Its been four months since I finished the cloth for the Rus kaftan and, this past Sunday, I finally made time to beam a new weaving project on my floor loom – a pair of leg wraps (wicklebanders or winningas) in dark blue and yellow for a viking reenactor friend.
In January of 2013, I decided to branch out from my usual early period research and crafts. I have several friends who do Landknecht really well and I though it would be interesting to give it a shot.
Miss me yet? I’ve been absent from this website recently because I’ve gotten totally involved in researching and making a German renaissance dress and accessories. I figure most of you are reading because you are interesting in early period research or in weaving, so I thought I would forego boring you all to tears with my newest obsession. Next week, I’m attending a SCA event called Gulf Wars. After that, I’ll schedule in some time for early…
Several years ago, a friend taught me to naalbind using what is commonly known as the mammen stitch. Naalbinding is an ancient needle looping technique that predates knitting for string manipulation. It was used in the Viking age, but also dates to ancient Egypt, I believe.
I have been able to do a little weaving on the patterned gauze weave sample currently on my rigid heddle loom.
2 in a series on trousers. Part 1 is here. I spent this morning with a German-speaking friend translating the inventory of garments and fragments identified as trousers in “Die Gräber der Moscevaja Balka”. [1] Footnotes (↵ returns to text) 2 in a series on trousers. Part 1 is here. I spent this morning with a German-speaking friend translating the inventory of garments and fragments identified as trousers in “Die Gräber der Moscevaja Balka”. {{1}}↵
This is part 1. Some time ago, I posted a gallery of photos showing my interpretation of Conquest era female Magyar garments. Perhaps you’ll be happy to know that I’m finally getting around to sharing how I reached the conclusions demonstrated in those garments.
My big project for last year’s season was to begin to put together a better encampment kitchen setup. I made some good progress and expect to continue to work on it this year. Here is a gallery of photos showing what we were up to. I hope you enjoy these pictures.
Many of the best books for research are in languages other than English. Russia, in particular, has the most amazing archaeological books. Yum! Most of the ones on topics of interest to me are in Hungarian, Russian, German, or Danish. Since I speak none of those languages, translation is necessary. Currently, I am working on translating the clothing section of Die Gräber der Moščevaja Balka by Anna A. Ierusalimskaja into English. I thought you might be interested in…
Yesterday, I pulled the Rus kaftan cloth off the loom. There is something so lovely about an armful of handwoven yardage. I prepped the cloth for wet finished by pulling out the float warps (I use fishing line), checking for snags, and snipping off loose threads. I cut a piece off to save for my weaving notebook and tossed the entire lot into the washing machine. A few of might be horrified to know…
