Category: Clothing and Equipment

A place to document my kit – things I’ve made or found

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Pomaireware bean pot debut!

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(The cat checks to make sure I am not planning Fricassee d'Feline.) This is the first in a collection I am making of ceramic cooking pots, in an effort to use more period gear on site.  Although I admittedly started this project motivated by appearance, I am learning that Ceramics May Be Just Better, aided and abetted by Paula Wolfert's  Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking. Pomairewaire is from Pomaire, Chile, and I bought this pot from Earthfare, which is a grocery chain that will possibly be the death of my favorite health foods coop in Tallahassee. Yesterday the pot debuted brilliantly. … Continue reading Pomaireware bean pot debut!

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Leftover dye

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What to do with a small batch of leftover black dye? I needed to dye a bit of fringe leftover from the first diamond twill, black.  Small pot of RIT.   I'm inordinately proud of this idea – the point is to make my braid look like a bell-rope, like this: Tassels everywhere!!!  (This kit improvement is motivated by helping serve Madhavi's super-authentic Indian feast at Trimaris' 25th year.  My kit has a LONG way to go, before it looks as good as this, but that's part of the fun.) Cotton dyes incredibly quickly – no wonder it replaced linen … Continue reading Leftover dye

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Cooking pots for fifty! Or eighty! Haven’t decided…

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NEW BIG HAIRY LEARNING CURVE ALERT!  I've volunteered to be feastcrat/head cook for Glynn Rhe's combined A&S/fighting event, Convivium Collegialis/Wine List, held next February. As faithful readers of this blog will guess, I've had a Big Idea about how to organize my effort planning. Imagine that you come into the event, and somebody has a camp kitchen set up, with several dishes cooking.  You can stand around and take perhaps a couple of hour-long classes (on the tools and the recipes) and get copies of the recipes that are being cooked.  At the end of the day, everybody sits down … Continue reading Cooking pots for fifty! Or eighty! Haven’t decided…

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Gulf Wars 2010 recap

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So now I've been in the SCA three years.  Gulf Wars was my first event, so it's a great time to think about how my play has developed, see where I've grown, and set priorities for the next year.  Basic recap first: We got in just at sunset Wednesday, and after setting up camp, got ourselves over (late) to the Meridian Social.  The theme this year was RagaROCKS, and since I have about as much memory of eighties' hair metal as I do blue hair, my impression may not be quite recognizable, but it was fun to pull together:   … Continue reading Gulf Wars 2010 recap

Clothing and Equipment, Events1 Comment

Coats for Gulf Wars

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It's somehow much easier to work on jackets, coats, and cloaks when there's snow on the ground. Everyone with extensive Gulf Wars experience is worried about another really cold one this year.  This seems amazing to me, as I have always been quite warm during the day, though nights can be really chilly.  Still, it's a great time to curl up with handwork under piles of wool. I'm sewing for three on a regular basis now, so first I attended to the family:   Teenaged girl likes both Oriental and Irish culture.  She'd received a wrapped Mongolian coat shell, but … Continue reading Coats for Gulf Wars

Clothing and Equipment, Events5 Comments

This monkey is focused on A&S…

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…unlike me these days.  Then again, I've managed to avoid being the target of the atlatl field lately. Right, so I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I've just been turning my life upside down, moving in the midst of the holidays, and I'll get back to my normal post format soon.  I hope.  (My bookmarks overfloweth!) Recap, because A&S reports are due, and I shamelessly use this blog to keep track of what I do: Since I last posted (gah! two whole months ago!), I've: Practiced music (recorder and voice) with Oldenfeld's Ensemble (Trimaris), weekly.  Learned various … Continue reading This monkey is focused on A&S…

Clothing and Equipment, Food6 Comments

Cooking pots!

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Yeah, yeah, so I needed another activity.  Like a hole in the head.  I've always liked cooking, particularly as a preface to **eating**, but as there's lots of hospitality in the SCA, I put my first efforts into clothes (and clothes, and clothes), activities, and camp gear.  But now that I'm pretty much dressed and housed, and certainly entertained, I can start contributing to hospitality. At Gatalop, Randver and I geeked with potter Mistress Kiara about her cooking vessels.  I'd seen a bread oven of her crafting at Baroness Mairie Ceilidh's, who is a cooking laurel, and a recurrent patron … Continue reading Cooking pots!

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Wool tent debut success! Held up against thunderstorm front, and much admired.

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It worked!  A cold front came through and blew down 2 tents in the night, and three more needed serious emergency help, but this geteld weathered like a champ.  It got restaked in the morning, and there was a bit of water intrusion, but all the bedding and stuff stayed dry, and I slept, so I count it as a SUCCESS. Lots of people admired it, including mundane visitors to the fort.  The fabric is very pettable. More pics below, with my comments on some further fine tuning. Here's the pile of my stuff: Clothes chest by Gregg, table from … Continue reading Wool tent debut success! Held up against thunderstorm front, and much admired.

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For those who were worried about mildew…

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Now I understand why.  A very strong argument for upgrading the weatherflaps and mudflaps to wool in future. (This picture is the weatherflap on one of the doors, sewn to the door.) They aren't now because I ran out of the main fabric, and as they needn't match, or be light-colored, I'll find something I like in future based on weight and weave type. The fine print:  After my rain test Friday night,  I let the tent dry all day Saturday.  "Dry" is a relative term in Florida.  I put the fairly dry tent in my car that night, intending … Continue reading For those who were worried about mildew…

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Tent progress – Rain test, finally, with pics!

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(droplets beading on wool fabric, gray of first light) It figures, after a summer where it rained a lot nearly every day, I'd have to wait a few days for a paltry half inch. (rain gauge and seriously wet fabric at base of tent) But still, a half-inch is a half-inch, and it's created the 'wet sag' that I was looking for… Those stress lines were definitely not there before.  The jute strips are fantastic, they're reducing the sag. Tarp inside was completely dry, and the fabric was not wet to the touch on the inside, on the main.  I'm … Continue reading Tent progress – Rain test, finally, with pics!