End of January Stuffs

The end of January is nigh upon us and I have several things to show...at least in beads and a bit of weaving.

First, there's me...I set up a table at Ursulmas where I made beads for the weekend.  While there was a demo display booth contest, there were significant limitations as to what I could do given that I was going to be actively demonstrating beadmaking.  Where the booth was located (unknown prior to set-up)?  What I can display that isn't flammable?  Is there a banner and how do I hang it?  I can't bring a tent or pop-up with a roof, so what can I bring for ambiance?  So many questions.  I brought the color copies of Callmer's beads and brought all the old beads I could find that I store in a small treasure box.  Unfortunately, there's a lot of old & ugly beads from my first months of bead making; I had strung them on dental floss and hung them over the treasure chest on the table.  I need to pull those aside and keep them somewhere else...like decorating the garden or something.  Some of my later beads were loose in the box, and the newest ones were strung on mandrils on the table.

I was told there was a banner for the Kingdom Lampworkers Guild, and it would be delivered Saturday morning.  I found the current banner design posted on the Lampworker's web site; the banner was made for a previous event, but the design was not fully vetted by the Heralds, so it is currently an unofficial banner (not passable, apparently).  Since the Lampworker's Guild does not have a device registered with the College of Heralds, I had some discussions with a couple of them at the event to come up with a new passable design.  In any case, the banner might not be understood by the public, so just to make it clear to passers-by, I made a lettered banner that simply reads:  "Lampworkers Guild" in a font called King Harold, matching the lettering from the Bayeux Tapestry.  I hung it using the packaging tape I had with me on the exposed pipes in the frigid hall.  It ended up being the only banner, as the Lampworker's banner ended up not arriving after all.

Although I didn't mean to be the exclusive lampworker working the booth, I was the only one there for more than half of the weekend; Aenor joined me for a while on Sunday, making a few beads in the frigid hall.  It was so cold on Sunday that the bead release was not drying and we walked around with our plastic buckets of vermiculite looking for a heat source.  The portable heaters outside were turned off to save fuel; they said they were only heating the building at night (which didn't make any sense--no one was in the building at night).  I dipped the mandrils and more than 90 minutes later, the bead release was still wet.  If you heat them using the flame, the stuff dries too quickly and either cracks or explodes off the mandril.

Because I had more than 16 hours of uninterrupted time to make beads, I was able to finish almost 40 beads over the weekend, using just under two tanks of propane--I was able to make several more after returning home.  I finished all the beads I needed for the Kingdom gifts to Caid and Glen Abhann--they're not due until July Coronation, so I got the Gold Star from the Guild head. :)  There are more than I need here, so I will send on the best 20 of each colorway.

Here are a few that I made over the weekend, in addition to the Caid and Glen Abhann beads...the four on the lower left were made as part of a commission for Jadwiga.  She chose six others that I failed to photograph before she came to pick them up.



I am also doing a little card weaving. I finished the weaving for Tyrssen of Middle Kingdom and warped up a new one on the loom.

I brought the loom with me to the event, but didn't do any during the weekend.  The booth next to mine was occupied by Demo Winners, Emma and Nigel, who covered their table with weaving and leatherworking items.  I placed my loom on the edge of the table, next to hers, to add to her display.  This one is strung up with Perle cotton, using just over four balls of strings--one yellow, one black, and two red--in #8 floss.  I had quite a time finding extra red floss, and ended up having to replace it with a readily-available color.  Red 666 was available during the holidays, apparently, but not later, but everyone was carrying Red 321.  I had to un-warp six cards, and I'll use those threads in a later project, I suppose.  While this is more expensive than using the cotton warp, the cost of materials is still under $20, it comes out lovely and shiny, and the cards turn smoothly.  I have a couple other projects in mind that I might try, using these threads as a substitute for silk.

I made a deal with a local lady to buy some roving from her that I will be turning into a sheep-to-shawl project.  I don't know what I'll be doing with the fabric or how much fabric the spinning will create, but I'll figure it out in a bit.  Probably more than a hat.  Maybe enough for sleeves or maybe an apron dress.  I'd love to try to make a warp-weighted loom, but somehow I don't think that'll get done this year.  Although....

More to come!