The fabric I ordered

BTW, this is the linen I just ordered. I'm taking a huge gamble by not getting a swatch to check the color, but I desperately need new clothes, and I'm generally fond of greens that I think other people would classify as ranging from "a little loud" to "AAAAAAAA!"

Hopefully soon I will have a gown that I can wear as one layer in the summer, has sleeves that can be rolled up, and is relatively easy to wash (dark colors fade so fast).

Jonsin' for shoes

I really, really want a pair of good, reasonably authentic shoes. My options are to find a maker locally (anyone have leads?), order some off the internet (expensive and sort of scary), or make them myself. When it comes to making them myself, there are several different approaches I could take, either getting it right or getting it good enough.

At this point, I'm pretty sure making them myself and ending up with a perfect result is out of my reach, so if I want something truly perfect I suspect I'll have to work directly with a shoe maker. Otherwise I can spend a chunk of money and order some off the internet, where I have the option of either ordering them in "off the rack" sizes (which generally don't work for my feet, so that's a concern right there) or paying a little more to get them from someone who at least works from a tracing of your foot (but the weird part of my foot is actually my rather high instep -- perhaps he could make adjustments if given good measurements, though). The final option, of course, being to try to make them myself recognizing that I have no idea what I'm doing. My track record on such projects is Not Good, so in this case there's a pretty good chance that I'll spend a bunch of money and time and end up with something that still doesn't really work.

I'm not quite sure how I want to approach this. Right now I think I'm going to price leather (recommended sources in the greater PDX metro area?) and if it's not prohibitively expensive I'm going to try to make them myself. I have a few ideas for "cheater" methods that don't require a last or that allow me to make lasts without actually having to carve (which is so totally not happening) that I think also address the shortcomings of most "non last" methods.

I'll keep you posted, and I welcome input.

retail therapy

I ordered linen from Fabrics-store.com (enough white for either a bunch of headwear and an apron or for a smock, and a light, bright green that's going to be turned into a new hot weather gown) plus linen thread (in colors to match fabric I've had sitting around a while and the new stuff on its way) and a netting set from Hedgehog Handworks today. I think this might help me get over the loss of the dress :)

A new Goodwill also opened up by our house and I scored a bunch of good stuff: a cute little basket that's going to hold dirty undies in the tent, two very nice pottery containers with corks and handles that still have the maker's business card tucked inside, and a handmade ceramic bowl.

I think this will end up being the kick in the pants I need to start sewing again after a very long break. I haven't made anything since my coif, which was months ago.

RIP Brown Wool Dress

Lady Eulalia cooking
Originally uploaded by laurelfactorial

I killed this dress :(

Sorry dress. You served me very well and I worked hard on you, but you were never perfect. You didn't deserve to be ruined by my own stupidity (a wayward s'more and my attempts to clean you afterwards), but maybe it's for the best. Now I finally have the motivation I need to replace you.

Also, to console me in my sorrow Better Half says she'll take me to the Pendleton mill in Washougal! Don't think I'll forget, honey!

Lughnasadh feast

I'm thinking of doing an Iron Age Britain appropriate dinner for Lughnasadh (August 1). I've done a little bit of poking around online but there's not much out there. Here's a rundown of the links I have found in case anyone is interested:

A thesis, "Nutrition and Diet in Roman Britain" (abstract only)

What kinds of artefacts have survived from Iron Age Britain. There's a wee bit of info here.

Food and Drink in Iron Age Britain from the British Museum

Cooking and Eating in Iron Age Britain, ibid

Reliving the Iron Age in Britain (TIME). Holy Cow, I wish I could have participated in this!!!!

Food and Farming

Farming in Celtic Britain. This one seems pretty good and mentions the following foods: millet, wheat, fruits, roots, herbs, honey, barley, spelt, emmer, einkhorn, rye, oats, "Celtic beans" (similar to fava beans?), "fat hen" (apparently a vegetable), a primitive parsnip, cows, goats, sheep, pigs.

Through Google books I found an exerpt from a book titled A History of Kitchen Gardening which mentions the following vegetables either wild or cultivated: alexanders (aka "horse parsley" and supposed to be vaguely similar to celery), nettles, mints, cresses, fat-hen (again!), celery (really?), beet, carrot, leafy barassicas, asparagus, wheat, barley, peas, vetch, horse beans, "edible weeds", dill, coriander, fennel, poppy, anise, hazelnuts, gooseberries (okay this contradicts previous findings of mine so I'm curious which source is right), crab apples, wild pears and strawberries, sloes, bullaces (?), cherries.

I also put in a request for a juvenile nonfiction book from the library called Life in the Iron Age.

There are as usual some insanely sexy books on the topic on Amazon, all of which are out of my price range. Well, if one looked really fabulous, I'd probably buy it obviously not for my dinner planning but just because I'm interested in the history of my people. Any recommendations? Ref, I'm looking at you here ;)

Anyway, here's kind of what I'm thinking:

• A beef roast (rubbed in salt and herbs)


• Some kind of bread, possibly an adaptation of the oatcakes found here (maybe substituting barley flour for the wheat), or just a mixed-grain loaf (did they have leavened bread?)


• Grain porridge (wheat? rye? barley? millet? one of each?) with tasty topings


• Fresh fruit (berries, cherries, apples if the first local ones are in by then


• Cheese, either fresh home-made or something British -- even though a Roman writer remarked that the Britons didn't have cheese, I don't think I believe it and I like cheese


• Maybe a salad of some of the herbs/greens listed above (okay so I have no evidence for salad but whatever)


• Milk and beer or mead (good opportunity to test out the one week recipe!)

By the way, for those of you keeping score at home, yes I do this much research and thinking for a religious celebration. The correct term, I have learned today, is Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism. And here I've been calling myself a Pagan Fundamentalist when really what I am is a MEGA NERD! Hee hee hee. What can I say? I liked Mists of Avalon maybe a little too much. I've always wanted to do this, Lughnasadh is Better Half's favorite holiday, I've been remiss in my celebrations this whole year so I want to do this right.

Yeah yeah, this isn't really SCA related directly, but it all ties into my cooking research so I thought I'd share. I'll be sure to post pictures, recipes, and a review of the dinner when we get there, too.

My Advice for Newcomers, or, What I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I First Started (Even If I Would Never Have Listened)

I found this interesting journal of someone's first experiences in the SCA, and she includes some great advice for newcomers (I think around about page 3) that I really agree with, and it got me thinking about all the mistakes I made (and still make, ha ha) in the SCA. If I had it all to do over again, I'd do a lot of things differently. Here we go, in no particular order.

Borrow garb or make yourself one outfit rather than spending tons of time and money on garb at first. While there's no way to learn how to make stuff without actually making stuff, you are basically guaranteed to hate your all of the first outfits you make. I made myself many horrible cotton tunics when I was learning to sew. I'm glad that I learned to sew on cheap fabric, but I wish that I had instead put that time into getting one really good outfit together. Buying clothes is also, I am told, a huge waste of money. If you don't know how to sew, and you just want to have something to wear to events while you figure out your persona, borrow clothes. Gold Key is a great and often under-used resource!

If you can't or don't want to borrow clothes and you know nothing about sewing, find a decent costumer and enlist their help in making yourself one linen tunic. Use either 100% linen or a linen/cotton blend (rayon is icky) -- shop sales or try www.fabrics-store.com -- in a non-threatening color (colors achievable with period dyes include blues, greens, yellows, reds, pinks, oranges, and browns). Buy a bedsheet from a thrift store and sew yourself an undertunic (you can either use the period pattern or just make a T-tunic). If you're a man, buy some baggy linen "lounge" pants (you'll probably have to shop in the women's department, but I've frequently scored these at thrift stores). Accessorize tastefully: some kind of hat or headcovering (back to that costumer for help), a belt from the thrift store, and plain-looking leather shoes (Birkenstock-type sandals, clogs, leather slippers, "UGG" boots or their knockoffs, or anything else that isn't screamingly modern), and you'll look surprisingly period and fabulous.

When it comes to your encampment and gear in general, don't feel like you have to have everything perfect (or even just have everything) your first year or two in the SCA. It's easy to spend PILES of money trying to get all the perfect gear, only to realize that the dishes you bought won't survive being jostled in a basket or the pavilion you bought (or made yourself) is impossible to set up and too small. Throw a blanket over your cooler and a tablecloth over that card table and get yourself a wooden folding chair. Use wooden dishes from the thrift store. Hide modern things under the table. I believe that everyone should strive for an authentic encampment because I think that "living it" for a weekend is what makes the SCA fun, but I think that waiting a season or two before you plunge into actually assembling the things you need for said encampment is prudent.

When it comes to tents, if you have a modern tent, use it and dream for the days when you'll have something better. Help people set up their medieval tents, take tours of them, and find out what are the pros and cons of each design. Learn from the experiences of others! If you have no tent, either buy a cheap modern one or find someone to camp with who will let you share space in their tent. There are many period-looking dayshades that are remarkably easy to make, the simplest being some 2x2s with nails in one end holding up a painters drop cloth purchased from the hardware store, all of this supported by ropes and stakes. I'll admit that I haven't ever made a dayshade, but it is next on my list. I generally think that trying to disguise a modern dayshade is a waste of time and money, as they still look modern; buy a cheap one and plan your upgrade.

Ask a million questions. This will help you learn more about the culture of the SCA, it will also help you develop a persona and find interesting things to do. Try these: Why does that guy have a white belt? What do you do if you see someone with a crown? I love your outfit -- can you tell me about it? What's that you're working on? Oooh, this is delicious, how did you make it? Where did you get that beautiful bowl?

A word of warning, though: Don't ask someone if something you have created is authentic if you can't handle the answer being "no." While it is discourteous for someone to offer up their opinion without being asked, it is also discourteous to ask for an opinion and then decided you didn't really want it. As kind of a corollary to this, don't be freaked out when someone offers polite correction if you make a social gaffe. The SCA has some customs that are probably pretty confusing at first ("Why is it okay to call someone my lord Newguy but not Lord Newguy?" and the like) but that we tend to take pretty seriously. If you call the king "Your Highness" and someone politely, kindly, and privately corrects you, don't get mad, thank them for helping you! (If they are rude, cruel, and make it public, you should still respond with courtesy but it's understandable to be peeved.)

Okay, that's all for now, but I may revisit this topic in the future. How about you? What do you wish someone had told you and what advice would you offer to newcomers?

I am already plotting for next year's Grand Thing

I totally want to teach a class on mead making using only ingredients known in Viking-age Scandinavia and Britain/Ireland. I'm not a Viking, but it's a Viking-centered event, and I think there's a real need for more plausible "early period" mead recipes. The most common mead recipes used in the SCA include lemons and spices, which just don't scream "Viking" to me. So I'd like to do some research into ingredients and experiment a little bit with the process to see if I can develop a couple of working recipes. The class would be hands-on (I'm thinking we'd do a one-week mead and everyone gets to take home a small bottle), with a handout with more recipes and a list of Viking-age ingredients.

Here's some of what I've found so far:

Drinks, from the Viking Answer Lady. Mead may in many cases have been basically a by-product of the "skep" hives used historically -- after several stages of honey extraction, the final step was to simmer all the debris in water to get a weak honey-water. This could then be fermented. I've never tried a "plain" mead (just honey) as I've been told it's harder to get it to taste good to modern palates.

Alcohol references in the Sagas. These are the images that the word "mead" conjures for most of us, I'm sure!

A Celtic Feast in "Early Period" (previously linked to). The first recipe is for mead and includes a quote from the rule of St Ailbe (9th century Irish) on mead being served to monks. The recipe, which I may well use for the class, is ready in a week and in its most simple form would involve simmering 2 lbs of honey with 3 quarts + 2 cups of water (skimming the foam), letting it cool, transferring to a sterilized gallon jug, adding two teaspoons of yeast (the author notes that baking yeast will work) and letting it work for 5-7 days before drinking. That sounds really, really easy, and it's pretty similar to my usual mead procedure, plus it's ready quickly which should be good for class participants. I think this might be our lucky winner.

For Anglo Saxon / Viking age Britain ingredients specifically, see Regia Anglorum's pages on food and flora. They also have a lovely page on early medieval brewing.

Based on my very limited research, here's my starting list of probable available ingredients (in addition to honey and water and a yeast starter culture saved from previous batches or otherwise cultivated):

• Fruits: sloes, cherries, prunes, bilberries, lingonberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, sorbs, haws, elderberries, rosehips, apples, pears, and more...


• Flowers: elderflowers, roses, hawthorne flowers, heather, and more...


• Conifers: juniper berries, spruce tips, others?


• Herbs: Yarrow, meadowsweet, bog myrtle, and more...

As you can see, I need to flesh this out substantially, but I think it's a good start and going to be an interesting project.

A teaching note for myself

A great way to do introductions during a class is for everyone to say who they are, where they're from, and their comfort level with cooking (modern and medieval). This definitely helped me teach better! It's totally basic, but I'm proud of myself for thinking of it.

Open Fire Cooking at Coronation

It went okay! I still have not got the hang of this class, I definitely haven't perfected any of the recipes to be class-timing-friendly. I either need to figure out a new system or run this as a demo rather than a formal class. On top of that, it was hotter than hades yesterday, so maybe no open fire cooking until fall/winter!

But some really awesome people showed up and I feel like I made some good connections. The attendees were a really great group, everybody was super into food and willing to actually make the class hands-on which was fabulous. People seemed like they were having fun and the food was tasty, so I call that a win. I was much less awkward than I was at DMDT (soooo glad I gave myself a practice round).

I also finally bought some fire tools from Grendel! I got a long fork and some tongs. SWEEEEEEEET!

I can't believe how perfectly it feels like our whole camping set up is coming together this season. Sadly, though, now that we actually have our stupid tent working, I've found all the design flaws that make me want to save my pennies for something better soon. Argh! I guess I liken it to all the garb I've made that didn't really work -- you don't start out knowing what will and won't cut it. We didn't make the tent, but you get the idea.

Aww, how cute: I'm turning into a perfectionist!

I sewed a second doll and her dress last night / today. But then I got the dress on and it was just all wrong. I somehow messed up the size and shape even though it's a stupidly simple pattern and I thought I was exactly copying the blue dress that worked perfectly.

So... I started over. After completely hand sewing the whole thing. I'm really proud of this! Normally I would find a way to make it work or call it good enough and I'm finally dedicated enough to say, no, this reflects me and I want it to be great.

This time I was much more careful in measuring and cutting out the mini dress. Hopefully I'll have a minute tomorrow to get the sewing done. I had also briefly debated making some additional clothing and accessories for each doll but I decided that I'm not there yet. Soon.

I may modify the failed dress into a Viking coat for a future doll, though :)

Unrelatedly, I made a pie for the weekend with the following filling: ground pork, bacon, green apples, onions, cheese, spices. I can't wait to eat it.

One doll finished!

Rag doll for largess
Originally uploaded by laurelfactorial

Here she is! Linen body, wool dress, wool yarn hair, linen thread, embroidery thread, polyfill stuffing.

I rank her as "flippin' adorable" and am quite proud.

Modification of the doll plan

After one attempt, I realized that drafting a doll pattern is beyond me. So I googled "rag doll pattern" and found this. I simplified the feet (made the legs the same shape as the arms just bigger) and sewed one in "natural" (unbleached) linen fabric with matching thread. I've started stuffing it, and now I need to embroider on the face, add hair, and sew up the stuffing holes. Then, of course, clothes. But once I get a little farther I'll at least be able to take and post some pictures. woo!

Dolls for Largess

I occasionally dabble in doll making, mostly of the polymer clay fairies and gnomes etc. type (you can see some pictures here). As such I've long harbored a sort of half-hearted interest in learning more about medieval dolls. After reading that one of the items specifically requested by TRH-soon-to-be-TRM for largess is children's toys, I decided that was motivation enough to actually do a little research and try my hand at it.

For this project I decided to do enough research that I feel like what I create is plausibly period but I am okay with not doing competition level research. I found this pretty cool article online about medieval dolls by a SCAdian, which was exactly the broad overview I was looking for. I decided to make a rag (cloth) doll as it is within my skill level and I think more durable/usable for a kid.

A little more poking around found pictures of medieval toys and playthings, which ultimately led me to a picture of a very early (Roman) rag doll from Egypt. Surviving cloth dolls are extremely rare, so I've decided to loosely base my dolls on this pattern.

Okay, I'm exicited about this project. Ha! I love how that happens!

I'll post some pictures as I get further in the process including line drawings of the pattern I plan to use.

Not much to update

That's why there haven't been any updates! I've been working on... well, basically nothing. But I'll be at July Coronation and I should be teaching open fire cooking again. It will basically be the same class as I did at DMDT, but obviously updated based on the improvements that suggested themselves.

Should be fun!

I had really wanted to do some largess for Coronation, too, so I think I'm still going to try for that -- possibly pincushions (but I don't want to steal Svava's thunder!), pouches, handspun yarn (like I don't have plenty of this sitting around that I could donate, ha ha), or spindles. We're going to a group of friends campout this weekend so I should have some time for handwork, perhaps this will work out after all.