Got the three scrolls with pendent seals sealed at Coronation, and the two for this event delivered as well. Good responses all round, and lovely thanks from our lovely Queen, er, new Countess. So nice. The carp was delivered in the evening- gold leaf looks so spiffy in firelight!
Photos at: http://annisa.garrigues.net/dynamic/Main/Scribal

Jeanne d'Evreux style scroll is done!! And with time left to pack!
It occurs to me that it may seem a bit plain compared to the usual colorful award documents, but it looks very much (I think) like the manuscript, which is one of my very very favorites. I've been wanting to imitate it for a long time, and finally have acquired enough familiarity with the materials, techniques and connections I needed to do so. YAY!!!
Some images of the original are available here:
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/loui/ho_54.1.2.htm
I will post a link to my version after Coronation!
See you all there

Holy Crap! I'm posting two days in a row- what's the world coming to? Nobody in the shop this week so lunch at my desk, that's what. Good thing the crew returns next week and I'll have somebody to talk to again! Then a new manager the following week, I think I'll really like working with her.
So last night I'm merrily working on the Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux-style scroll, and about halfway through the calligraphy, a spider crawls out of my pen-holder! It had squeezed its nasty self into the hole in the end where the nib fits and hung out there while I was writing! ICK! Anyone who knows how arachnophobic I am can imagine how far the pen flew, the bruised toes from thrashing about into the table leg, the giant smudge of ink on the lovely new scroll. Sigh. Thank goodness for pergamenata, a spiffy vegetable parchment I'm using for the first time. The extra ink scraped right off, looks fine, and didn't even leave a nasty fuzzy porous patch to mess me up later. And thanks to the excellent Wyn for introducing me to the stuff! The calligraphy is now finished and I can get to work on the little grisaille figures. Whee!
Also finished the Carp scroll I've been working on, I'll post a link to that after Coronation. Sina's parchment (real sheep!) is a delight to work on.
Fun new materials: Parchment, pergamenata, shell gold, walnut ink, nice new pen nibs
Fun new technique: grisaille (monochrome shaded ink wash)
Fun new experience: getting scroll assignments- I have tried several times over the past 18 years to volunteer for this, but aside from doing several of Baroness Amanda Kendal's champions' scrolls and a couple of original AoA blanks for Darius years ago, I haven't been able to get a connection. Kudos to Bronwen for getting the scribes' email list to be a functional network, to Eleanor for making use of it, and much love to HRM Inga for trusting me to do a speedy special project!

Hmm- time for the semi-annual post? perhaps.
I skipped An Tir/West war to spend a little time with my house, husband and horse, and it was really nice. Only got a little housework done, but did finish a scroll and start on another one- they're both due at July Coronation. I've been on a big scribal kick recently, experimenting with parchment, pendent seals, and more period inks and paints. So far, I like them all better than modern paper, glue-on seals and so on. I fear I'm driving the Royal Scribe a bit nuts with the pendent seals though, as she has to make time at Coronation to let me use the seal matrix, but she's being very nice about it.
Had a really good day of riding yesterday- between events and back issues, I haven't really ridden in about a month (pony is still pretty nervous at events, so 5 minutes of walking quietly in circles is a triumph). So a couple of hours in an empty home arena just trotting around and working on listening and bending and such was really nice. Yay! She really is a lovely animal, and very eager to please. Then helped with barn chores and had a nice social dinner for an all-around good day.
Lionhearts went well, my first event as equestrian marshal in charge- I got to do all the layout and schedule the way I thought it would work best, and it worked pretty well. I learned a few things, and had an excellent crew of volunteers, and I think people enjoyed themselves. Juggling time with court and baronial scribe duties was somewhat less successful, but I can't fix the unschedulability of some folks.
And just a note to anyone foolish enough to try it- it doesn't matter how helpful you're trying to be, DON'T try to grab scrolls out of a scribe's hands. You may not realize how many hours of labor you're reaching your potentially-grubby fingers towards, but the scribe knows, and when they keep stepping away and dodging you, stop grabbing or you just might get punched. Just sayin'.
Other than that, though, the event was great, and we added some lovely new folks to our camp, who sang as they washed dishes all weekend! How nice is that!

Saturday was Candlemas in DragonsLaire, which was really fun. I judged two very well done A&S entries, observed the second half of a class on making leather cases and made some progress on the eyelets in a (long overdue) new kirtle for me, had a fitting with the lovely Isabeau for her kirtle, then stayed for the feast. I was quite surprised to run into a co-worker, rather new to the theater and the area. I had no idea he was in the SCA. He & his wife are super-neat and there was much enthusiastic exchange of info among the crew. They will be assimilated. They sang a very funny song about feasts, which while not particularly relevant to this feast (which was both period and exceedingly yummy), made us laugh til we had to get out our hankies.
Sunday we had breakfast with Countess E and Ornerie then went & visited the ponies. I had a good day of riding (Catherine even joined us!), and was feeling confident enough to try asking for a canter. Last time I tried this was in June, which resulted in a panicky, continually-accellerating canter and ended with me bailing into the arena fence, dislocated thumb, bruises, etc. So I've been working a lot on trotting, steering, responsiveness, trust, and getting a nice relaxed canter on the lunge line. All this has been going well, but apparently cantering is still scary. We started off well, a reasonably nice transition and okay canter (correct lead I think), but ignoring my attempt at steering, then dropped to a trot, then back into the panicky canter. The one-rein stop we've worked on didn't work this time, and just put us into a too-tight turn- I decided I wasn't going to hit the fence again and held on for a bit, but let go when she straightened out a bit. I tumbled for a bit, and bashed my right shoulder somehow (odd since I went off the left side). Got back on though, and walked and trotted around a bit to establish the 'we're not done just because you tossed me' message, and to reassure both of us.
The x-ray this morning confirms that the collarbone is not broken, it just hurts a lot. The rest of the eyelets will have to wait.

Was really fun! We braved the recently-receded waters and drove to Eugene after work on friday. Spooky to look out into the dark and see light reflecting off large bodies of water on each side of the road where there should be fields and, you know, off-ramps and stuff.
The event was well-run, the hotel was nice, and if the floods scared people off, I hardly noticed- it seemed that everywhere I turned there was somebody I wanted to talk to. I got to have a major geek-out in the A&S room, with pewter folks and several people who let me go on at length about 14th century garments, fabrics and fitting and even seemed genuinely interested. On Sunday I tried out my newly-finished 16th century kirtle (started for the School of the Renaissance Soldier in the fall), and even though I felt unfinished without sleeves or a jacket, I got several compliments, from people who specialize in that period! Neat. Returned home with a long list of new project ideas. It was definitely the best time I've had yet at a 12th Night.

New project: Entire 16th century wardrobe for me and Guillaume, with masculine alternatives for me (breeches and hat), to be done by the start of October!
I love having a project, so this is really fun so far. All new silhouettes, structures, etc.
Going to an event hosted by these folks: http://renaissancesoldier.com/ It's happening at the stable where my horse lives, so I'll get to introduce her to historical cavalry fun in a (hopefully) very low-stress way.
Whee!
Progress so far:
Shirts- patterned and cut
Kirtle bodice- patterned, second mockup ready to be fit
Kirtle skirt- patterned, fabric & lining cut
Doublet for me- patterned, mockup cut
Doublet for G- patterned, mockup cut
Breeches for me- patterned, fit, fabric cut & partially assembled
Breeches for G- patterned, fit, fabric cut & partially assembled
Cassock pattern borrowed from Sean, fabric ordered
Stockings purchased/ordered
Hat bodies ordered
Shoes purchased

Since I rarely post text, here are some photos...
http://flickr.com/photos/guillaumedegarrigues/collections/72157605522373496/

hope to see many of you at A&S!

So it's been a while since I've even looked at LJ.
In the meanwhile I've returned to work (opened two shows), helped with the Emprise of the Black Lion VII with the fabulous Madrone Equestrian Guild (http://madrone.equestrianguild.org pictures under "gallery"), made a spiffy new caparison for the horse G rode in the emprise, and signed on to be baronial scribe.
The caparison was a fun draping project- to get a straight horizontal heraldic partition line on a horse-butt takes a remarkably un-straight piece of fabric. But, I got to do 5 fittings, and am very proud of the straightness of both partition line and hem. I made a herald's tabard too, and appliqueed many many leaves and dots.

There's supposed to be a picture here. If it doesn't work, here's a link.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/crystallin/1433947808/in/set-72157602144240781/


A happy moment came when G received a Lion's Torse for looking spiffy & accurate on the field, though the event as a whole was pretty dang rewarding. We did a good job with the organizing and people and horses had fun.

I'm sad to be missing the Costume Talk workshops this weekend, but looking forward to Spamalot!

Thanks to everyone for the get well notes- I'm really doing quite well, and the pain meds for the wisdom teeth are way better than anything I would have gotten for the broken finger alone, so it's troubling me very little.
For those who asked, the photos of G's new 15th C ensemble are posted on my website at http://annisa.garrigues.net/dynamic/Main/15cDoublet
He won't let me post the photos I have of just doublet & hose, as I only had one leg done at the time, so that will have to wait until the next time he wears it.
The next overgarment will be longer and will have the hem cut to accomodate the bias stretch so it doesn't have the shorter section at CF & CB.
Then I want to do one with sleeves.
After my finger heals.

Lionheart's was fun.
There was a wide variety of horsie activities, including cavalry drills (a very good wake-up for riders and horses), joust training (good for our local group's current batch of new/young/new to jousting horses), field games, enough space for independent work, and lots of trail riding time, apparently with singing by my adorable husband (I'm so disappointed that I missed that).
Unfortunately, the spiffy challenge course got rained out. Several riders were willing to brave rain, but not the downpour and hail that it turned into. I got to ride smithwick's lovely horse all morning, and taught two ground-crew classes (the first time I've done that). One person who has been acting VERY loony at recent events and on email lists showed up for the second class, so I was a bit concerned, but she did fine (yay!). Six new ground-people were trained, and at least 5 of them came back and volunteered their new skills (also yay!).
Issues and incidents were few, though one pair gave us all a good scare when the horse fell on the rider, trapping her under his forelegs. Everybody did the right thing, and neither of them nor either of the hands-on helpers got hurt. Perhaps best of all, everyone else stayed clear. I tried riding a friend's young, green horse, and he did a nifty disappearing-act sideways spook at a hose, got himself tangled in said hose and hopped around a bunch. I decided it was best not to try to hang on, and in falling somehow managed to break a finger.
Fortunately (I think?), I had wisdom-teeth removal surgery scheduled for first-thing Monday morning, so the pain drugs are doing double-duty. Whee.
We had a nice all-equestrian camp with good social time around my fire and although we were pretty isolated from the rest of the event, I think our side of the fence had the larger camp! Plans are in the works to integrate more next time. I love being part of the socializing camp.
Perhaps the best part of all though was getting J's new 15th century outfit done enough that he could wear it. He looked fabulous, just how I wanted it to look, and TWO people told him he looked like he'd stepped out of a painting. That's about the highest praise I can imagine, so I was very happy.

Something to amuse myself between taking pain meds and checking for the return of sensation in my face...
Oddly accurate, I think.

Link: The Which Punctuation Mark Are You Test written by Gazda on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Kirtle draping class tomorrow- NERVOUS!!
But the problem child seems to have dropped out and made space for an actual student, at last (if you have recently had breast surgery of some sort and need to wear a medical bra, then maybe having someone squish and prod said breasts while fitting a dress to support them isn't a good idea. especially if you're not even going to wear the dress when it's done because you have to wear your medical bra. !?! Sheesh. I wouldn't mind if it were just her own time she was wasting, but they'll be working in pairs)
Anyway, I really hope I can get everyone through the fitting and patterning process in 6 hours. Or at least enough of it that they can finish on their own.
Yikes!

J spent much of today updating my rather stale website to make it a Wiki format, which means that I can (in theory) update it myself! He rocks.
so the address is http://annisa.garrigues.net and a few of the afore-mentioned doublet pictures are there, under "costuming". Hopefully I'll have time to do a whole run-down of the process, since I padded the fronts and actually took pictures of each step.

I've spent the past few days working on patterning & making a 15th century doublet for J, and I'm really happy with it. I tried to post a picture, but the attempt keeps locking up my computer. I'll try again later. It's bright red, fits nicely, and needs about a zillion eyelets before it's finished.

Next up, hose to go with it (need to be longer than his 13-14th C chausses, with more eyelets), then an appropriate overgarment (many options, but probably something sleeveless first). Hope to have a test-wearing at Lionhearts, then make whatever modifications are needed and make a couple more. I think this will be finally be Guillaume's ideal century. I hope so. I love the new 15th C felt cap, which arrived today from historic enterprises. He's been wearing it all day. So cute.

I've also mostly assembled a modern (retro-ish brown tweed with peplum) jacket which I made a pattern for two years ago and cut out several months ago. It's so much harder to get motivated to do modern stuff-I think because I have all these ideas about how it's supposed to be put together, as opposed to how I want to do it. Anyway, it's going pretty well. I really need a lightweight jacket that doesn't make me look like a woodchuck.

I got Indiana Jones, with Captain Jack Sparrow and Batman as close seconds. Hmm.
How does one get the results pasted to here?
Still figuring out this LJ thing.

Because some memes don't have quite enough detail.

Had a super-productive day yesterday- i love that.
I painted my shoe-room (a tiny, oddly-shaped space at one end of my converted-attic bedroom which is the top of a little gable over the room below) with glossy turquoise paint, as step one of my plan to make it look like a little mexican roadside shrine type of space.
I painted the wooden jousting lance bases J got at Estrella with shiny red stinky oil paint,and some cardboard tubes to match, as step two of my plan to make him look super-spiffy when his foot heals enough to joust again.
I painted part of a dorky celtic-knotwork banner that ornerie agreed to make as a prize for some equestrian folks. Nothing against knotwork, it's just not heraldry. And it's way more tedious to paint than regular heraldry. And they just ripped the design off from George Bain, with no personal inventiveness, which bugs me for some reason. Anyway, it's not even my chicken, and I do like making things pretty, so I still enjoyed it.
Put all the shoe-racks and shoes back into their little shrine, and even got rid of about a dozen pairs. Well, bagged up a dozen pairs- a few might still get loose and find their way back upstairs.
Went to Madrone Equestrian Guild meeting, where we pored over Crown and other recent projects and talked about how to improve what we do for future events. I love that we do that, and that we are a guild which DOES things, and has something to show for our existence. Thinking about starting the marshal-authorization process this year, now that the poo has died down for the most part. I still think the process is stupid, though. We'll see.

I finally got enough ducks in a row to find a date and location for a class on draping and making a pattern for a 14th century fitted, bust-supportive dress. It will be June 16th, at smithwick's house in Preston WA, co-ordinated by the Madrone sewing guild, so send a message to (email removed as class is full and I really don't like posting email addresses) if you're interested. I still hope to do a portland area class, but my layoff period is shorter than normal this year, and is filling up fast, so it may be later.