Towel

This weekend the flu won and we didn’t go to Lahti handicraft Fair. It was very disappointing but sometimes life is like that and it is not possible to get everything and go everywhere. Being in flu and also being at work almost all the week and not resting at home after work (because there were more important (?) things to do) was too much for me.

So we both rested and watched dvds (one of the movies was Coraline and it was very good.. I think maybe better than The Nightmare before Christmas). I made some digging in our wardrobe and I found one UFO (unfinished object) which I had started to make about nine years ago. Back then I had made a tablecloth to us and decorated it with cross stitch using red cotton thread. At that point I was studying and I had not enough money to buy silk threads. After finishing the tablecloth I started to make another tablecloth using the same pattern but blue cotton thread. The pattern was supposed to run around the cloth. I don’t remember what happen, maybe there was something better to do, but I stop making it. I didn’t throw it away because I had made a very big job with it already. At those days I wasn’t very fast embroiderer so it was a very big thing for me to have one of the four borders done. And I had started little bit to make the second border also and machine sewed the edges. The pattern I used is not Medieval more like traditional but it doesn’t look too modern I think.

Well I found it and thought again that I should not throw the thing away but rethink about is it use for something other purpose. So I thought that with a little modification it could be very usable towel for events. So I rip up the machine sewed seams and hand sewed with linen thread all the seams and unstitch little bit the embroidery. The pattern wasn’t finished so I made the missing rows (I had made one row) between the “snow flakes”, luckily I still have that cotton tread in my thread box. Tadaa.. I have a towel :).

Book Fair and other things

After very relaxing and good weekend I have been feeling energetic. That’s funny because at the same time I have flu.. I hope that it’ll go away until next weekend. At Friday Tofa and I went to Helsinki Book Fair and there was also Food and Wine and Music Fair at the Helsinki Fair Center at the same time. So the Fair Center visit took almost all day. We didn’t found as much good books this time and it felt like the books were more expensive this time... or they didn’t have as good discount prices than last time. I end up buying couple books, one modern ethnic cookbook and other somehow related to medieval (and/or) renaissance. One of them is culture history of medieval writing. It is quite new book written in Finnish and it looks very interesting.

We accidentally run into Patrik and Anna who were playing medieval music at Investiture and because this very lucky encounter we end up listening their concert at Music Fair at the end of the day. They played music from 18^th century but it was interesting also because they used instruments like “nyckelharpa or avainviulu in Finnish” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyckelharpa . I have to reveal that they are also coming to play to our wedding :D .

Sunday at home I started a small Assisi embroidery project for our wedding. After that I have been answering Maku-magazine’s questions about medieval food for their article about us cooking at Hämeenlinna Medieval Fair and sending tons of emails. I have to start packing for next weekend’s (“Kätevä”) Lahti handicraft Fair… Thinking is not very fast when one has flu and clock is running too fast.

22.10.

I decide not to write about last weekend and the things that I have been doing yet. I want to do more research first. I still have a major problem with starting to make something new and make research after that. It would be better to try to learn as much as possible before starting to make things. But it is sometimes too easy just to start making something after seeing some pictures or somebody wearing something at the event and only after that start finding more information about the item. Maybe I think that I am in hurry and I have to start making something and I think that I don’t have time to open books and internet… I have to promise myself to read more and start at the beginning..

I mean that at first there is a thought about the thing I want to make, let’s say it is a certain type of tunic from some certain time period. Ok, so I want to make this tunic.. now I will not go to my fabric boxes and start making it… instead of I will open a book and internet and try to find information about it. After that I will decided what type of seams I want to make. And after that I’ll find the fabric and the sewing thread. And if it needs a pattern I’ll make one.

Blaa blaa… anyway, the second naalbinded hat (made using the Oslo stitch) is done. I made it last weekend. There are no pictures abut it because it is a gift for somebody who might read this. I am aware that I should be doing things for our wedding… and I have already done something but not enough. For these projects I have made research before starting to do things.. but not enough yet.

Tomorrow I will go to Helsinki Book Fair with Tofa like last year. And next weekend is going to be once again Lahti Handicraft Fair and we are going to be there with Medium Aevum Hollolense re-enactment group. It’s going to be more than awesome!! So I’ll go to pack things and go to bed.

My first attempt to make Oslo stitch (naalbinding)

The first hat is done. Sahra was right about it is very fast technique! It took only some hours (maybe 4) to make a hat. It is a lot easier than the Finnish stitch I have used but also as they told the structure of the “knitting” is looser. I used quite thick thread and tried to keep the loops as tight as possible.. so I don’t think that this hat is going to stretch too much. I don’t know how to make the start using the Oslo stitch…. so I used the Finnish style for that.

So why suddenly start practising the Oslo stitch? Well our friends Suski and Minttu went to European Textil Forum http://www.textilforum.org and after that they have been teaching the Oslo stitch. Textil Forum was held at the same time than our Investiture (otherwise I would have probably gone there). Today I was surfing in Internet and I end up reading Phiala’a blog (who also have wonderful web pages http://www.stringpage.com/ ) and I found out that she was at the Textil Forum also! And the last picture she had posted in her blog, I found some familiar faces… Suski and Minttu http://stringpage.com/blog/?p=355 :D. There are more photos at the Textil Forum web pages also.

Next thing is to finish the Giant pants I am currently making… but more about those surprisingly huge pants soon!

7.10.

We have bought plane tickets to England and made our reservations to 12^th night Coronation. The event is hosted by the Shire of Flintheath and the event is at Lyndhurst, near Southampton. I can’t be more excited about this! It’ll be a wonderful start for the next year.

Some progress and something small

Last weekend we went to Lahti to see Sahra and Knut. I was feeling little bit down before the weekend (one of the symptoms in Fibromyalgia.. well who likes the pain when it’s bad and you can’t do things you want to do??). I thought that changing the surroundings would help and it did. We found (almost too much) great wool fabrics at Lahti Eurokangas (fabric store).. and I will have thin wool for UlfR’s Viking style baggy pants and so on. I have decided long time ago that I want to make the pants for him when I have time to do that (but finding the fabric has been the obstacle in this project). Sahra and I ordered leg wraps to UlfR and Knut form internet. UlfR has had problems with shoes… especially winter shoes at the events (he doesn’t have any period shoes for the winter times). But now I have ordered some for him so we are getting more and more to the authenticity level we want to be in.

One of my own handkerchiefs (a very small one) is done now:

Also our wedding dress project is proceed… this is a sneak peak and I will not tell yet what is it :D

Oh and I have also a book about calligraphy for beginners. I would like to start practising it as soon as I have right tools for it.

Handkerchiefs

Last two weeks I have been doing things mostly not for me but for the gift and award basket. As I told last time Elsa made a blackwork pattern for Aarnimetsä wolf and she embroidered some handkerchiefs for the gift basket. Last weekend we went to Elsa’s and made more things together. I once again have problems with my hand… the hand didn’t like tablet weaving (stupid hand).

Here is a picture of the handkerchiefs and a pattern. We wanted it to be as simple as possible.

A creative weekend

The next thing is starting to make the wedding dresses for us. The easiest part I thought was to start with headdresses. Elsa was visiting us this weekend and we tried to make a wulsthaube type German renaissance headdress with veil. We found some links also and this was one of the best we found: http://www.in-nova-corpora.ch/naehstube/ma_15_unterkleidung_text.htm .We managed to make a prototype of it and it looks very good. I am not going to reveal all the details of the wedding dress project.. other wise it could spoil the surprise :D but I can reveal some small things. This makes the blogging quite challenging but let’s see what will happen. I can reveal that I am going to make blackwork stripes to the veil and the veil is going to be quite long so lots of blackwork to do :D.

I also taught the basics of blackwork to Elsa this weekend (well I actually think that there wasn’t anything new that she didn’t know already). As a very creative person she designed a blackwork pattern of our Barony of Aarnimetsä’s wolf and she have already embroidered three handkerchiefs with the wolf this weekend to give away as gifts. I also started to do some simple blackwork to one of the napkins (or handkerchiefs…). As I told I need to do couple of handkerchiefs for me also. The handkerchiefs are not done yet.. but when they are I can (if I get her permission to do so) send a photo of them here. But now.. I can’t wait to start making the veil. I have to go to cut the linen and start making the blackwork and I know already the pattern I want to use.

Investiture

I have been as I assumed very busy lately… for obvious reasons. Our Investiture is now over and I can start concentrating to other things that are important. I had some misfortune with my Investiture clothing. First I realize that there was not enough time for make the type dress I wanted to. I had to change my plans. I was going to make a kirtle underneath the gown and the gown was supposed to open at front. I was going to make a fartingale underneath the kirtle to have hourglass effect. Also I was going to make a new partlet but at the end I got inflammation to my hand and I couldn’t make one. Also I was going to make silk detachable sleeves. So instead I managed to make a corset (to which I got help making it) and quite simple black woollen dress with waist seam and black woollen detachable sleeves and a white linen smock with ruffled cuffs and an Elizabethan coif. (I am already dreaming of Elizabethan coif with blackwork… I’ll make one as soon as possible). I wasn’t that satisfied with the result of the dress and smock but that doesn’t mean that the dress and the smock wasn’t ok.. I just don’t want to make things in haste. Anyway the corset is the only piece which has made using machine..

The Investiture was as I wrote a memorable event with lots of big surprises. I have always thought that it’s not very easy to me to feel very emotional like almost crying if something big will happen. But I was wrong with that because there was more than one time at the event I felt that it was a mistake not to bring handkerchiefs to the event :).

Lord Rakonczay took couple of pictures of us just after our Investiture, here are some of the best shots … Lady Katariina Juhanantytär made UlfR's jacket and pants and lady Sahra made his coif.. the shirt is made by me.

Quick note

Our Investiture is now over.. I’ll try to write about the event soon.. I’m very tired but more than happy.. The event was .. I think that I don’t even have words to describe how wonderful it was... it was magical and there were some surprises that I haven’t seen ever at Aarnimetsä event or anywhere else.