25 Feb 2009

Web pages

This is something I have been dreaming about long long time. I finally had courage to create my own web pages. I needed to have a place for articles and other things like that..

http://www.evagrelsdotter.webs.com/

24 Feb 2009

24.2.

Today I promised to me that next time I am strongly feeling like I should do something in certain way I will do it. I will trust my instinct. I am not going to do Assisi embroidery with two different colours at the same time ONLY because I happen to have too much old DMC threads that I don’t want to throw away but use. And I am not going to use the easiest embroidery technique just because it is easiest. I will learn to do the new embroidery technique if it will be better documented that the easier one. If I do this kind of compromises, I will always regret it afterwards. Because I want to learn mistakes I will not throw the Assisi embroidery tablecloth project away, I am going to finish it and make a better one later. But I am going to rip the red common cross stitches away, buy blue silk thread (I hope that the black outlining is not going to show too much) and fill the background with maybe long armed cross stitches or with two-side Italian cross stitch.


I mean that if I have understand correctly, Assisi style embroidery was made in our period with only one colour or there is so little evidence about making the outlining with black or contrasting colour than it’s not worth of doing it if you want to do things as good as possible. Red was maybe the most popular colour to use and blue and green after that. It also looks like common cross stitches are very rare in Assisi style embroidery. Long armed cross stitches and two-side Italian cross stitches were more popular. For the outlining I have used double running stitches.. and that’s the only good thing with this all.


I have learned yet another good lesson.

19 Feb 2009

Serious Business



Making bronze spirals is a serious business, you know! :D

16 Feb 2009

Winter Eve

Last weekend we went to traditional Winter Eve event hosted by canton of Humalasalo. It was a small and very warmhearted event. And we really enjoyed every minute of it (it was the first Winte Eve event for us). At Friday I started to make naalbinded mittens for Elsa and the mittens are now half done. I also promised to do some other naalbinded thigs for friends (good way to practise). At Saturday Ulf attended to heavy fighting tournamet with his new heavy fighting gear and the new tunic. I was happy to have time to watch the whole tournamet it was the third tournament in over ten years that I have watched from at the beginning to the end (I am usually doing something else at the kitchen or thigs like that). The tournament was very finely organized and the tournament herald made it amusing. And of course I was happy to see Ulf’s progress in heavy fighting.. he was very good at time to time and in the end he came second (Lord Oliver was the winner). I didn’t have any “boring moments” at the event. And I think that it was because I had things to do with me. I didn’t even go to take a nap during the day.


I promised at the event to send the Flemish kerchief web page address... so here it is:

http://www.heatherspages.net/flemish_kerchief.htm

13 Feb 2009

13.2.

I have created web pages for me :D YEPPEE! But I am not going to tell the address before I have some content there :).

10 Feb 2009

10.2.

Well Ulf told me yesterday that he needs the heavy fighting tunic for this weekend's event. So I have very little time to do it (but if I sew it with wool it might be faster to do?). Tomorrow I will go to Helsinki and I can't take the tunic with me there... (well of course he said that he don't want me to do it actually for this weekend because he don't want me to have sour hands after making things too fast but you know how it is always... you try your best anyway.. let see how much I can do in three hours.. I have already cut the sleeves and the bodice... I don't know if I need to add gores to the tunic... hope not because I am starting to sew right now).

By the way I may have found the fabric for our wedding dressess :D and I have been dreaming about my own web pages today :D

9 Feb 2009

Seminar and spirals

Last Thursday I went to Turku and I had Friday off from work. I along with some friends of mine attended to Viking Finn Costume Seminar held by Turku Folk High School. We had lectures at Friday and workshops at Saturday. Because I didn’t know (almost) anything about the subject it all was very interesting and new to me. We learned about the Viking Finn female dress found at Kaarina Kirkonmäki cemetery ( http://artos.pp.fi/heinola-seura/kuvat_4/muinaispuku_kaarina_525x700.jpg ) and we learned about how difficult it is to draw a pattern about actual tablet woven band findings. At Saturday we had workshops about how to make endings for tablet woven bands, how to make different kinds of weaving, about the Viking Finn headdresses and how to make bronze spirals. I went to the bronze spiral workshop and we made a necklace… it is actually made like the bronze spiral endings to the corners of the apron found at the Kaarina digging. It was so much FUN!



And we had fun also after the seminar at Saturday when we went to eat at Harald’s. The restaurant is not re-enactor’s dream (they serve potatoes and other things not so period (from the year 600 to year 1600)… but it is the only that type of restaurant at Turku.


I have so many projects to do right now, but some of them are more important that the others. I bought wool for Ulf’s heavy fighting tunic. I washed the wool today. Making the tunic is the number one project. The problem is that I have too much things to do during normal weekdays and I usually don’t be at home during weekends. And two weeks ago I was at Lahti during the week, last week I went to Turku before the weekend and this Wednesday I have again work related education day at Helsinki. (And next week I don’t know what I am able to do because I will have appointment to the dentist and they are going to take away my upper “wisdom teeth”). So it is the time issues once again :D.

3 Feb 2009

Mittens and a new book

My first naalbinded mittens and the second mittens (Ulf's) are done:

My mittens (with funny looking thumbs :D)


Ulf's mittens

It is very difficult to make two exactly same looking mittens.

And this new book arrived yesterday. I am very excited about this one..