Author: Greet Gijsberts

Greet Gijsberts is a persona created to play in the Society for Creative Anachronism. She authors this blog in order to document her projects and adventures, and share them with a wider audience.
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Gulf Wars, 2008

Greet Gijsberts

It’s interesting how much I’ve learned in a year.  I’m not sure my experience last year (of having the top of my head blown right off) will ever repeat itself, but this year certainly was worth the trip if very different. First, the loot.  (Any war generates spoils, right?) From upper left: Silk organza for my 16th c Black Protestant hat, and machine bobbin lace for same.  Camel tropical-weight wool for a Tudor Working Dress.  Colored wool is for Coptic tapestry weaving.  The black thread is linen dyed blackish with only tannin and iron (cook linen in an iron pot … Continue reading Gulf Wars, 2008

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Historic weaving on WeaveCast

Greet Gijsberts

I enjoy Syne Mitchell’s WeaveCast – but this particular recent episode is of double interest – she interviews Marje Thompson, who knows an awful lot about historic weave structures and the state of weaving in Colonial America.  Of particular interest: Colonists were city people.  They initially brought no textile tools more complex than a needle.  No spinning wheels, no looms.  Country (self-sufficient) people found it much harder to leave.  It’s a wonder any of them survived. Fabric production was much more valuable than woodcrafts.  A ‘bed’ in a will refers to the soft furnishings, not the bedframe, which was essentially … Continue reading Historic weaving on WeaveCast

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Blog draft design for Betsy and Strictly Weavers

Greet Gijsberts

Hi Betsy!  (No Bess, not you.) I’ve volunteered to put together a blog for our local weaver’s guild, and have tried out my new laptop and Microsoft OneNote to design it.  Of course, this new stuff doesn’t exactly play well with the old stuff, and I can’t email my tiny mhtml file via my Yahoo! account.  Sigh. Thus it’s here.  Download blog_design_draft_1.mht If it STILL doesn’t work for you, Betsy…I’m going to print it, scan it, and send a blessed JPG.  Mercy. Those of you who play with other guilds elsewhere – if you’ve got absolutely nothing better to do … Continue reading Blog draft design for Betsy and Strictly Weavers

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Book Review – World Textiles, A Concise History

Greet Gijsberts

Sorry I’ve been quiet – very busy lately with a family medical crisis, new technology, garden worrying, trying to go paperless with professional stuff, and learning about personality types.  All completely engrossing…but not very medieval. One thing emergency rooms are good for is the spending of time.  Fortunately Lavena had passed on Honnoria’s book to me ("because I do textiles when??") and I’m really glad she did. Not only because it was apparently Just The Right Thing for several-hour-chunks of worrisome uncertainty and waiting, but because it’s a terrifically dense little resource, that is exactly what it claims to be.  … Continue reading Book Review – World Textiles, A Concise History

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Embroidery for other Royals

Greet Gijsberts

Ta da! (Click for bigger.) Embroidery for the Trimarian Royals.  Their personal arms, as published here. I did this as a service project for our Majesties to gift to the Trimarian ones at Gulf Wars.  Now that it’s done, I really could have put them a bit farther apart…they’re meant to be cut out and applied as patches to something like a dinner napkin. Technical notes: Cotton embroidery floss, dyed with modern commercial dyes by DMC, on bleached linen.  3" square.  Stitches: Primarily bokkara couching (2 strands), with plenty of satin stitch for the badges (2 strands) and single-stranded backstitch … Continue reading Embroidery for other Royals

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Podcast: Radio 4’s In Our Time

Greet Gijsberts

Since I’ve been cleaning out my del.icio.us files, I’m stumbling on some really neat stuff collected in this digital attic. I love podcasts – they help me on long drives, with computer or household drudgery.  This one, In Our Time, uses each episode to focus on the history of an idea.  Currently I have queued up: Melvyn Bragg reveals the marvel and scientific endeavor of the Renaissance court of Rudolf II in Prague. He is joined by Peter Forshaw, Postdoctoral Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London and an Honorary Fellow of the University of Exeter; Howard Hotson, Lecturer in Modern … Continue reading Podcast: Radio 4’s In Our Time

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More links on ‘Other Useful Places’ page

Greet Gijsberts

Sorry I’ve been quiet – between tax time and Persian sewing and putting in garden plants and embroidering…well, I haven’t done much documenting.  I’m having a problem with fabulosity being thrown at me from all sides, and never seeming to have time to actually sit down and play with it.  I’m looking forward to Saturday – nothing is planned!  Perhaps I will have opportunities to photograph and write. Happily, the universe heard that I was interested in tapestry weaving clavi into my Coptic tunic (linen fabric as yet unmeasured and uncut), and threw a WeaveCast right on topic for me.  … Continue reading More links on ‘Other Useful Places’ page

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More housekeeping

Greet Gijsberts

You’ll now notice that ‘Resources’ have appeared on the sidebar.  Many many links.  I have a long way to go in processing my del.icio.us account of SCA stuff, so I’ll post again with the next big addition. Also, there’s now a Page for each Garb Persona I’ve been working on – there’s more stuff to add to each one, but I’ll get there. In non-digital life, more housekeeping also.  I have made progress towards my Wardrobe Room, by sorting out the contents of the third bedroom, moving some furniture, donating a heap of stuff to charity, burn testing all my … Continue reading More housekeeping