Home from Athenaeum

Another brilliant event put on by Master Charles and Mistress Kerij-e! There were over 50 artisans displaying their works, talking with Laurels and other artisans, sharing their passions, their research, their creations, and their positive energy. The place was just alive with joy! It was really palpable.

This event was new last year, but it had a lot of similarities to an event that had gone on for 3 or 4 years prior that was hosted by a Laurel in the Kent/Renton area called Arts Unframed. It had a similar structure to have artisans display their works and have Laurels attend and give them the opportunity to view the stuff. It was a little less structured in that the Laurels were not required to sign up to visit with artisans and have conversations with them about their chosen passions, and the artisans were not guaranteed to have anyone stop by to talk. I did Arts Unframed twice and had only spoken with a couple of Laurels who were curious about what I was doing. I had a lot of stuff on my assigned table, so there were lots of different kinds of art to interest a wide variety of Laurels. I had weaving, spinning, costume bits, sock knitting, the warp-weighted loom, dye stuff, blackwork, lampwork, and part of a Roman doll that I was making.

This is only about 2/3 of the exhibitors. I’m to the far right, next to the staircase.

Last year at Athenaeum, like at Arts Unframed, I had my breadth of knowledge with All The Things on display…

2018…ALL THE THINGS!

…this year was depth of knowledge display on historic tablet weaving. Because I was only showing one thing, I requested a teeny tiny table. It was just barely enough room, but it worked.

2019…HISTORIC TABLET WEAVING!

I had so many visitors and each one of them was a joy to talk to. I was able to share where I started with this rather rough-looking skip hole weave, which was made in the THIRD class I took on tablet weaving…I was determined to learn this craft. This was my “ah ha!” moment.

A very simple woven band.

Then I began learning from others through published patterns. I created quite a number of pieces from books and GTT patterns on Pinterest–there are a lot of patterns available there!

Applesies & Fox Noses has been a great tool for improving my weaving skills.

Then I felt I really advanced with this piece where I was able to look at the extant piece (photo) and the archaeological drawing and figure out how it was made…

No pattern was available, but this detailed archaeological sketch was at hand.

…and then re-create it.

Noting the little dimples in the sketch, I guessed that this was a skip-hole weave method…and I was right!

And finally, taking a very detailed pattern and use very fine silk threads to create a breathtaking woven piece…if I may say so myself.

A question I was asked by a Laurel who stopped by was how big was the original and how close is mine to that measurement? I didn’t know the answer to at the time–the extant image didn’t have a ruler next to it, sadly–but have since (in the last 24 hours) discovered the answers and found out even more about this piece and the companion piece found in the tomb. The original measured 18 mm wide and was made of silk (not wool, as was originally published in another source that I found). Mine, also made of silk, is 15 mm wide. The original motifs are much more square than mine and other reproductions I’ve seen, which makes me curious to find out why…

“So what’s up next?” was a question I heard several times. There are three things I want to do. First, work in wool. I have only worked in cotton and a little in silk, but I have a project in the queue for a gent in Denmark who got in touch with me a few days ago. The item that he’s requesting is a 6 yard piece in wool using an Icelandic pattern. I just ordered some materials and am looking forward to receiving them soon…maybe this week. The specific pattern he wants is a brocade tablet weaving piece, although brocaded weaving is something I have done very little of. The last time I tried, several years ago, the process frustrated me, likely due to the materials I was using, and the difficulty of the piece that I chose. However, now that I have much more experience and confidence, I am ready to try it again–so that’s #2.

Brocade weaving from Iceland; reproduction by Aisling

The third thing I am looking forward to trying is weaving with metal. Many of the brocade pieces used gold and silver in its creation, and the Danish gent that I’ve been communicating with has some to trade for the woven piece he is asking for.

Many of the brocaded pieces found at archaeological digs have nothing but the metal remaining–the wool and/or linen rotted away over time.

At 12:30, we had a break for lunch. I lunched in the courtyard with my bestie, Aenor, who was also displaying, as well as their Excellencies of Wyewood and a couple other gentlemen. Although the Madrone Culinary Guild provided a lovely spread of food, allergens prevented me from imbibing, so we packed a lunch of chicken salad, croissants, cheese, fruit, and Millionaire’s Shortbread.

It was a long day, exhausting, but in a good way. I had to leave right after the displaying was over at 4 pm to meet up with hubby and friends at the Pride Day Sounders game. Sadly, this meant missing court and the elevation of Mistress Helewisa, and the awarding of the Lion’s Strength to my Mistress, Isolde.

The gargoyle behind me is Rick…he’s a very funny guy.

At the end of the day, I had over 14,000 steps logged on my Fitbit. I forgot to change into my comfy tennies, but kept wearing my new, not-yet-broken-in SCA loafers…by the time I got home, my feet were very sore! I need to find a way to stretch the leather over the instep.

I’m looking forward to doing this again next year. But maybe with more comfortable shoes.

Getting Ready for Athenaeum 2019

I’m starting to get a little panicky about Saturday…at least about getting everything packed and not forgetting anything. Once I get there and get set up, I’m fine–I can talk all day to people about tablet weaving, so that’s no problem. It’s making sure I have everything I need that is stressing me out.

I’ve got my weaving all ready in the display…

This was the first jumble of bands…I realized I had too much weaving and not enough basket…so I got a second basket.

I’ve got my loom warped with lovely fine silk threads…just need to ensure that I can transport it to the event without snagging any of it…I think I have an old Amazon gift bag lying around somewhere.

7th century French double-sided weaving in *silk*…it doesn’t get much sexier than that.

I’ve put together my little herbal thank yous (I made 15…I hope I have enough)…

*Not intended for smoking. It’s sage and rosemary from my garden in little organza baggies.

I also have my business cards (with updated blog address), binders of patterns and research materials, and a couple of pieces to give as gifts–one to Master Charles for his apprentice who is getting elevated, and one to Her Royal Highness as a gift to someone in Caid. I still need to find my table cloth–I’m thinking about going with a plain color since I’ve got so many bright colors in the basket already.

Tag…you’re it!

The only thing I’m lacking is good labeling of the pieces themselves. I put business-card size pieces of paper on them–I created them on Publisher with my arms and a brief description–but they’re too big and I don’t know how to attach them to the weaving other than stapling or pinning, which I don’t like. What I should have done earlier is put mini tags on them; small tags but with enough room to write the era and region the pattern is from–or rather, type it up, print it on a sticker and paste it on. It’s something I should have ordered days ago, but I didn’t…and now I’m wondering where I could go pick them up. A craft store? A paper store? A party store? None of those seem quite right. The paper I have here is not heavy enough, and I’m not sure what I’ve got for heavier weight paper. I mean, I could buy some paper, use a template to cut them out by hand…but that seems rather time consuming.

The last thing I need to do is make Millionaire’s Shortbread….it’s kind of a throwback to last year when a Laurel I really admire gave me the gift of a jar of Lyle’s Golden Syrup and challenged me to make some. A year has passed and I have made it a couple times before…but I need to make it either tomorrow or Friday and bring it to the event.

A deadly combination of shortbread, caramel and chocolate.

Needless to say, you can see why I’m a little panicky. I have a lot of stuff to do and not a lot of time to do it.

I FOUND MY BOOK!

Hide and seek second place winner. Keys are still holding the top spot.

I’ve been searching for my copy of the Applesies and Fox Noses for a year…or more. I don’t recall how long it’s been. I was tearing the house apart and found it tucked in a bookcase, in a giant ziplock, behind a quilting pattern. So happy! I’m still looking for a set of keys that I lost almost a year ago…so that would also be nice to find.

Preparing for Athenaeum II

I know…I’ve been away for some time! Lost the password, struggled with other projects, yadda yadda yadda. But I’m back. I’ll be working my way back through my projects to document what I’ve done as well as publishing new stuff.

Athenaeum is a brilliant idea from the mind of Master Charles (et al) to have an artisans’ display. Last year, they held it in a great room and artisans got a table to display all the cool stuff they make. It was a huge success! I got to display a breadth of skills (lampwork, tablet weaving, knitting, spinning, natural dyes, and Frigga the Loom). I got to chat with dozens of other artisans, share ideas, and make business arrangements (I make socks for you and you make flags for me, etc.). It was great fun and exhausting and amazing!

I signed up again this year, but asked for a small table where I will display my depth of knowledge in tablet weaving. I have been weaving up a storm, trying to recreate as many different patterns as I can find from 500 BCE to the 14th century (the art rather died out around that time due to dramatic changes in fashion).

I have learned so much in these last couple of months that I’ve been focused on this endeavor. My proudest so far is figuring out how to turn this drawing of an extant piece into a woven band.

Yes, I took this off of Pinterest. Screenshot. I’ll update it later
My reproduction!

My biggest setback at this time is a method of display. I have a few ideas, but no idea which is going to work best. I think what I might need is a series of horizontal rods to tie or roll them onto, although I’m leaning more and more towards partially rolling and then pinning to avoid it completely unraveling.

Then labeling all the pieces…I’d love to have something small to pin on them that has my name, the date of the original, location (country), and maybe some other details, like if it was originally brocade or woven with silk or metal.

I was also asked to do a piece of tablet weaving for Her Royal Highness as a gift to someone in Caid. We discussed it with a few others (my apprentice sisters and Mistress) and decided on an Egyptian Diagonals pattern. I’m about halfway through the pattern now.

Egyptian Diagonals pattern for a distant cousin of HRH.

I’m also putting together some gifts for the Laurels, Pelicans and other dignitaries. I picked a bunch of rosemary from my garden a few days back, so I’m drying it and will bag it up. I’m also planning on making something edible to share: Millionaire’s Shortbread, from a challenge from last year’s event.