Knit Me A Straightjacket

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Location: Wild West, United States

Friday, May 19, 2006

Out To Lunch

...and not even sorry!

:-P

I have not picked up knitting needles in at least a week. I haven't spun a single hair. I haven't woven or sewn or ironed or done much of anything productive in the material sense.

However. That is not to say that I haven't been busy. On the contrary, I have been extraordinarily busy with some seriously heavy, complex, intense personal stuff. Rest assured, my friends, I have not forgotten you, and I *will* be back, just not quite yet.

What I'm doing right now is really important, and I hope you don't take it personally.

Love to All,

R

Monday, May 08, 2006

Cucina per Campagna



This past Saturday May 6th I was busy all day cooking over an open fire with my Mistress and some SCA friends. That's Mistress Lijsbet in the green by the fire. This is her set-up, her medieval camp kitchen. We were teaching her class "Cucina per Campagna: Beyond Re-creating Period Recipes."

She is an accomplished cook and researcher, and has amassed a kit of period-correct (or very close) equipment, tools, and containers with which to make period-appropriate food using period-appropriate techniques.

It takes the recreationist cook to a much higher level than simply trying to reproduce period recipes in the modern kitchen with modern tools. One is truly transported to another time when working in the period camp kitchen. There is almost nothing to remind one of the modern era, and it's a magical experience.

I am not in any of these pictures, because I took them. If I get pictures from anyone else I will add them.

The best way to accurately re-create is to make and do. We have found that if something doesn't work well, we're not doing it accurately, and that the more accurately we do things, the better they work. Take Marjorie's clothing, for example, in the red:

She's wearing a wool gown, which is fire-resistant and protects her from the heat of the fire. Her heavy linen apron protects her gown from sparks and soil, and she can use it as both a hand towel and a pot holder. Finally, her head-wrap keeps her hair clean and out of the way, and also keeps her head cool. Her sleeves are loose in the shoulder, allowing for freedom of movement, but narrow in the forearm, so that they do not dangle or get in the way. This is an example of how doing something accurately makes it work better, and how actually using it the way our ancestors would have used it, doing the things they did in the way they did them, tests our theories and our skills and either proves we've got it right, or highlights problems where we may have misinterpreted something in our re-creation.

Finally, we get to enjoy the fruits of a day's labor. It is very, very satisfying to spend the day in good company, sampling the food (and the spiced wine!) and making something with your hands, which you then get to enjoy, and watch others enjoy, eating together. Of course, then someone has to clean up!

We prepared the following dishes this day:

Fish with wine & sage sauce, roast beef, roast pork loin, roast chicken stewed with spices, fried fava beans, spiced sauteed turnips, home-made sausage with pork, sage, and spices, three different sauces for the meats, fresh pasta with cheese and spices, pottage of apples and raisins in almond milk, figs stewed in wine and spices, and red and white spiced wines. Everything was prepared on-site by hand, using fresh herbs and hand-ground spices. It was a wonderful meal!

Kingdom Arts & Sciences Competition


On April 8th I attended the Kingdom of the Outlands Arts & Sciences competition. This was only the second competition I've entered. I was both an entrant and a judge - in different categories, naturally.

This is my entry - the pouch in the center of the picture. It's made from commercially-made 100% silk brocade fabric, which I folded in half and then tablet wove the side seams and strap with 100% 60/2 silk. It has silk tassells and silk drawstrings made by fingerloop braiding. It is closely based on extant pouches excavated in London and documented in the books _Textiles and Clothing_ and _Dress Accessories_, both published by the Museum of London.

I scored very well, and got very positive comments. I didn't win anything, however - mostly due to the relatively low complexity of the piece, and the fact that it was my only entry. I didn't have other scores to average it with.

Nevertheless, it was a good experience and I learned a lot. I learned that my work and my documentation compare very favorably with what others in the kingdom are doing. I learned that if I want the championship next year, it is within reach.

I also learned that judging is a bitch! Especially research papers. I'm well-qualified for that category, but at an event it is very difficult to concentrate, and there are usually no reference materials available for fact-checking or anything else. It's also hard to verbally evaluate someone - I've never done that before - tell them what worked and what didn't in their paper, and make suggestions to improve it. That was the hardest part. And of course, trying not to sound like an idiot at the same time....

A friend and I were discussing the nature of competition, and whether or not I should indulge my competitive instincts or not. He proposed that if I set my own victory conditions - that is, I define what would constitute a personal victory/success rather than using the external measure of winning or not winning - then I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. It's more important to me to the best than to win. If I win and I'm not the best, it's hollow. If I'm the best and I don't win, I might be disappointed but at least I will feel good about what I accomplished.