fredag 26 maj 2023

Doublewars

Doublewars is over for this time. But it left me, and Im sure many others, with beautiful memories and a warm feeling inside. 

Doublewars is an Sca event in Nordmark, southern Sweden. Springtime, a beautiful tentsite and a lot of beautiful people. 

I will probaly use the word beautiful a little to many times while writing this...I miss it!

This is my home for the week, my tent. I took a picture from inside, but it always tend to get so messy, I wounder why...maybe because its me living in it...

My household shared a camp, and some other friends joined in too. So in total we had five tents, and a small one no one lived it, for stuff.

We spent our days with sewing, chatting, eating, going on lectures and on a lot of courts. One court a day, sometimes two. There were a lot of business that needed to be taken care of after the lost years of covid.

As I have told you already, I made a Bronze age sprang loom. As a mission for my week. It became a short mission, that I could finish during the first day. Which was good, because that ment I could bring it to my sprangclass on Tuesday.

In my household we have some people that are really good with food and drinks, poor us... My sister Görvel actually won a price for best apple brandy in the world during the week, in the real world that is, not in the sca. But you get it, some really talented people. 

Duncan making dinner.

No Doublewars without a party..and we had a lot of them. Im not really a fan of Bloody Mary though...

And I had my sprang class again! Not hairnet this time, we made Golden ribbons together instead. The Golden ribbon-award if for service in Nordmark and we all made ribbons, a couple of rows each. It is such a beautiful thing to do, and to get, a ribbon that had thought people a new craft, worked into every row of it. Even the Prince and Princess of Nordmark made a couple of rows together. 

And look at Barbara, the woman second to the left. She wears her sprang hairnet that she made in my class last year. Im so proud of you darling!


This was on tuesday. And Im wearing my 16th century German peasant outfit. Its me in the brown jacket. Little did I know that this day would be so special for me. But I wrote about that already...just saying. Look at this beautiful sign my little sister made for me. And managed to do so, and to put it up, without me knowing. 


Unna is enjoying the sunlight.

My laurel Renike Tucher, and Sabine Fuch Solling. It do look a bit cold. The days were okey, but some of the nights were terrible. I dont got a heater in my tent. But I did get a lovely hot waterbottle as a gift, that helped.

And there was a market of course! And I sold my sprang and my ceramics. Görvel that is in the picture is wearing her beautiful Gotlandic outfit, that we all helped in on during last Doublewars. She made an outfit in a day...

This ribbon with templerings is a joined project between me and Agnes. We made one, she made the templerings and I made the ribbon, to see if people liked it. They did, it sold fast. So now we are making a bunch together for Cudjel. It is going to be so good!

And it was the Queen of Drachenwald that bought it. So it must have been good, right!? Beatrix, our beautiful queen.

There were so many nationalities at Doublewars. This bunch of people is from Germany, and Im so glad they keep coming here.

And as usual there is a pysselpicknick. And Im actually in this picture! Its me second to the right. Im wearing the unterrock for my peasant outfit. With a linen gollar and an apron.

Helwig needed to be long enough to make a braid. A very good way obviously.

Me and Branna. She is in Oslo on a big medieval market right now and Im totally jealous of her! Maybe next year...

And we had a golden egg meeting. My sister Görvel finished a very interesting project. She was going to recreate a 16th century church painting. And ended up with a totally new way of constructing a 16th century dresspattern. No one that I know of in the sca have been using this before. She tried to describe it to me online while working on it, and I didnt get it, just because I hadnt seen it before. But she figured it out and it turned up great! Im so proud of her. A danish 16th century dress.

The stand of the woman on the church wall, of course!

Beautiful!

You cant see it because she is wearing the apron that goes with it, but the bruschfleck is sewn to the skirt and give excellent room for a pocket on each side, because who doesnt like pockets?!

Sabine and Balthazar. In sunlight.

Dinner in camp.

Beautiful Ingrid looked so spiffy at court!


So we needed to go and look spiffy with her.


Im wearing my low nobility outfit, always 16th century German of course. With a furlined chaublein, a black apron and a haube with blackwork. And my Laurelmedallion. Im not use to see it on me yet, and it makes me so happy. My low nobility outfit is actually my townspeople outfit, but with an embroidered haube. Ordinary people were not allowed to wear silk embroidered haubes like this one, according to the law. And the mink fur was not allowed either. If you are interested in rules for clothing in renaissance Germany I wrote a lot about that while doing my golden egg project. Just tag golden egg and all my articles of the matter will show up.

Together with the townspeople outfit the peasant outfit was my most common wear during the week. Sometimes I think I feel more like myself in these outfits than in my regular clothing...

My peasant outfit, with all its layers. Hemd, unterrock, rock, gollar, schaublein...clothes. Remember people, 16the century Germany is so much more than Landsknecht...



And, to finish of with the most spectacular clothing I have. My brocade dress, nobility, with the heavily embroidered haube. I obviously dont do that many other centuries, but I have all social classes of 16th century Germany.

 
Thank you Doublewars, for this time, you will be missed, until next year!

torsdag 25 maj 2023

The order of the laurel...or, Im sorry I ruined your birthdayparty

My laurel was going to celebrate her birthday at Doublewars, so that we all could be there. The household talked a lot about it online. And I bought drinks for the party.... It was going to be at tuesday evening and food were prepared and we all dressed up nicely for court before the party. 

Photo: Robert Garnett

Well at court I got called up to get a Nordmark-award for service. Which made me happy. I had no clue it was something else in disguise...here I am, in front of the Princess of Nordmark, suspecting nothing... 

Photo: Robert Garnett

When I got up she didnt let go of my hand and suddenly the court of the king and queen of Drachenwald opened up again and they told all the members of the order of the Laurel to come forward.

Photo: Robert Garnett

Photo: Robert Garnett

Photo: Robert Garnett

And yes, Im crying.


Photo: Magdalena Morén
 Here my laurel Renike Tucher escorted me out of court to my vigil. And at this point I hadn't got it yet...so I asked her for forgiveness for stealing the spotlight from her birthday party. 
There were no birthday party. 
They had planed my vigil-party in plane sight!
I love you to pieces.
 
Photo: Catherine Terrett
 
The Order of the Laurel is one of the Peerages, equal in standing with the Knights, Pelicans, and Royal Peers. It is the highest award given in the SCA for excellence in the Arts and Sciences. Laurels attempt to inspire others to create beautiful and authentic works by teaching and example.

Beautiful words...and a lot of beautiful words and advise were given to me on my vigil.

Photo: Anders Olsson

For court I wore my 16th century low nobility everyday clothing. With a rock in red wool, a haube with blackwork and my furlined shaublein. And my hat. Which was on its way of everytime I was hugging someone...

And of course I accepted this honour. This photo is taken at the start of the elevation-ceremony.

Photo: Grimwulf Harland
 

I wore the finest clothing I own, 16th century nobility, broccade dress and embroidered haube, with a lot of silk threads in different strong colours. I did felt pretty. 

And after beautiful speeches I said yes. And got the medallion ordered by my laurel and made by Oriane d´Avallon, my cape made by Görvel Skote and my wreatch made by Magdalena Grace Vane I got to swear fealty to the king and queen of Drachenwald. 

Photo: Grimwulf Harland

The beautiful scroll, or painting, is made by Rickard of Salesberie.

 

And Im honored to be gifted so many beautiful gifts. 
 

A timble by Beata.
A handmade bag with embroidered napkin by Lia.
A handmade bag by Anna.
An embroidered needlecase by Magdalen.
An embroidered napkin by Petronilla.
A pair of sleeves by Helwig.
An embroidered veil by Barbara.
A glas and a book by Gele.
A belt by Duncan.
A painted bow by Agnes.
Licqour by Tova.
A pendant by Estrid.
Pins by Isabeta.
Silk by Aleydis.
A pair of laurel shoes by Erik.
A Freyasymbol by Vanna.
Liqour by Rasmus. 
Yarn by Historical Textiles. 
A pair of scissors by Ellisif.


And the first page in my vigilbook by Balthazar.
And the painted box for my medallion by Sabine and Balthazar. 
A medallion by Renike.
A cape by Görvel. 
The sign made by Sabine.

Thank you all for being there for me and with me on this day and all the days to come. 





tisdag 23 maj 2023

Making a Bronce age sprang loom

I went to Dublewars with a mission. To make a Bronze age sprang loom from what I could find in nature, like they would have done. All equipment from that time for making of sprang is gone of course, but we do have pictures from antique vases. 

Like this one.


Its long and narrow bottom part has a certain use, you put it between your legs and could therefore work without holding the loom. Loom by the way, frame might be a better word...but its purpose is also to hold the warp, so it might be okey to use both word...anyhow... You put it between your knees and it is stable.  

So I went for a branch hunt. I chose to use a branch instead of four pieces of thin wood. Just because it was the least amount of work and therefore something I think they would have gone for too. You just need a round or squared shape. I wanted something bendy that did not brake. Here I am on my hunt, in my not even close to bronze age clothing... And I found a good one.

  

If we should talk about my outfit too, this is after all more a 16th century blog than a bronze age one... Im wearing the undergarments for my 16th century German peasant outfit, with a peasant jacket on top. Really like it, it feels like me, more me then many of my everyday clothes... Undyed wool stockings with garters of sprang, undyed unterrock, very short, as the dresses of peasant were, a undyed stuchlein and a hat. Perfect for branch-hunting. Love it!

  


Anyhow...I got a branch!

Could not resist taking a picture in these beautiful surroundings. All of these pictures are taken by Sigrid Tunberg.



And here is were I should show you how I made it...but, it was fun, I got lost in the creative process and I forgot to take picture...but just bend it, and secure it with string. And after warping it looks like this!


Its not as long and narrow at the bottom as the one on the antique vase but I tried it and it was very stable.


To make sprang on this loom, compared to using my modern one, was a bit slower. Otherwise its more or less the same. The tension is not as firm and it take a bit longer to work with it therefore, the threads move around a bit more. Its also not as easy to loosen the tension, you need to unwind the threads the warp is wrapped on. I use a think string made of hemp, both to secure the branch and to warp around. According to my (very fast) checkup about hemp they did grow it here during the iron age and it might even have been a little earlier. And it works fine with linen thread too of course, this was just what I had at home that was historically correct and had the right undyed feeling to it.

The making of this loom was easy and quick. For me the fun part was to use it, to see that it was familiar but not exactly the same like working on a modern one. We cant know if they would have used a squared loom like the one from the vase or just a round quick one like this, but it do work, and when its used and no longer working you just walk out and make yourself a new one. The only advise I have is to not make the bottom part to short, you need it a little bit longer for it to be stable.

Mission completed!