So as I add images, I’m tagging garments (with comments on sleeves, collars, hems, and fastenings), headwear, accessories, decade, country, and genders in the picture. The source and folio, etc, are added if I can get them (and mostly I’m not adding things if I can’t). Is there anything I’m overlooking that I’m gonna regret, once I’m 1K images in?

Well, dress is cut out… gores are sewn together, as is back seam… time to tweak the fit.

Great idea, except for the part where it doesn’t fit at all. Apparently this fabric doesn’t stretch as much as my other pull-over kirtles (which still fit!), thus I can’t actually put it on, so looks like I’ll be moving some gores and it won’t be as tight as I’d like (or I’ll add buttons/lacing). At least I have a bit of extra fabric, so I can add slivers of fabric to the bust/side seams if I have to…

Anyway, so I long ago drank the Koolaid and learned to love layers. As such, all of my garb, basically, requires me to wear an inner dress and an outer dress to look right – if I skip the outer dress I look like a peasant, if I skip the underdress i’m running around with visibly bare arms. This won’t do at ALL. I have one dress which I *can* wear without the undergown, as it has closed sleeves (and it’s even unlined! in other words, it was actually made for Pennsic, though I’ve never been QUITE warm enough to wear it without the supportive layer underneath.)

So, obviously, I need more garb like this. I’m still not thrilled with this, as honestly that’s more closed-sleeve dresses than I want to have, but it’ll work. My first one is going to be based on this dress:
though with a wildly different color scheme, as I found some black/white mini-checked tropical wool I had forgotten I bought. I think I meant to make a GFD with it, as those always look interesting in slightly patterned fabric, but ah well. Unlined and with just a supportive smock underneath, it should be as cool as Roman etc. I have 5 yards of the fabric in question, maybe closer to 5.5 since it’s fabric.com and I ordered 5, so that gives me an extra 15”.

Enter my trusty Visio/analog. (Actually on the Mac I use Conceptdraw, but same idea. Really Visio’s the one piece of software I wish would get ported win->mac, but I digress again.) So here’s the layout:

For some reason the labels don’t show up, but the purple is the body pieces, light blue is gores, and dark blue is sleeves. I have an existing gown pattern I can impose on the body pieces for shoulder/bust line preliminary fitting.

Only question is what color shall I make the dags, and should I put faux “underdress cuffs” on the bottom of the sleeves? Am leaning towards blue, but will have to see what’s in the stash, and decide how much work I want to put in this. My other one has cut dags, , which is easier in the “I don’t have to hem these” sort of way, but requires a fairly significantly difference in fabric weight between the dress and the dags…

Hmm, I guess I also have to decide whether I need to lace the bust at all – am leaning against, given how scoop necked it is I suspect I can move it out of the way for nursing, but will have to see…

I have been known to wear a hood in the men’s chaperone style, which I had seen a few images of, but knew was rare. Still, I figured I had just enough evidence to justify it. However, I realized today that (with one *marginal* exception, that I think may not actually be an exception) unless I want to move my persona WAY north, I don’t actually have justification for it. On the up side, it DOES fill in a mental gap in “how europe north and west of france differed a bit from english/french styles in the early 15th century”.

Anyway, without further ado, Blanche of England – married a german prince, died in austria, had her picture painted on the ceiling (circa 1430):

Look at that hat! It’s like a very elaborate version of a men’s chaperone. And the thing I realized, looking at it, was that every example I could think of with a woman wearing this sort of hat? Netherlands, German, Switzerland, Cleves… somewhere not France. (Thus why it’s technically “right out” for me… though I want Blanche’s outfit.
This one’s netherlandish and from 1425. And I’ve got 2 more in “A Visual History of Costume (The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Century” that are also Netherlandish (images 66 and 71, if you have it, I couldn’t find either online). Cynthia Virtue has a redrawing of a Swiss Tapestry that seems to be the same idea (3rd image), though without additional citation.

The only counter example I could find, I suspect is actually a guy – English, 1415 – http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/chaucerreading.jpg – the figure in pink in the bottom right corner.

Anyone want to shoot me down? As I *like* wearing “men’s” hats, they’re easy… but I’m not from the Netherlands…

At WoW 5, I was able to fight the second half of the woods battle, and then the ruins battle. My side won the woods overall, but not the battle I fought in. We lost the first ruins, won the second, and then lost the tie breaker. Then we ran the ruins twice more in another way for fun.

I brought out my 40″ sword and my two foot diameter round shield for blocking. Jauma had to leave just as I was getting in, so he handed me his rubber band pistol and half a dozen rubber bands. Archery and RBG’s were disallowed in the ruins, so I only used it in the woods.

I like the idea of “if you’re shot with ammo, pick up what killed you and bring it back to your res point.” That was really cool and I hope we could do that on the heavy side more. That way, combat archers have less to worry about when shooting expensive ammo at people who will just step on it.

I don’t like Death From Behind (there, I said it). In the woods, it seemed like most of the attacking was about trying to get around groups of people so you could DFB them. Sure, the battle wasn’t about taking ground and holding it – there were just a couple points you needed to control. However, it just doesn’t seem right to walk past a group of people fighting just so you can walk behind them and “kill” them that way. Perhaps I have French Noble’s Disease, but I’d rather join in with my comrades who are actually fighting and just help overwhelm the opponents. Also, the heavy fighter in me has an issue with my opponent calling me dead rather than me calling me dead. Hey, them’s the breaks, I’ll figure it out eventually. After about 4 DFB’s, I started looking over my shoulder quite a bit. Often, I would find someone DFB’ing my friend, and I would stab them.

I’m also not quite sure that I’m effective with an RBG. I think I spent too much time loading it, and worrying about it shooting me, or my friend, and if I should have it or my shield out… I came to the conclusion that I would load it at res point, and then stick it in my belt. The first time I was legged, everyone on the other side just ignored me, so I started reloading my RBG – so Conor the Gypsy killed me while I was reloading (a smart move, as I was going to shoot him). I think they would be really cool and fun if I had a couple people following me around reloading them and handing them forward – but I bet that’s a thought every nobleman has had since the induction of guns to the west. Also, there’s an interesting phenomenon where if someone is shot by an RBG or arrow, and doesn’t feel it, the other side will inform him politely of this and the person will take it. It’s perhaps like DFB (calling your opponent dead), but I just don’t see that as much on the heavy side. When we tend to inform someone that they have been shot, they don’t hear us, and it can get a little nasty.

Rapier fighters fight woods battles at about double the speed that heavy fighters do (or at least it looked that way). There were a lot more people running back and forth to res point than I’ve ever seen in a heavy battle. Charlotte would often pass me on the way back and forth, and I’d say “go on ahead, I’ll catch up.” (My ankle and bruised up left leg was not going to let me run anywhere, much less through that undergrowth.) At first, I got the impression that Gavin was hanging around me to make sure I didn’t get mobbed, but he eventually ran off to do crazy things behind enemy lines, and I was happy to send him off with luck and my blessing.

When we moved out of the woods to the ruins, I came a bit more into my own. First was the fun of people expecting me to get tired. One person actually said “we’ll wait for your arm to get tired of holding that large shield up…” HA! You don’t know me very well do you. My round shield is like half the weight of a heater… you can wait a long time.

Next, there was some interesting lack of tactical knowledge on the part of my fellow low end rapier fighters. At one point, Conor (that damn Gypsy) started floating out on our flanks, right along the edge of the world. Nobody did anything about it. Then, he started talking to us about it, and how he could do it as long as the marshal told him where the line was, and still nothing happened. Finally, I decided to float out there and stop this insanity. All you have to do is send one barely competition fighter out to the edge of the world and don’t let him die, and he’ll save you from being flanked (and in rapier, DFB’d). If he tries to scoot between you and your forces, kill him. I can’t be the only person to figure this out…

Also, it was pretty obvious to me after fighting the first of the ruins battles that it didn’t matter what half wall I had in front of me. It was much more important that my opponents had a less than advantageous wall behind them. I was surprised when Alric yelled over before one of the battles, “Hey Girard, take those dozen or so guys up the right side.” I’m used to command in heavy, but I didn’t expect to get it in my 2nd rapier melee scenario. Thus, I picked the spot I wanted to get to, and announced to my folks, “I want to get to at least half way!” (I mistakenly thought my spot was half way, it was more like 2/3rds of the way across). At lay-on, I dashed in quick and looked crazy while the rest of the fighters formed up in a line, but we had moved past some horrible turns and had our enemy backing into a corner. Then, it was just a matter of engaging lightly while slowly rocking forward half an inch at a time. Eventually they were all backed up on various walls and were unable to move, thus killed.

Overall, it was a fun time. I managed to only do one thing that was just horribly wrong (someone turned their back on me and I stabbed them), but I said I was sorry and they were cool with it. I did run out of a DFB before I realized that it had happened, but that was just a matter of timing and not really against the rules. I got to shoot people with a gun, stab them with a sword, and see my friends kick ass at doing it better than I. I saw my rapier champion issue orders clearly, in time to carry them out, and with a level of knowledge that really did turn the tide of some engagements. I think I was killed and killed others in about equal proportion in the woods, but I did defend a flag for about half that battle, so I helped win some points. I only took one really hard shot (in the neck) and the person just kind of drifted away, and I took another stiff shot that was really me jumping on it and not my opponent’s fault. Honestly, not a bad way to support a war effort and have some fun doing it.

But, before we get into that, let’s re-cap the last six weekends.

Sept. 4th – Golden Rose. Duchess Padraigin asked me to be on her team for Golden Rose, and I was honored to accept. Of course, that means I had to get my rig all shinny and ready to go, but then had a great time fighting for the day. On Sunday, we drove out to the Greensboro area and picked up Cliff and Fiona, our two new greyhounds.

Sept. 11th – Florida. My parents really wanted to see our new car, so back when the calendar was a lot less full, we agreed to drive down for a weekend to see them. So, we packed Cliff and Fiona into the back of the car a week after we got them and drove 11 hours to Central Florida. We hung out and had a good time, then got back in the car and came home.

Sept. 18th – HMS Raven’s Cove. We couldn’t stand by and not be there for the creation of a new Barony right on our borders, so we got up and zipped down I40 to attend Battle for HMS Raven’s Cove. After the investiture and some hugs for our new cousins, we got back in the car and went up to Bunnlevel to the Tourney of Friends site to go riding. The plan was to ride in processional at War of the Wings, and we felt it might be a good idea to have been on said horses before. Sunday, we took the dogs to the dog-park, then went to the Baronial Meeting and Practice.

Sept. 25th – MATO 3. Midnight at the Oasis has been a great event for a long time now, and this year was no exception. I drove out to setup tents on Friday night, then back home. Guenievre, myself, and the pups came out Saturday, and camped over on Saturday night. This was Cliff and Fiona’s first event, and they really handled it well. It’s rather refreshing to have dogs that can go to events with us.

Oct. 2nd – Coronation. We’ve been making a point to get to Coronations to re-affirm our oath as Baronage. This one, I was also able to get my heavy rapier authorization knocked out as well. It was a lovely event at a great site. We jumped in the car with Livia and hit the road early, played all day, then left after court. We got dinner at Quaker Steak and Lube and made it home around 11:00. On Sunday, we took the dogs to the dog-park, then went over to NC State for a really nifty demo that the new/old student group had put together.

Oct. 9th – WoW 5. I’ve been to every War of the Wings running, and this one was definitely the best one so far. Each year, they seem to add a little bit, but this year it seems like the event really came into its own. Cliff and Fiona went with us, and we were camping out for two nights, plus bringing a bunch of canvas. So, we procured a trailer and hauled it all out and back. I fought in a heavy torchlight tourney on Friday, then in the first 3 heavy battles on Saturday. After that point, Baron Axel conceded the heavy war points, so I jumped over to Rapier to lend a hand there.

So, in the last 6 weeks, I haven’t had a real “day off” to just lounge around the house, putter, and get some chores done. It was a very rewarding month and a half, but I’m also very tired right now from it all. Also, there’s no aspect of my gear that doesn’t need help – armor, shields, weapons, tents, garb, etc… So, time to start scrubbing and fixing, and getting things ready for winter and next spring.

That’s kind of a strange thing to think about. I started my LJ back in January of 2004, so it’s lasted quite a while. That’s just about ancient considering the average lifespan of technology.

It has really been a fun place to hang out. It has been great reading little bits of everyone’s lives, and sharing little bits of my own. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t do that anymore. I think LJ has fallen below critical mass. I know that many people are not happy with the drama of posting comments to Facebook, but to be honest, that’s not what’s pushing me away. I was gone before that even happened, I just didn’t acknowledge it until now.

I feel like we’re in a transitional time right now. People are still looking for ways to blog and chat in various methods, and it doesn’t look like there’s a true LJ/FB mashup.

So, what will all this mean for my online friends? Well, first I’ll post any sort of blog type posts up here rather than at Livejournal. I’ll keep mirroring over on LJ though, so if you are used to reading me on your friends list, I’ll still show up. I’m also working to have easy integration from here to Facebook, so if you are a FB fan, you’ll see it there too.

I may not be reading my friends list as often though. I’ll be working to add your blogs and LJ’s to my RSS feeder, so I’ll read that stuff over in google reader now instead.

So, it was time to get back to my roots as a homebrewer. You see, I actually learned brewing from my father. I was in middle school when he picked up the hobby, and I used to help with all aspects of the brewing process. I can say I’ve been bottling beer since 7th grade, and it still sucked back then.

To kick off the inaugural batch for my new keg system, I thought something with a nice creamy head would really take advantage of the kegerator. Thus, I pulled out my Creamy Vanilla Ale recipe, and Dad and I spent the afternoon relaxing, not worrying, and making home brew.

Let’s see – I found out that my stove really won’t do the job for bringing wort up to a boil. We had to span the pot over two burners to get anywhere, and it still didn’t really boil like I would have liked. Guess I need to find a turkey fryer (that might be fun in January/February). I also learned that the new yeast smack packs from American Brewmaster really take off. I smacked it at the start of the brew process and the dang thing looked like it was going to explode before the wort was cool enough. Lastly, I think I used the wrong grains – it should still be tasty, but not as blonde as the last one.

Looking forward, I’m planning two experiments in the future. In the near term, I’m going to make one more partial extract beer (to use up some of the malt extract I’ve got sitting around), but this time I want to make it with Durham’s Municipal water. I’ve gotten the watter quality assessment from the city, and it’s not horribly far off the water I’m buying in the stores.

Then, probably after Ymir, I’m going to go for an all grain batch. Considering that there will be lots of opportunities to add hops, I think that one is going to be an IPA.

If all goes well, I should be able to bring a keg or two to Ymir, and anyway, it’ll be on tap at my house. Stay tuned for news of keg tapping day.