You are incontrovertibly a history geek when you decide that Froissart's Chronicles is what you'll take to bed for reading.

And now, really, really this time, I'm going to bed.

Since catlins2busy helped me hem the bottom, I've a dress in a wearable state. I've yet to do the tippets and fitchets, but I'm waiting until I have the fur to do that properly. Am debating whether to reinforce the buttonhole side of the front opening with tablet weaving--I did it in the underdress, and I like the look, but I haven't any string in an appropriate colour for the green layer. Might wear it as-is, or with just faced fitchets, at Pennsic.

I'm intensely irked by the split infinitive in the motto, "To boldly go where no one has gone before." I cannot be the only one on the internet who thinks so.

Passed a lovely weekend last week (once the rain stopped) camping at Douthat State Park with thirteenletters, with hikes and train rides.

Have the seams all finished, the sleeves hemmed, and the facings installed around the neckline and the left front opening. (The extant Herjolfsnes clothing all seemed to have the buttons on the right side as worn, hopefully corroboratable with London material, so that's what I'm planning.) I've made all the buttons with the scraps left from cutting the dress. I have those to sew on, as well as sewing the buttonholes and probably adding a little tablet weaving to that edge of the opening, and then hemming the bottom (for which I'll probably offer a local friend a bribe of baked goods) and it'll be wearable.

Am still having difficulty planning the tippets and fitchet outlines, mostly because while I understand how to sew fur to itself am not too sure whether it all translates to sewing fur to cloth. I've found remarkably little information about it on the internet, even from PrimitiveWays, my usual first stop for bushcraft. Am hoping to order How to Sew Leather, Suede, Fur to see if it has useful advice, and look for recommendations from other enthusiasts I know.

After two separate chalkings of the pieces, I've finally cut and started putting it together. I did most of the long seams with the machine, but have done the two side seams and the centre front seam--as well as putting the sleeves together--by hand. I think all the rest of the sewing will be by hand, as it's all finicky stuff like setting in the sleeves.

I used the same pattern from my red dress, but added a much larger seam allowance so it'll be just a teeny bit bigger--hopefully enough to fit over the red dress without incident.

Am still not entirely sure what to do about attaching the fur. I think I'd like to make it removable so that I can machine wash the linen part of it after Pennsic.

As rhubarb is currently in season, I picked up a few stalks from the farm stand, thinking I'd make rhubarb compote, but I was distracted by a "Straight-up Rhubarb Pie." Turns out I was a little short on the rhubarb for the latter recipe, so I substituted a cup of halved strawberries. I guess that makes it "straight up" no longer.

Hey, derangedferret and foxxydancr: when's Rhubarbapalooza?

I now have a working flatbed scanner with a USB port, so it'll talk to my laptop (unlike our previous scanner, which only had firewire).

::eyes gigantic stack of notes and photocopies from dissertation research::

It came with OCR software, and if I can get it to work, I wouldn't have to re-key student papers or require only electronic assignment submissions in order to run them through the plagiarism checker software package the college provides. I think I might like this evil plan.

A couple years ago, I'd found a couscous pilaf recipe to use at Pennsic, and it's been so tasty that I've done variations on it a few times since then.

The markets around here are pretty fantastic for local produce, and I recently found organic wholewheat couscous for about half the price of the boxes in the supermarket, as well as local spinach, leeks, and grape tomatoes. I made up the couscous with some of the chicken stock I'd made last week, roasted the halved tomatoes in olive oil, caramelized the leek and wilted the spinach. Served it with a bit of plain yoghurt seasoned with garlic and pepper. Tasty.

For those of you also fans of parkour, or creatively-choreographed action flicks, Banlieue B-13 (marketed in the US as District B13) is rather entertaining. One of the leads was stunt coordinator on the Transporter series and several other films with unique fight sequences. Only a couple minor snarks about conservation of ammunition and proper defensive perimeters; good entertainment, overall.

I think I've had a major breakthrough with my understanding of tippets. Through a rather enlightening converstion with gwacie, I'm agreeing that tippets are much more likely to have been integral pieces to the garment, comprised of a turned-back sleeve lining and extension--very obvious in pieces like Machaut's Le Remède de Fortune where a little seam line appears down the back of the tippet that seems to indicate it was pinned or sewn to show the lining off most effectively.

What was sticking in my acceptance of such a construction for tippets shown after 1360 or so was the fact that most of the earlier garments showed the tippets hanging down behind the elbow, while most of the monumental brasses for 1365-1390 showed them hanging down before the front of the elbow: the ladies Foxeley, Joan de la Tour, Joan de Ingham. I couldn't necessarily say that the sleeve opening was being turned back to show the linings in these because they hung differently, and none of the monumental brasses I've seen show that seam.

Now, however, I've seen a brass for Joan de Cobham, wife of John de la Pole, from a brass c. 1380. The tippet for her left arm hangs down in front of the elbow, but her more active right hand (holding that of her husband) shows the tippet hanging down exactly where it seems to be in early-14th-century depictions of tippets. This seems to be my missing link in accepting the construction method for the later-14th-century tippets, so I'm convinced that's a plausible way to do it for my 1365 gown.

Fitchets seem to have been done in a similar material to the tippets--most of the depictions I've seen seem to show the tippets and fitchets in coordinating colours or patterns, so I think I'm going to follow suit.

I just hope I have enough white rabbit saved up to make all the pieces big enough. If not, I may have to find additional quantities of dead bunny.

I found the correct attribution for the monumental brass that shows the dress I like! It's of Sir Miles Stapleton and Lady Joan de Ingham, dating to c. 1365, from Ingham Church, Norfolk. The brass itself has been lost, but I've ordered a book though ILL that's supposed to have a clearer illustration, so I can see whether there's any kind of closure to the front of her dress.

A few weeks ago, one of our local ladies had expressed interest to me in learning how to spin, and I gave her my normal caveat, "My method isn't really the way most other SCAdian spinsters do it." It's definitely an unorthodox method--a worsted technique rather than the more-common woollen. Her response was, "Well, if it works, who cares, right?"

I'd had a run-in a few years ago, back when I used to play in Æthelmearc, with a couple ladies who expressed negativity about my technique. It's made me rather shy about teaching others to do it my way. Someone cares, evidently.

But armed with new-found curiosity inspired by herself, this afternoon I set out to figure out the "orthodox" way to do it. (I'm sure this was aided by having a poof of waste fibre carded for me by students at the demo yesterday with which to experiment.) It took me about 5 minutes to figure out, and I worked with it for a couple hours, just to practice and compare.

Really, I can't say there are any apparent advantages over my "unorthodox" technique: I perceived no difference in speed or the number of slubs. I did notice that I wasn't able to get quite the draft length with the "orthodox" technique--5 or 6 cm as opposed to my normal 10--but I did wind the spindle a little less frequently. Rather frustratingly, I did notice a much greater frequency in draft breakage, that infuriating moment when the yarn snaps at the unspun part, dropping your spindle to the floor trailing a wisp of un-spinning fibre when some smartass invariably quips, "So is that why they call it a drop spindle?", but that may just be my lack of practice or Mercury being in retrograde or whatever. There's a little more fuzz to the surface of the woollen technique, but I can't overall say there's much visible difference to the finished product. Haven't yet tested the difference in tensile strength between the two techniques, but I do know that worsted wool is better for warp when weaving.

Trying this new-to-me technique did have the advantage of showing me that I control the fibre much more with my left hand than my right; I had to switch hands in order to wind the spindle in my right hand, rather than my normal easy transition from spinning to winding.

Overall estimation: why shouldn't spinsters have options as to technique? I'll be fine teaching one-on-one.

derangedferret's Guinness brownies have an amazing bittersweet flavour and a lovely texture different to that of many brownies I've eaten. Delicious. You all should try making some! Reposted here with permission

Brownies v2.0:
5 oz bakers chocolate
1/2 C brewed coffee
6 tbsp butter (unsalted)
1 3/4 C sugar
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 C flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder

In a large heavy sauce pan simmer 1/2 cup coffee. Turn down heat to low and add 5 ounces bakers chocolate, chopped. When smooth, add 6 tablespoons butter, stirring until completely combined. Remove from heat and let cool for 5-10 minutes.

Stir in 1 3/4 cups sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until combined. Stir in 3 eggs, beaten, until combined. Add 3/4 cup flour and 2-3 tablespoons cocoa powder and stir until combined . Pour into pan and bake at 350F for 25-28 minutes.

Have a much clearer design now that I've stared at my fabric for a while. I'm glad that staring at it, rather than cutting it, is what gets creativity going.

Am intending, as of today, to do a short-sleeved GFD with tippets and fitchets, like in the oft-reproduced effigy of Joan de la Tour as a weeper on her father's tomb. Admittedly, that representation is at least a decade later than the 1365 date for my red dress, which I intend to use as an underlayer--not to mention that her underlayer doesn't have buttons on the sleeves like mine. I have found a representation, however (digitally reproduced in a Swedish reenactors' forum), that's supposed to be of "Lady Joan Ingram" and her husband from 1365, which shows the tippet and fitchet elements I want in combination with sleeve buttons on the underlayer, and exactly the right date, but I can't corroborate its attribution. Shall have to continue to search for it. ETA: The Church Monuments Society not helpful for this brass.

Have never done tippets before, but I should have enough white linen still stashed to do them (and the short sleeves might save me a little more of the green linen for an extra tunic). Re-read Robin Netherton's MC&T article on tippets where she suggests they were a fashion afterthought, so I'm wondering whether it might be a good idea to sew those entirely separately, then baste or pin them on.

As far as the fitchets, intellectually I might like to embroider them, but nearly all of the fitchets I've seen today that have some exterior embellishment are a plain solid colour. One of them looked a little looping, like it might be embroidered, but I can't be certain. Worst-case, I've done set-in pockets for one of smarriveurr's 18th century waistcoats, so I can put in a facing that way and leave them as slits if I have to. Have any of you worn 18th-century style pockets under fitchets?

Yay for having a plan!

Based on feedback, I've settled on two classes for Pennsic this year. Domestic architecture I just taught at EK Spring War Practice, but I've plenty of handouts still around and haven't taught it at Pennsic in a couple years. The other I haven't done since 2005. Potential blurbs below; shall probably submit them as classes tonight after my meeting.

Denmark before Jellinge

Explore the world of your Danish persona as we answer fundamental questions about "Danemark" before the 10th century: what territory was considered to be Danish? Was it a unified territory? What archaeological and documentary evidence exists for central rule there? And what defines the "Viking Age" specifically among the Danes?

Viking Domestic Architecture

Learn about houses and neighbourhoods in the Scandinavian homeland and colonies: how they organized their living space at the building and settlement level, how houses varied between Norway and Denmark or town and country, and the construction techniques Scandinavians used to create the buildings in which they lived.

Through conniving and treachery (and totally deserving it), smarriveurr, known in the society as Torbjorn Ragnvaldsen, received his award of arms from TRM Andreas and Gabrielle of the East yesterday at East Kingdom Spring War Practice.

I've been teaching a lot of SCA classes this year. I've dusted off nearly all the classes I've written in previous years, and even adapted several academic presentations for nonspecialist SCA use. By June or so, I'll have gone through all my adapted-for-low-tech-classrooms-and-nonspecialists repertoire at least once in the past year.

I say this to lead into the problem that I have absolutely no idea what to teach at Pennsic this year, and the deadline to submit classes is next week. O.o Am leaning toward my palaeonutrition class and one of my Viking engineering classes (civil engineering or domestic architecture), as the former's been extremely well-received and the latter I haven't taught at Pennsic in a couple years.

Preferences from any of you all?

The rest of my repertoire: millenarianism, Viking history (in Europe and in Ireland), society in late Iron Age Denmark, case studies of large-scale urban reorganizations in Denmark. Alternately, I could probably adapt nearly any of my academic lectures on the history of the Middle Ages; I think I do especially well with crises of the 14th century.

Yeah. Too many possibilities.

FreezePop at the North Star in Philly with damionreed and R was enjoyable, and it was lovely to catch up with them. Most fun I've ever had to multiple keytars, and great fun in general, even if their cover of Europe's "Final Countdown" is going to be stuck in my head for weeks.

♫ Who lies dead and dreaming all under the sea? ♫
Cthulhu fhtagn!

X) smarriveurr made it for me. It is ickle.