Summer Nights

I am not tired which is very weird considering lack of sleep from last weekend. Summer Nights was once again fun event! The theme was this time a tavern and travellers stopping for night at the tavern. There wasn’t the usual feast this time but food was served like at restaurants. Travellers ordered plates full of different kinds of food according to traveller’s taste and dietary habits. For example I ordered the plate with all sorts of delicacies and UlfR ordered the plate full of meat. The idea was very good and so was the execution (60 people got their food in about half an hour!). But I still think that you have to have the master planner gene in you (that Sahra has) to execute the idea that well (and very competent staff at kitchen that she had... Elzebeth, Filisia, Ingeborg, Lempi and Ilona). UlfR got is new cloak at the event and managed to got he’s first burn mark to it at the camp fire. Well that only means that the wool in the cloak is real wool. And I got more bronze spiral material, a tablet woven belt and a yarn of wool dyed with woad from Suski..

Today Sahra and I talked about the Summer Coronation. I need another apron for camp fire (I don’t want burn marks to my new wool apron) luckily I have some undyed linen at home. I don’t necessary have to make a tablet woven belt to me now because Suski gave me one. I already re-hemmed and shorten my white Eura style linen underdress for the Summer Nights so that’s done. I will continue to sew today the blue linen Eura style underdress together. I don’t know about UlfR’s new pants yet.... I had bad luck with the pants last week. I started to make the pants and the work was almost done when I found out that the wool I was using was miserably bad. It already had a small hole in it. I realized that the pants wouldn’t last without braking for an event. I was quite pissed after finding the hole and after that it has been very difficult to start making new pants and I am not sure if I have enough good wool for it (it was about 4 hours handsewing for waste).

Kragelund tunic

UlrR’s tunic is done :). It wasn’t very easy to make the tunic because the sleeve construction was quite challenging. I have hardened the shoes with beeswax and his socks are finished also. It looks like we are not going to have very good weather at next weekend so it means that we have to take lots of warm wool clothes with us to the Summer Nights event.

More clothes for my Lord

Lady Sahra has made a new cloak for UlfR. We will see the cloak at next weekend. I know that it is fantastic. It is made with two thin wool fabrics (inside it is brown and outside blue). She has made a tablet woven band with hand dyed logwood wool threads to decorate the cloak with some bronze spirals. And there is also (big) real wolf fur decoration at the neckline. Of course everything hand sewed. She has posted some making of photos to her blog ...

2.6.

It’s summer time and everything is relax... not. I have only one weekend not planned full at this summer. It is not a new situation... it’s like this every year. There is too much things to do at summer and summer is always too short. There are always some things that I would like to do but I have no time for it. It looks like we are not able to go to Tofa’s herbal party because it’s one week before the Summer Coronation. We need to plan Cudgel War’s foodstuff and time is running up very fast. Again we are going to make lunches and snacks at Cudgel War (nine days long event). It is also my only summer vacation so I am waiting for that very much. The situation with the foodstuff is not bad at all, we have many ideas written down but it takes quite lot time to write everything to the computer (every recipes and lists). And then there are the clothes I was planning to do before the Summer Coronation. I had hopes to have something new for UlfR for next weekend’s Summer Nights event.. I don’t have many days left. I have to harden our new leather shoes with beeswax before using them (I might need some tar for soles.. or something heavier than beeswax) and UlfR’s Kragelund tunic is almost done and his naalbinded socks but I haven’t started to make the pants yet. And my blue linen Eura style underdress is not even nearly done. I think that I am just little bit too tired today. I went to Helsinki yesterday because I had a work related meeting there (had to woke up crazy early … 5 a.m.). But I found some long pepper at Hakaniemi market place after the meeting so the trip to Helsinki wasn’t fruitless :D. I better go to sew little bit more and go to bed early. Next weekend is going to be fabulous. I am quite sure about it!

Dyeing is FUN!

Yesterday we had some vegetable dyeing experiments with white and grey wool yarns with Elzebeth and Sahra. I didn’t remember how fun it is to do vegetable dyeing. It has been beyond over ten years I have tried it last time. We had dried tansy flowers, fresh lupin (which has arrived to Europe about 1800s and is not medieval... but gives interesting colour), dried carrot greens and onion peelings. Before starting our experiment we soaked the vegetables in water overnight. Then we used alum for pre-mordant the yarns before dyeing. The tansy and carrot greens yarns turned out yellow and somewhat similar looking, lupin yarns was light green (very beautiful) and onion peelings yarns orange. And if I remember right, after dyeing once we put some iron sulfate to the tansy and carrot greens water to make the colour more like green and made second dyeing. I haven’t seen the results of second dyeing yet because we had to leave to home before the yarns was washed after dyeing. I will get the yarns after two weeks when I see Elzebeth next time. It was very hard to take pictures about the colours because the camera makes the colours look different than they are.

Yarns in alum water

Beautiful lupin yarns coming..

That's not spaghetti... :D it's onion yarns

Result from the first dyeing

We had other reasons to visit Elzebeth also. She is going to make the food for our wedding. We actually have almost complete list of foods that we are going to have... and it’s little bit over a year now before the big day. Of course something might change but the main things we know now. One of the reasons for planning the foodstuff this early was that we are going to make several liqueurs and other beverages to the wedding. That means we have to pick different kinds of vegetables, berries etc. this spring and summer. Hmm... I should pick nettles also just in case I need some :D.

Viking Finn Apron

This is my first attempt to make a Viking Finn Apron with some bronze spiral decorations. The wool is not handmade, I found the wool from normal Finnish fabric store and I dyed it little bit. So that’s why there aren’t any (tube) selvedges or tablet woven fastenings on the edges as it should be. The original fabric was more light brown than the result. The wool I used is the same fabric than my blue overdress. Dyeing changes the wool little bit fluffier (as the washing the wool does also). Then I made four strings to the edges and made four corner decorations to the apron. The string and the bronze spiral decorations to the edges are made as the instructions for reconstruction about archaeological findings of Kaarina Kirkonmäki from about 11^th century. Only change I made was with the strings that are holding the spirals together. I am not very good to make 3-loop fingerloop braids, so I took a shortcut and made plain braids.

Vegetable dyed threads

Usually I don’t have to work during weekends, but today was exception. After work I went to a small gift store called Päkäpirtti. It’s at OId Rauma (Old Rauma is one of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites... Old Rauma is the largest unified historical wooden town in the Nordic countries. And it is in middle of Town of Rauma, where I am working so I am always thought that my worksite is very unique and very beautiful place). The gift shop Päkäpirtti is as I descript small but very interesting because there is quite large selection of vegetable dyed wool threads. I am highly recommending the shop for every re-enactor! I also have to tell that the shop keeper is very nice person, I spend about one hour talking with her about dyeing and re-enactment and herbal things. I bought one yarn of yellow (dyed with tansy flower), one yard of red (dyed with Cortinarius semisanguineus mushroom) and one yard of green (probably dyed with tansy and meadowsweet) wool. I also love baskets so I bought this small basket at Rauma Spring Fair today.

Computer problems solved and socks

I am so happy that our computer is finally fixed, thanks Robert! The problems took too long in my opinion (over a month). It is very frustrating when you can’t use your computer at home. It feels like you are missing a limb or something. I have to admit that I am that I am very much hooked on computers. But anyway yesterday Elsa and Robert take a short visit to us. It was very nice to have quests (we seldom have). They promised to come to visit us more often, next time after two weeks :D. Elsa and I made plans for Elsa’s dress and for her Flemish kerchief. And plans for lots of other things. Today I finally made my order for some of the fabrics for our wedding dresses. I am still thinking about ordering some very light weight hemp and some medium hemp for our shirts. Ordering the fabrics from the internet was the biggest order for me this far (from internet I mean), so I am looking for very anxious what’s going to happen.

My first naalbinded socks are done. I made the socks last weekend for me (to wear at summer with the Viking shoes). I have started to make socks for Ulf also. Sahra is making at the moment a woollen cloak with real wolf fur decorations for Ulf. She is thinking about having it done till Summer Coronation. Can’t wait to see the finished cloak..

My Lord needs clothes also!

I have been thinking about men’s clothing today. I want to do this and that to him but first I’ll do some early period clothing. I am thinking about maybe Kragelund tunic and Thorsberg trousers. If my Lord approves... :) .

May Day x 3

I still have flu (nothing new about it) but I have little bit more strenght now than week ago. But I am not feeling completely well yet and I am starting to feel annoyed. It’s not very easy at work right now either... And I am very tired today. But I am also very happy about last weekend and also that I had time to relax.

Last weekend we went to Lahti to see Sahra and Knut and celebrate the May Day. The theme was supposed to be renaissance clothing for Sahra but we end up doing lots of other things... like cutting apple trees, collecting apple tree bark and lichen for dyeing...The weather was so wonderful that we spend most of the time at the garden. And we had three garden parties also...grilling, chilling and laughing alot. But luckily we were not too tired at Sunday and we had enough time to cut a smock and make pattern for Flemish kirtle for Sahra.

I now have some blue linen for my next Eura style under dress (I want something light to wear for summer and for the camping also). Suski promised to give me more bronze for the spirals...I have just enough spirals for the apron but that’s it. I want new shoes...

... and we still have some problems with our computer... so I can’t add any photos here yet (hopefully tomorrow)...