In what universe does wool bubble?

So… I had occasion to buy a lot of fabric – 18 yards – rather quickly last week. And of course the problem with wanting to buy a specific color and type of fabric without waiting for the universe to provide is that you sort of have to take what you can get.
Enter www.fashionfabricsclub.com. Not [...]

How To: Dry Herbs for Storage in a Microwave

How To: Dry Herbs for Storage in a Microwave.
This sounds really cool, especially for when we get the herb garden started.

Baronage…

For those who may not have heard, Their Majesties have chosen us to be the next Baron and Baroness of Windmasters’ Hill.  We’re still getting used to that idea, but it’s growing on us.  For our own mental health, we had been assuming that it would be someone else, and would be happily surprised if [...]

Apparently Saturday was for Paternosters…

Apparently Saturday was for Paternosters…

In between going to the baronial meeting and playing guitar hero and some other random activities, I decided yesterday to use up all the random beads I had been acquiring, as they had been sitting in a box longer than I’d like.
So… first of all was the restring of the mother-of-pearl paternoster.  I put this [...]

Roasted Potatoes: Not Fail

When we left our intrepid heroine, she was mourning the evil kale. However, all hope was not lost… for in addition to the kale of fail, she made reasonably good curry, and really awesome potatoes. In fact, the potatoes were so awesome she had to share…
Tigers & Strawberries » Garam Masala Roasted New Potatoes.
(Honestly, you [...]

Expensive Fabric is Expensive…

Expensive Fabric is Expensive…

So someone on h-cost posted a link to this company (click the picture) earlier today.
It’s completely unfair that to make a houppelande out of it (it’s 100% silk) it’d cost me something more than a mortgage payment.
I really ought to be able to dress myself in the style of my persona.
Even if my persona has [...]

Roasted Kale

Roasted Kale: One of the Tastiest Kale Recipes You’ll Ever Find.
Or, well, not.
I have a subscription to a CSA that brings me tasty, mostly, veggies every week. Part of the reason the veggies are tasty is that I tell them which ones I want. Unfortunately, what with 12th night, last weekend I forgot to put [...]

On the length of rattan swords…

On the length of rattan swords…

“Make yourself a short sword with a thrusting tip, and bring it to war.”  How many times have I heard that…?  Each time, I roll my eyes and look away.
Why?  Why is that such horrible advice?  Well, it’s based on the idea that when two units crash into one another, personal space is tough to [...]

Julia Child Interview

Julia Child Interview – Eating Healthy and Smart – Quotes about Diets – Esquire.
I love Julia Child. I wish she wasn’t gone, as she’s definitely on the list of “people I’d love to have a dinner party with”. As long as I wasn’t cooking, anyway, as that’d be WAY too much pressure.

Black and Gold Houppelande

Draping the Interlining, Front

Black and Gold Houppelande, circa 1420

The goal for this gown was to make something fun and dramatic for Atlantia’s Kingdom 12th Night (2007).
This gown is not based on any specific illumination; elements are taken from several roughly contemporaneous images but I can’t say for sure they would have been combined this way. The collar is [...]