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From Chalice of the Sun God, Fall 2014:

O sege gif þu siehest: Documentation

These images are immense, so I'll put them behind a cut.  Click on them to zoom waaaaay in.

Weaving and Fake Soumak Pictures

The almost-five-foot-long Grey Thing:

Close-up of the weave:

Fake soumak, front:

Fake soumak, reverse:

New class notes

Better late than never...

Improvisation for Melody Instruments (2015): Update to my improv class

Research for Performing Arts (2015): Includes the 2014 general research class notes plus a cut-down version of the 2013 bardic version.

Motivation (2015): Taught at Winter University

Alliterative Poetry (2015): Revisions to old handout, better examples

How to Do Research (2014): Research class generalized and streamlined a bit, for a general audience

I still owe "Breaking into Bardic," which doesn't seem to be in my Google Drive.  I'll find it later.

Some weaving references

That I don't want to lose track of:

Warp Weighted Looms: Then and Now (Anglo-Saxon and Viking Archaeological Evidence and Modern Practitioners).  That looks like such a *fun* dissertation.

40-year old magazine series on ancient looms.  Change the URL to get to next issue (03 -> 04, etc).

Website that hosts 40-year old weaving periodicals, among other things.

University of Copenhagen publications, link has "experimental archaeology" search baked in.  "Technical report X, experimental archaeology" (X = 1:4 that I've seen so far) series is all about weaving on warp-weighted looms.  Varying spinning technique, weight shape, etc., and looking at impacts on final fabric.

Naalbinding Mittens

The thumb is done on the second one, now.  You can see it's much more even than the first one (but still has plenty of, ahem, character).  I blew through this in a week or so, until my wrists decided that it was just too much.  I need to find a way to do it that's ergonomically friendly.

Camp stool

Back in September 2013, I acquired a wooden folding camp stool.  The design is plenty period, it's light and easy to carry on my shoulder, and it looks way better than my nylon camp chair.  (On the downside - no back.)  It's also become my preferred harping stool, ousting the IKEA kiddie chair.

The stool is lovely in natural wood, but there are decoration options. Since I've turned up a few links, I'm going to drop them here.

Article on the Guldhoj Chair (c. 1400 BCE), including museum display and (?) reconstruction (not sure where the nifty Celtoid knobs are from?)

Same press release, different image (of the Nonnberg stool, 12th cen)

St. Thomas Guild article on reconstructing one, two images (13th and 15th cen).  Thaaaat is a fantastic piece of work which I am not at all aiming to replicate.  I'm just considering whether or not to paint/carve the one I have.

Sella curulis is the proper name for what I've been calling "X-chair" or "X-stool" privately.

M.C Escher sella curulis? I don't have a citation for this illumination (URL calls it "caedom MS?), although the calligraphy at the top of the page is definitely insular miniscule.

Folding iron stool from the Prittlewell prince's grave.  (I seem to recall that there used to be a nice Museum of London report online, but it's gone now.  I have the little book at home.)

Experiments in soumak

So my 5-6' of grey 2" band became a ground for some fake soumak weaving experiments over the weekend.  By "fake soumak" I mean that I used  a tapestry needle to put the yarn where it should have gone, if it had been woven into the fabric.

Lesson 1: It is easier than real soumak in that you don't have to have planned out the design ahead of time, so you can build it up a row at a time.  You can work backwards if you need to, or follow an outline if that's your preference.

Lesson 2: It is harder than real soumak, because it's very easy to get mixed up over what row you're on.  You cannot get mixed up this way if you are always working on the fell line itself.  (Using Aida cloth, or a more open/regular weave, would be helpful.)

Lesson 3: Bring instructional materials along.  I thought I'd remembered the "how to" diagrams, but when I got home, I found I'd missed some important pieces.  On the other hand, I learned a lot by sort of fiddling around, too.

Lesson 4: Carpal tunnel pain is a real @#$%!.  My wrists were feeling better, and I honestly didn't feel like I'd done that much stitching.  (Dozens, not hundreds, of stitches, I would say.) Woke up the next morning with stabby pains at my index finger. Argh.

I did some solid rows, a diagonal, and a little Cthulhu.  I really need to start posting some pictures.  I found my camera, though, so maybe that'll be easier now.  (Also, I don't always post from my home PC, where the pictures get uploaded.)

Next experiments will be on Aida cloth, I think.  My undertunic linen is too fine.  (I think. It's hard to tell from the documentation I have what the threads/inch of the ground cloth is.)

Fiber thoughts: weaving vs embroidering

I learned about the Överhogdal tapestries a few days ago.  I also found that there is a wee slight (16 pp) book about them, in an English translation, and that said book could be had from a West Coast rug-focused bookstore.  (They bid me greetings from the West Kingdom in their acknowledgement of my order, recognizing the "sca" in my email address, evidently!)  It came today.

It gives some really good, useful information on how these tapestries were made.  At first, they were thought to be embroideries, but since the wool design threads never pierced the underlying linen base, they were reclassified as soumak embroideries.

Now, I suspect there's a really good chance they were soumak tapestry-woven.  But you could create a structurally identical piece if you had a linen embroidery fabric and a blunt tapestry needle - going through the holes of the fabric carefully.

EDIT: *headdesk* If you're interested in these tapestries, get a much more detailed book for less than I paid for my new loot over here.

Edmund Ironsides

I'm currently reading Henry of Huntingdon's "History of the English People."  I'm currently getting through the chapter of all the stuff leading up to 1066 - Aethelred's floundering, Swein's death, Cnut's ascendency, and then Aethelred's death.  Then Aethelred's son Edmund comes into the picture.

It's one of these eye-popping little early history stories, although upon reflection, it's really the villain, Eadric, who makes it.  Underdog victories, attempts at treachery, underdog keeps going anyway, a duel between kings, a peace accord, a final treachery most foul, and the villain's poetic come-uppance. 

I've only just started poking into this - Henry's account isn't the only one, and some of the devices he uses (e.g. the duel, death-by-privy-assassin) are just soooo literary that I suspect he's playing with facts for a good story.  BUT IT'S A GOOD STORY.  I'm not surprised to learn that there's a minor Elizabethan play about him - and that's got it's own good story to it, since some guys are insisting that it's a lost early Shakespeare! 

Definitely thinking I want to do something with this guy. Not sure what yet.

Bag inspiration

Shoulder bag embroidered with Mammen tree-of-life design.  Oooo, shiny!