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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Book reccs from Mistress Jadi

Greet Gijsberts

I took advantage of the Hafla at RUM to ask Mistress Jadi about places to start researching permaculture notions from the Middle East.  Then promptly wished I wasn’t so tired as to have forgotten my notebook before I asked.  What I do remember is that she kindly told me to look at several books, two by Jared Diamond: Guns, Germs and Steel, and Collapse.  Both of these are at my local library, and I can’t wait to work on them.  Then there’s Daniel J. Boorstin: The Discoverers, and The Creators.  (He’s got a third book, but she didn’t mention it, … Continue reading Book reccs from Mistress Jadi

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Dyeing with radishes

Greet Gijsberts

Anyway, radish skin extract is said to be pretty good for lightfast durable bright reds.As an inquisitive 12-year-old, I was curious to know why, when I scrubbed bright red radishes for my mother, I ended up with purple water. I took some of my ‘radish water’ to school and was allowed to  ‘play’ in the chemistry lab. I discovered that the hard, alkaline  water was causing the bluing. However, acetic acid gave orange, stronger acids (eg hydrochloric) gave yellow-orange, and alkalis a  deep purple. However, ammonium hydroxide (ammonia solution) gave green! There was more discussion along this vein, that ‘fugitive’ … Continue reading Dyeing with radishes

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RUM 2007

Greet Gijsberts

(I swear this was a coincidence.  Me, Kyle, and Lavena, after court.) RUM was fun and interesting.  I liked the site very much, because the Lake Lanier area is surprisingly cool, and very beautiful, and it’s very nice to take a dip in the swimming pool after the end of classes. Particularly when you’ve spent an hour swinging a longsword dummy over your head in the sun. (I’m very sorry I don’t have a picture.  I would’ve loved to see what I looked like.  I need a photographer.) I took classes in Italian hair braiding, silk embroidery, Meyer’s rapier & … Continue reading RUM 2007

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Dyeing with weld

Greet Gijsberts

From some dyeing list on Yahoo! Using 4 oz of chopped weld with 1# of alum mordanted wool came out witha lovely but very pale yellow. Chalk was also used to "bloom" the colorbut didn’t do much. One standard rule of thumb is weight for weight, and I have heard of as much as 4 weld: 1 dry fibre for a strong, oily yellow colour. It helps if the weld includes root and seeds. I usually use 1 oz of weld for 2 oz of mordanted wool. This gives a veryintense yellow. The important thing is to simmer for about … Continue reading Dyeing with weld

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Patricia Baines’ “Flax & Linen”

Greet Gijsberts

New book arrived! (I really want her "Linen: Handspinning and Weaving", but it’s out of print.)  This one, though, is a great little book, packed with terrific information.  I’ve already used it to clarify a question I had from "Women’s Work." What is this Egyptian ‘splicing flax fibers end-to-end’ business, as a pre-drafting technique? Baines touches on it just long enough for me to give it a try.  What you do is pull a few fibers with damp fingers, and twist them every few inches.  Then you roll that ribbon into a ball.  (My first attempt I coiled on a … Continue reading Patricia Baines’ “Flax & Linen”

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A&S summary, second quarter 2007

Greet Gijsberts

Researched natural dyesStarted reconstruction of kirtle from Durer’s "Portrait of a Young Furleger with Her Hair Up"Researched anti-fungal medicationsComposed heraldic device for submittalDetermined name for submittalResearched period woodworking devicesConstructed a Germanic Hemd: linen, handsewn, with linen thread, smocked.Experimented with spinning flax into linenAttended Kingdom A&S: took class on storytelling, and taught wool spinningConstructed a leather watchcover with deer leather and sinewConstructed a Scottish Saffron Shirt: linen, handsewn, with linen thread pulled from the fabric,pieced and embroidered according to period descriptionFound sources for looking at digital facsimilies of rare period booksResearched and discussed period dancesParticipated in public demos: demonstrated carding wool, … Continue reading A&S summary, second quarter 2007

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Patience, patience

Greet Gijsberts

I want to thank Lorenzo for his kind comments/email/reminder about one of my principles, which means I’ve decided not to push on the green kirtle for RUM. (Instead, all of you who will be there will see me lugging it around, probably sewing eyelets, or finishing seams, as that’s pleasantly mindless.) As much as I would like to show up in a lovely new kirtle copied from a painting, and dazzle everybody, I don’t want to trash the rest of my life to do it, and the chances of me learning something important by dragging it around at RUM are … Continue reading Patience, patience

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Dyeing with toadstools

Greet Gijsberts

From the Natural Dyes List on Yahoo!Groups:             To see if any mushroom will give color, pick the mushroom, crumble it into a small jar, pour boiling water over it, put the lid on and shake it.  Let it sit 1/2 to 1 hour, and see if color develops.  If it has good color in the jar, divide the jar into two more jars, making three samples.  Add a bit of vinegar to one, and ammonia to the other leaving one neutral.  See if the color changes one way or the other, and which has the best … Continue reading Dyeing with toadstools

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William Morris and natural dyes

Greet Gijsberts

From the Natural Dyes list on Yahoo!Groups: Every so often I actually read the text in books I get mainly for the illustrations — this is one: *William Morris: Decor and Design* by Elizabeth Wilhide (ISBN 0-8109-3623- 2; Abrams, 1991). I hadn’t realized that he used only natural dyes for all of his interior fabrics, rugs, upholstery.. . yards and yards and hundreds of yards of printed cottons and other fabrics made of linen, wool, silk, mohair for upholstery, drapes and curtains, rugs, tapestries.. . Lightfastness was important, and the aniline dyes of the time (late 1800s) were "prone to … Continue reading William Morris and natural dyes