Who Am I? And Why Am I Here?

Elewys of Finchingefeld, GdS, JdL
Barony of Aquaterra, Kingdom of An Tir

This is a place to which I may post my research, my experiments, my successes...and yes, my failures...for medieval re-creation and research on my never-ending quest to learn and revel in knowledge and experiences.

I am a lady of many times and many places. Currently using a 15th century English name, dressing in a 10th century Danish dress, and camping in a Mongolian round house. "Lost" doesn't even begin to describe my persona.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Beads and Weaving Update

I've made a bunch of beads lately.  This set of 10 (11) were made for my dear friend, Heide, who wanted to make bracelets for her sister and mom.  Heide grew up on a cranberry farm near Aberdeen, so when she saw the first bead I made, she said "CRANBERRIES!" and commissioned 10.  I was happy to make them for her and threw in the 11th bead free!  OK, technically it was the first bead, and it wasn't the prettiest, but she loves them anyway.
Portrait: Reasons to be thankful... 1. Nobody was hurt in the wreck today.  2. The accident was NOT my fault and knowing I did everything possible, and had I not locked up the brakes and turned the wheel it could have ended badly. 3. My parents surprised us by showing up early.  They didn't stay long though, as they were on their way to White Salmon to stay with my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Wayne Stone. 4. They brought the girls about 50 pounds of fabric for costuming and so they could learn how to sew (that is a piece of linen from the lot under the beads in this picture).  5. The beads!  These are special beads I commissioned from Karen that feature cranberries and cranberry vines. 6. Brian cooked a lovely dinner tonight. 7. We are home, safe and cozy for the evening.
Then I was messing around with different colors and techniques, tools, and trying out some stuff with clear glass.  I don't particularly care for working with the clear stuff--it seems to need a lot more heat and takes longer to melt.
  This one I call the Diversity Bead.  :)
Portrait: Experimenting with color combinations. .. Then doing a tried-and-true red, white and black combo.    

I love the chemical reaction I had with these two colors--I need to get more turquoise.
 



I finally got the weave done--it's so lovely!  I don't know what I'm going to do with it...although I think it'll end up on an apron dress.

Since the loom was now free...I warped up some yarn on the inkle loom to make the band for Frigga the Loom.  I'm thinking I need to get it on the rail and start attempting to weave.  I need to figure out where to set it up in the house--probably the front room, but I need to rearrange some furniture first.

A few weeks ago, I was greatly anticipating entering Kingdom Arts & Sciences in 2015 with my warp-weighted loom--something I had never seen anyone work with in An Tir.  Last weekend was the Kingdom event and I started eagerly looking at some of the entries that starting appearing on Facebook.  I was a little discouraged to see an entry this year that included...yes, a warp-weighted loom.  My first reaction was "dang it!  I wanted to be first!"  Then it was, "Now it's going to look like I'm copying."  It was, admittedly, a little disheartening.  Now, the loom she used was for card weaving, not for fabric, but still, I felt like someone had stolen my master plan and built it faster and presented it.  I had a nice chat with my Foster Laurel (whose identity shall remain a mystery for now)...she has been a great sounding board when I have questions or get discouraged on my Artisan Journey (let's not say Laurel Track...who the hell knows where this journey will end?).  I relied on her greatly when I had a personal issue with another member, when I had frustrations with a judging panel, and yesterday, when I was stung by the surprise of someone else doing stuff with the loom.

After she talked me down off the ledge, and I had a night to sleep on it, I realized that my journey and her journey may cross paths, but we are on different journeys.  Hers was to do card weaving on a warp-weighted loom; and mine is to make a sheep to shawl project.  I even have the sheep!


Many thanks to HL Godith of Goosefoot Mead for providing this bag of goodness!  This award-winning fleece needs to be washed, carded and spun and will -- hopefully -- be a finished garment someday.  

Away to bed...long day tomorrow!  I have two quilts to finish for other people, and on Friday, I get to pick up two more.  In the meantime, I have 7 to do for myself.  Gaaaaahhh!

G'nite.