Month: August 2009

Research1 Comment

Trying it out on someone else’s loom…

Greet Gijsberts

Since I took Thora Sharptooth's wadmal class at Pennsic (see that entry here), Grainne and I have been saying we ought to get together to work on her warp-weighted loom. She had one, but it had been little more than a coat rack since its creation, and I was a great catalyst to get it going.  (I do this frequently – I show up and people get courage.  It's a wonderful thing.) So this was yesterday afternoon. In a bit less than three hours (and with much gabbing and giggling), we got a Pretty Durn Wide(tm) warp spaced out on … Continue reading Trying it out on someone else’s loom…

ResearchLeave a comment

Playing with musical modes further…

Greet Gijsberts

A friend and I were discussing the feeling of menace, of doomedness, in The Animals' House of the Rising Sun.  (I just typed "Rising Stone"…surely this has been filked, oh Murfreesboro pals?  You won't find me doing it, as I don't really care for filk, but just curious.) Anyway, since I have been learning about musical modes, and trying to develop an ear for them, and therefore understand how they impart different moods (moods = modes, get it?), I wondered if the "menace" in Rising Sun might devolve to what mode it's in. Yes, serious geeking ahead.  Pull on the … Continue reading Playing with musical modes further…

ResearchLeave a comment

Amber is a SCA convention; new cemetery report

Greet Gijsberts

Hmm.  I'd been thinking about getting a couple of strands of amber chips to play with, when I found a reference in Owen-Crocker to amber going out of use by the 7thc, and shortly thereafter a comment on Norsefolk about huge ropes of amber being unsupported by evidence, and a "SCA convention".  I need to read more about this so I don't get myself into trouble. (The new necklace from Pennsic, from Cabachon, which is the stall run by the woman who teaches so much Anglo-Saxon stuff, including architecture, and references literature so charismatically.  I might be okay with this … Continue reading Amber is a SCA convention; new cemetery report

ResearchLeave a comment

Lyres versus harps, a draft pile of data

Greet Gijsberts

I have a new-to-me harp – it isn't anything fantastic, but I'm learning a lot with it, and I love the way harp sounds.  Pennsic offered several wonderful opportunities for playing harp, and I got to jam with wonderful musicians, and see other harpists play much better than I. While at Pennsic, I saw a listing for an Anglo-Saxon lyrebuilding class – which was a presentation of how the Sutton Hoo and Trossingen lyres might be made with power tools.  But now of course I want one.  (I also now want a bodhran, after having been shown the basic strokes … Continue reading Lyres versus harps, a draft pile of data

Clothing and Equipment3 Comments

5th century Irish Tuam (a camp chair)

Greet Gijsberts

I've been wanting a camp chair that was strong enough for anybody to sit in, and for me to sit in someone's lap in.  And, since it's mine, it needed some "in the range of" documentation, even though it's a camp chair.  And it had to fold up or break down nicely.  And I wanted it to be more comfortable than a plywood chair. Here's the one Michael Moulton and I worked on this weekend: 5thc Irish Tuam; I haven't seen the book that this guy's instructions are based on yet, and I'd really like to see the original information there, but I figured … Continue reading 5th century Irish Tuam (a camp chair)

EventsLeave a comment

Oldenfeld Demo at FSU

Greet Gijsberts

(Mom and I in respective early period wear – I've got on new amber/jet/silver necklace, new Kentish brooches from Raymond's Quiet Press, and my new standard brooch-closed tunic that I finished for Pennsic.  A full-length pic will be in the Current Garb Photo Album soon, and I'll discuss the gown more later.) The demo yesterday went really well, I thought.  It was funny to see Oldenfeldians in garb, since I see them so much outside of events.  (Entirely my own fault, since their events always seem to be scheduled opposite Meridian events that I am going to.  That's happening AGAIN for … Continue reading Oldenfeld Demo at FSU

Clothing and EquipmentLeave a comment

I can haz tent geometry!!!

Greet Gijsberts

Finally, something that backs up my claim that I am an architect, really, truly I am: A graph paper geteld!  This guy is scaled 1/2"  = 1'0".  It's using a 12' long ridge, with 10' of it over 9' uprights… Here's the "open one side and put on poles view", a la this real tent: that I was talking about here.  I waved the pattern around to various people, and decided in discussion that I wanted a taller tent.  (I have tall friends, and I want to use the raised version of an airmattress.  No, don't try to talk me … Continue reading I can haz tent geometry!!!

Clothing and Equipment, Research6 Comments

More about Frankish Kent (women’s clothes only, sorry)

Greet Gijsberts

I am helping a friend think about 6thc clothing for Crown List, and thought it'd be nice to collect some research images, with my thoughts about how they might be put together. Aillegan is focused on Merovingian – that'd be Continental – but as there's significant influence in Kent by Franks (the marriage of Berthe to Ethelbert in late 6thc), and I've got a couple of really good books about the period, I'm sharing. The books are: Owen-Crocker, Gale.  Dress in Anglo-Saxon England. Rogers, Penelope Walton.  Cloth and Clothing in Early Anglo-Saxon England. The images that follow are from them. … Continue reading More about Frankish Kent (women’s clothes only, sorry)

Clothing and Equipment, Research2 Comments

The Orkney Hood

Greet Gijsberts

I met Brid, Laurel of the East Kingdom, interested in early period British Isles stuff (particularly Irish) in Thora Sharptooth's wadmal class. This is her in her Orkney hood.  I like hooded capes very much (see the chaperon pattern), and didn't know about this one, so I looked it up, and found this re-creation. I will never be as good as the author in this paper.  Not that I think I have to be, but my word – the fantasticness of the geekery.  All honors and homage are due.  I am terribly impressed. Continue reading The Orkney Hood

Events, ResearchLeave a comment

Wadmal class, Pennsic 2009

Greet Gijsberts

This will be an incomplete post, as I arrived on site too late for the first installment of Thora Sharptooth's class, but as the cloth in progress was very similar to the construction of my string skirt, I feel I can muddle through that on my own.  Thora's page on the warp-weighted loom; if you're interested in Viking stuff at all, look at her filing cabinet. Wadmal is apparently 2/2 twill from Iceland.  It's woven on a warp-weighted loom.  We all got to do a bit of the process. When I got there, the loom (and Thora) looked like this: … Continue reading Wadmal class, Pennsic 2009