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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Linen: Spinning and Handweaving

Greet Gijsberts

Linen: Spinning and Handweaving is an out-of-print (come on, Interweave!) practical bible on how to grow, process, spin and weave flax and flax-like fibers. I am flabbergasted by the amount of content presented in these 200 pages.  I feel if I can just follow Patricia Baines’ instructions, I too will be able to do what the Beales did, which is really my goal for Peasant Tech independence vis-a-vis cloth production: Percy and Rita Beales made a firm decision to learn to spin, dye, and weave linen when they moved into Percy’s old family home in North Lopham, Norfolk (where his … Continue reading Linen: Spinning and Handweaving

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Equipment I can’t have…

Greet Gijsberts

Oh man, these are great deals, folks!  I’m buying a beautiful foldable floor loom, direct tie-up, in three weeks, 24" wide.  If I get a great wheel my husband will not allow me to leave the house anymore.  Better not.  (Concentrate on the flax project.) But for you I present: Great Wheel for Sale. Need space, Have mother. Oak, In good condition, Has all working parts.  Had main whorl remade exactly (from black walnut) using my other wheel’s complete Miner’s Head as pattern.  Large wheel in excellent condition. Breaks down easily for transport…except the large wheel’s diameter is 47".  Will … Continue reading Equipment I can’t have…

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Peach mead!part2

Greet Gijsberts

Racking the mead again. I missed the first racking of the mead, it happened after we all dragged ourselves in from RUM, but Lavena looked at the carboy and decided it was time to separate the mead from the peach/yeast sediment.That light stuff is the sediment. Lavena and Cato are washing the 3 and 1 gallon carboys that the mead will go into.  Chlorox is involved. This is Lavena washing out the siphon with cheap vodka. Here goes the siphoning!  I missed the start of the siphon, but it looks like they just used the dissimilar level method to get … Continue reading Peach mead!part2

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Wanted: Rumpelstiltskin

Greet Gijsberts

Though I’m fresh out of first-born.  S’pose he’d take a cat? Seriously, I’m trying to spin up all my loose fiber, so I have yarn for weaving/knitting/dyeing.  I’ve got 1.5 pounds of linen strick, and you see here about 0.25 pounds spun, which has taken at least five 2-hour sessions.  For comparison, I was filling this bobbin with worsted Alpaca completely in about 2 hours in April.  I’m trying to learn how to spin more finely, and the exchange is you get more time out of your money’s worth of fiber.  Hmm. I’ve also been building up my needle callouses. … Continue reading Wanted: Rumpelstiltskin

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Master of the Housebook – Green Kirtle Doc

Greet Gijsberts

Master of the Housebook is an artist who supposedly greatly influenced Albrecht Durer.  I posted a HELP on Meridies’ Costuming Guild, and was gently reminded to go back to Myra’s Costume Pages. DUH.  Um, remember this?  I love Myra’s work.  She dances/embroiders/paints/knits too, and likes Eunny, and gets to live in Europe…(ending breathless fangirl gush now).  Sorry. Anyway, here’s a bunch of Housebook images from Myra’s site for discussion about the pleated-bodice dress.  (I’m reproducing thumbnails for visual reference only here, trying to maintain respect for her copyrights while still engaging in Fair Use scholarly discussion.) Pair of Lovers Unequal … Continue reading Master of the Housebook – Green Kirtle Doc