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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Music update – Modes

Greet Gijsberts

 I'm wading through the stacks of papers, and notes, and pictures, and pamphlets, and business cards…all acquired at Pennsic. Kind of depressing having no money and not being able to drop $500 on the books I want now.  ILL is not quite useful enough.  Oh well, it's not like I've exhausted the books I have or finished all the projects I've got materials for. Had lovely music geekage last night at ensemble. I got there a bit early, and dumped a pile of questions on Master Octavio, which he seemed to enjoy.  Our practice then revolved around one of the topics of my … Continue reading Music update – Modes

Clothing and Equipment, Research1 Comment

Tent building – thinking about getelds

Greet Gijsberts

I have been researching various kinds of wedge tents. I'm very fond of the basic shape – I like the cool simplicity of a light-colored prism, and contrast it in my mind with a riot of woolly and painted-wood color on the ground plane with bedcoverings, rugs, cushions and trunks. I'd found this Regia Anglorum site on getelds – an intriguing design, and one found in drawings of the pre-Norman period.  They show it with one side lifted here, but you can also stake that side down, and open either end of that opening, by using half the bell as … Continue reading Tent building – thinking about getelds

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More pictures from Pennsic

Greet Gijsberts

Here's some topics of pictures from Pennsic: Early Russian Costuming (in sidebar).  These are images from the class taught at Pennsic.  In discussion with Maudey, we were complaining about the lack of original artifacts shown typically in these classes (we're such snobs) and I have since seen a whole bunch of wonderful stuff, including from Kiev, in a museum catalog about the Vikings.  So that's where to look. Tentmaking.  Again, images from a class.  I'll be blogging detailed notes about this class, since I have fabric for a tent of my own, and will be working on that soon. Wadmal … Continue reading More pictures from Pennsic

Events3 Comments

Back from Pennsic-land.

Greet Gijsberts

(Greet and Julia in Kass McGann's shop – Reconstructing History) I had a wonderful time – I met wonderful people, learned things on purpose and not, tried things, and generally got more perspective.  Some of the things I learned: I can stop feeling nervous about my kit – I'm starting to feel more secure in my presentation.  Need a proper chair for evening hangouts, and a tent.  I want fancy boxes (27" wide at base) and some other camp niceties, but bins hidden from view will do for now.  I brought three times as many clothes as I used, but I managed … Continue reading Back from Pennsic-land.

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String Skirt 7 – Metal bits on

Greet Gijsberts

(Metal tubes on, and as hoped, taking care of the fraying issue.) These were fun to figure out, and not time consuming to do.  Here's some photos of the extant tubes: I just sort of guessed that a nice size would be an inch long, and the pieces I cut to make the tubes are 1/4" wide.  If I had gauge measurements for the Egtved skirt (or actual measurements of the tubes) each would have informed the other, and I'd have a much more precise idea of how far I'm off.  I like making things in sizes of an inch … Continue reading String Skirt 7 – Metal bits on

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String Skirt 6 – Weaving done.

Greet Gijsberts

Here's how the skirt looks now.  It's 144 cm by 38 cm, fringed area, with ties of 27 cm and 40 cm. Here's the Egtved original again, for comparison. (hey look!  the original ties are very different in length, too!  Hmmm…must think about this, in the backstrap vs. extended weaving configuration issue.) I took the skirt off the loom and despite having used a jig to get the fringes all the same length, the deviation from the mean was more than I expected.  However, the fringes all have to be connected still, and loops constructed, and that will change the … Continue reading String Skirt 6 – Weaving done.

Clothing and Equipment3 Comments

String Skirt 5 – Weaving, and deep thoughts

Greet Gijsberts

(the skirt progresses.  I've got overtwisted doubleplied weft on the spindles, and am extending the weft beyond the tabletwoven waistband by passing the spindle around the dowel on the right.  Periodically I pull the loops off the dowel and allow them to twist up, creating the fringe of the skirt.) One of the things about weaving that I really enjoy is the ebb and flow of the creative work.  There's a crazy dense bit of planning at the beginning – much of the structure has to be figured out just to get started. Then the repetitive work begins, and a … Continue reading String Skirt 5 – Weaving, and deep thoughts

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String Skirt 3 – The size of the thing

Greet Gijsberts

More gratitude to the Danish National Museum, and their citizens who pay more than 50% in taxes to provide hobbyists like me with cool eye candy, among other good things. So, this page and lots of other places describe the arrangement of Egtved Girl's string skirt thus: The Egtved Girl was dressed in a striking cord skirt. It went down to her knees, was wound twice around her waist and was 38 cm long. This kind of skirt was in use throughout the Bronze Age. Some small female figures of bronze from Grevensvænge, Zealand, are also dressed in cord skirts. … Continue reading String Skirt 3 – The size of the thing