The Hillfort

Greetings and welcome to The Hillfort, the home of Iofa merch Macsen.  In this journal I will be talking about things having to do with my life in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).  For posts about my life outside of the SCA you can go to my other LJ at http://tn-lark.livejournal.com/profile  So seat yourself close to my fire, close your eyes, and listen to the bards as they tell the tales of our ancestors.

I'm home again from Pennsic.  The laundry is done, the camping rubble safely stowed until next year, and the layers of Pennsic dirt have been scrubbed away.

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I have finally completed my latest embroidery project.  I set out to make an original embroidery done in the style of the Bayeux Tapestry. 

My first task was to find an image that would be contemporary with the Bayeux which would lend itself to embroidery.  In the process I discovered two Anglo-Saxon calendars which depict the Labors of the Month.  The first was the Julius Calendar which dates to approximately 1020 CE, and the second the Tiberius Calendar which dates to around 1060 CE.  The Tiberius Calendar was thought to have been created at the cathedral in Winchester.  Since I was able to find a clear line drawing from the latter, since it was essentially contemporary with the Bayeux, and since it was present at Winchester where current research suggests the Bayeux was completed that was the set of images that I chose to work with.  I finally settled on the month of October with the Labor of the Month being that of hunting.

Since the image did not fully fill the piece of linen that I had to work with I decided to add to it borders taken from the Bayeux which also depict hunting scenes including a brace of quail, a falcon, two dogs and a fox.

The background of the piece is linen and the embroidery is done in naturally dyed lambswool using the brand and colors identified in the book "The Bayeux Tapestry Embroderer's Story..

I have completed the initial draft of the documentation for the piece and hope to have it finalized for this fall's A&S season.

Mistress Nerak and I attended Spring Coronation and had a wonderful time...even though we almost froze in our tent on Friday night.  But the weather on Saturday was glorious, cool and sunny.  I spent much of the day outside working on embroidery and knitting while Mistress Nerak was in Laurel meetings.

That night we attended the Black and White Ball, and my Laurel had made certain that I had some lovely new garb to wear.  It is far different from my early period garb!  And it made several jaws drop when I walked in.  I felt truly lovely, and it was fun having the swishy sleeves and skirt while dancing.

I am home again from Gulf Wars, tired, dusty and happy.  The weather was remarkably good right up until Saturday night, and by the time the rain started I was safely in the hotel packing to come home.  Of course the fact that it was shirt-sleeve weather on Saturday and snowing on Sunday was a bit of a shock.  So was the long detour home after a sinkhole ate part of I-65 north of Birmingham forcing us to take a longer route up through Memphis before heading to Nashville.

Much of the war was spent visiting with old friends and making some new ones and I had a lot of fun doing portrait-style photography of as many of them as I could get to hold still

The War started with a bright and sunny day for opening ceremonies at the Fort









And of course their Majesties, Boru and Dierdre, looking splendid as they graced the ceremonies with their presence.





And of course amongst all the Kingdom pagentry I had to take some pictures of some of my Brothers from the Great Dark Horde.

Baroness Kiegan, Former Khan of the GDH



And Squeek.  Don't let the pretty face fool you, this gal is really good with a rapier!



And here is a picture of the Trimarin Horn of State being born by the wonderful and talented gentle who carved it.  It really is an amazing piece!



Gulf Wars is one event which includes both coursing and also equestrian activities.  I got to enjoy some wolfhound kisses and leans from the two lovely hounds that were present.



And on Thursday I spent part of the morning watching the greyhounds course the lure. They were having a wonderful time of it and it was a joy to see these rescued dogs living the life they deserved.



I walked over to watch some of the mounted events as well.  I loved the knight on the mule with both in motley.



And I thought this picture of tilting the quintain was rather nice.  I managed to catch it just as his spear impacted the target.



And on the last day of the War they had a mounted procession through the merchant's area escorting the coach with Lord Steven riding in it..  Steven was the Guest of Honor at Gulf Wars courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  I can only hope that the event was everything this good Gentle dreamed it could be.  This was the SCA at its finest, truly living the Dream.



There was a wonderful display of falconry at the War.  The handlers brought both a Harris Hawk and a Peregrine falcon, but it was the falcon that appealed most to me.



One of the truly magical places at Gulf Wars is the Green Dragon Tavern where one can enjoy a pint, a ploughman's lunch, and some live entertainment.  We spent two marvelous evenings in here listening to Master Effenwalt perform.



My Horde Brother, Master JP merchants at Gulf Wars, sometimes disguised as Master John Deere the mad purveyor of fine perfumes.



JP's pavilion also becomes a meeting/resting place for the Horde at Gulf Wars.  Here are my Brothers Rowena and Brise taking their ease.



And now for some portrait shots of friends old a new!

Duchess Alyssa at the Ladies of the Rose Tournament



Countess Tessa of the Gardens, also taken at the Ladies of the Rose Tournament



Mistress Isolde and her husband, Master Finn





Sir Trudy Lacklandia, first lady Knight of the SCA doing what she loves best,...frisking the fighters at Marshal's Point.



Sir Assad of the Outlands.  Probably the best hand-kisser in the SCA



Claudia, Countess Tessa and Mistress Isolde plotting outside the bakery.



Countess Tessa, Master Finn, Mistress Isolde, and Mistress Nerak (my own Laurel) outside the bakery.



My Brother and friend, Mistress Jalali, putting aside her Persian garb to try on the new Flemish gown she bought.



And Duke, Sir John the Bearkiller, taken at Meridien Court



And one last picture of the musical group Volgemut playing outside the coffeeshop.



All in all it was a lovely war.  Now I just have to finish getting myself together for Pennsic!

-Iofa-

Wheeee!  I had the best time last weekend out in San Francisco attending the INKINS event.  Two whole days of needlework intensive with some very talented teachers and other embroiderers.  I particularly went out to take the class on the St. Cuthbert technique being taught by Letitia de Scotia.  The class was worth every penny I spent on the trip.  I feel like I'm ready to tackle a piece of St. Cuthbert work just as soon as I get the proper magnifier so that I can see what I'm doing.  Doing counted work on 32-count fabric is more than my eyes can handle easily.  I can't imagine how the original was done on 64-count fabric.

I also took a really good class on Or Nue and I've been working away on the practice piece we were given.  Like the St. Cuthbert work working with single strands of silk is really going to need better light and magnification than doing the Bayeux let me get away with.  I'm also thinking I may want to consider getting either a floor or a lap stand to work on.

The last class that I took was a discussion of the Hogam tunic from a grave site in Sweden dated to about 500 AD.  Viking textiles of that period did not include embroidery as we might think of it.  Most of the decorative stitching on garments was done as both decoration and as a way of reinforcing seams and covering raw edges of the underlying fabric.  We started making a Viking cap and were able to use any of the documented stitches we wished to assemble and decorate it.

On Saturday night I did go out to dinner with several of the other embroiderers.  We found a place called Max's Cafe not far from the hotel and spent several hours discussing embroidery and other arts and sciences topics over a delicious meal.

I was really impressed by the whole IKINS experience and I'd love to see something similar started in Meridies.

I did a reproduction of a portion of two panels of the Bayeux Tapestry. It is done in lamb's wool on linen using the colors described in "The Bayeux Tapestry Embroiderers' Story" by Jan Messent.  The piece is done in approximately 3/4 scale to the original.  The piece made me the A&S Champion at the Meridian Midwinter A&S competion.  And at Kingdom A&S it garnered a perfect score.

I'm now working on an original piece in the Bayeux style using an illustration from an Anglo-Saxon calendar contemporary with the Bayeux Tapestry.

Here's a couple of pictures of the piece:

A picture of me dressed up for the Black & White Ball at Coronation.  For once in something other than my usual Celtic persona.

At which I was privileged to be awarded my AOA by their Majesties, Seth and Gwen.