia primarily because her daughter, the Wee E, crawled into our camp at Pennsic. Happily, we’ve become really great friends. However, we only get to visit for two weeks once a year. I can say with confidence that she has made my Pennsic experience so much better! Well, last year Eleanore had a lovely pink cloak and pink gillies. So when I dyed and spun a skein of pink yarn, I had to name it in her honor. The yarn was spun bulky weight (4 WPI) from combed Romney top. I was really happy with that skein and listed it in the shop for a long time, but no one purchased it.

Then I found out that Lydia had been wanting it! I brought it out with me when I came back for the second week. She asked if I’d knit something for her, so I made this little woolly pouch. Success! I’m glad to know it has a happy home, plus it’s the most productive thing I did the entire week!

home again!

Returned once again from War. Nothing much to report, although, considering our history (broken leg, burned foot, spider bite), that’s probably a good thing. Initially the weather was not good. Rain rain rain. Which turned into mud mud mud. Dark, gooey, and thick. Not to mention stinky. We decided to try out a new block this year and the end we wanted was the “flood” end. It didn’t flood, but we did have to dig a trench for drainage. It was so wet in fact, there were crayfish popping up in the middle of camp!

I didn’t try to attend a lot of classes this year. There were a few that I really wanted to go to, but as with previous years, I made it to about half. For the past three years, I’ve wanted to go to the basket-weaving class. First try, missed it, second try, missed it. This year, I finally got in, not without some drama, and made my first basket! It wasn’t really that difficult. Now I’m going to use the kits I got at Christmas to make more!

Usually I’m not that great at budgeting myself, but this year I didn’t want to spend a lot of money. Luckily, I didn’t find a lot of expensive things I wanted, so I didn’t have a problem. I bought a mini nostepinne, fabric, spinning fiber, books, pottery, a brooch, a sock (yes, just one), and that’s it. I think.

Overall it was a good year.

this and that.

It’s raining today. Can’t say I’m too bummed about being at home instead of at Pennsic. Tomorrow is my last day at work. At 1:00 I will leave and drive straight up 422 to Cooper’s Lake and stay there until Sunday afternoon. Next Sunday.

I had to run some errands before coming home to wash my blankets and sheets. Otherwise my packing is mostly complete. In one box I have all of my garb and accessories. In another box I have towels and sheets. And finally, I have a project basket, which is bigger than last year. I didn’t try to pretend by using a smaller basket.

The wedding plans are coming along so well I haven’t done anything in a while. My mum and I did go to the florist last week to put together the bouquet. It’s going to be green hydrangea and green kermits. Yes, the flowers AND the leaves will be green. My cousin had a little photo display at her wedding of she and fiance as kids with photos from their parents’ weddings. I thought that sounded neat, so Rich and I went looking for baby pictures. Guess who this is. And no, It’s not me.

I can’t talk right now, I’m sewing.

All year I’ve been saying to myself: Gwen, you have lots of fabric. Why don’t you make something? Now’s the time!

Instead of doing it in January, however, I’ve decided to wait until one week before Pennsic. I’ve gotten two dresses put together though, so I consider that not too shabby.

Both dresses/tunics are blue and of the same style, which is a mid-calf length overdress. I would wear a full-length dress underneath in addition to a chemise. In the photos I am not wearing a chemise. These dresses are super easy to make. I have one piece for the body; one piece each for the sleeves (nearly square); I take two rectangles cut in half diagonally for the gores; and another rectangle to do the facing around the neck hole. Usually I make the body wide enough that I don’t bother with gussets because I’m not good at putting them in.

Excited for Pennsic!

more awesome pennsic buys

Finally finished unpacking after Pennsic and found more acquisitions:

• A little brown jug
• White wool thread
• Three balls of weaving yarn
• An old book on wool
• Spin Span Spun
• Turkish spindle from Valkyrie (no longer being made!)
• Belt knife (historically accurate)
• Circlet
• Carnelian necklace
• Amber ring
• Brown leather belt (made by Rickard)
• Two cloak pins

the spoils of war

I have to admit, shopping is at the very tip-top of my list of favorite things to do at Pennsic. Within the first week I’d already spent all my money. Amazing how it goes away so quickly! The following are not my purchases in their entirety, just what was readily available at the moment.

I decided to buy lots of fabric this year, since I didn’t get any last year. I always go for linen because you can get it at really good prices there. And of course I love wool but I don’t buy much because I rarely have an occasion to wear it.  I bought all linen and one piece of wool (the white on the far right). They’ve already been washed! I’m excited about renewing my wardrobe with pieces appropriate to my time period.

Some fancy silk embroidery floss for doing, well, embroidery. I couldn’t pass up these colors!

And beads. I’ve slowly been expanding my jewelry collection. My love is amber, but it’s far too expensive. Last year I bought some carnelian and strung them into a necklace.  This year I still looked for amber, but the lengths were all funky. So, I got these jade beads and will make them into something, any length I want.

home from time travel

Luckily we had no problems returning from the 12th century to the 21st century. In past years it has been rather difficult and traumatic, but we managed it quite well this time. I’ve just been vegging out all day, although not everyone has that luxury. On my list of things to do: laundry. And if the sun cooperates, take photos of the goodies I brought home. A lot of them are packed away in the front of the truck, so it may be awhile. I took some photos of camp, although for those of you who don’t quite know what you are looking at, it may be confusing… I’ll just share a few; there are more on Flickr.

Front gate of Gryphon’s Rest, our household. The sheetwall panels have our arms painted on them. Mine is the one on the left: green top, yellow bottom, squirrel. Most camps have some kind of entrance like this, displaying the name, with sheets for privacy and dust protection. Also keeps wanderers out of camp.

This is our lovely new dining fly, seen a few weeks ago at the demo. We had one long table down the center where we sat for dinner. The kitchen area was also under there, which was a little bit tight. Next year we’ll move the kitchen out and get shelves for the storage shed.

Here we are, Lady Genevieve and Lord Rickard, standing in front of his pavilion before leaving for Midrealm Court. We had just gotten circlets (which we have had the right to wear for several years and didn’t), so now we look semi-important. I have lots of sewing to do now that I’m home. Most of his tunics need to be taken in, especially in the sleeves. Apparently I didn’t measure very accurately when I made them.

We had a good year. Rickard and I went dancing several nights, which was a great experience since in our home shire it’s really hard to get people to dance. I went to a few classes, some good, some lame. Mostly I get frustrated and give up because there are so many women trying to get in, they just elbow you right out. I didn’t do a whole lot of knitting or spinning, although I did buy a new spindle and some wool. I did a little bit of weaving and learned a new felting technique. It was good to get away and relax. We even had good weather.

I almost forgot! Today is my 3 year anniversary of spinning! In 2005 I took the Turkish drop spindle class at Pennsic and here I am today. It’s really amazing what one little thing can do to change your life. For spinning, HOOBAH!

expect me when you see me

So this is it everyone! I am heading off to Pennsic tonight, the excitement starts tomorrow and lasts for two weeks! I hope you don’t forget about me while I’m gone and be sure to return the middle of August. Hopefully I will have some projects and purchases to share.

A few things before I go. The Etsy Shop will be closed while I’m away. I’ll be putting all my items on hold so there aren’t any misunderstandings and lingering sales.  But as I mentioned a few days ago, I’ll be free from working when I get back, which means I should have *lots* of time for spinning and dyeing.  Speaking of etsy sales, I want to share this photo that Marion left in my feedback. She bought the Surf and Turf, which was two separate colorways that she plied together. It is so beautiful! Thank you for sharing that Marion.  Also, Silja bought some roving quite early on and has posted pictures of it here. Thanks for posting!  It’s very exciting to see what people are doing with my fibers. I get such a thrill.

Hmm.. was there anything else I wanted to say? I suppose not! Anyway, I’ll leave you with a few old (and not so great) photos from Pennsic 35. We have none from 36, last year, because it was the year from hell. Endless bad weather, dreadful land negotiations, RVs, migraine, BROKEN LEG… the camp was a mess and there were no good photo opportunities, not to mention no one cared much. So, here’s to a good year!

Lady Emeline standing at the gate of Gryphon's Rest

Dutch ovens over fire pit