Arontius of Bygelswade

.....It's hard to believe that it is already May 1st. It seems like yesterday that it was January!

.....Actually, yesterday was the Arts and Sciences Day Camp at the Odd Fellows Hall in West Bremerton. It was actually a pretty good day of geeking out with others and learning new things. As well as seeing what others were doing. I brought a bin full of things to do. And actually ended up working on a few things, which was rather cool.

.....Saw Deirdre in the morning and was reminded of the bookcases that are currently located at her house. They are the folding rattan Baronial Library bookcases originally donated by THL Inga. They are still usable, but no one seems to want them. And Deridre is rightfully wanting them gone from her place. I need to remember to stop by her house in the next day or so and pick them up. Someone suggested that the Roving Irishmen could use them in setting up their household encampment. I'll ask them if they want them this Tuesday and then confer with Master Ralg and THL Oliver to make sure they are O.K. with them going away.

.....Had a good look at THL Pernell's silk painted banner. She did a good job with it! Her proposed device was nicely rendered on her triangle of silk. She also took some time and patience in painting hers. The colors were all nice and even, as well as vibrant. I made a handful of mistakes on mine, namely not painting the largest color areas in one setting. The areas that I did over time are pretty clearly visible. But it'll work and I'm excited to see it done. Seeing Pernell's definitely was another push into getting my next one done.

.....When things settled down in the afternoon I pulled out my loom and did some cardweaving. THL Madrun watched my method for a few minutes and made a couple of timely suggestions on how to improve the tension on my band by keep a loop of weft available as I turned the card, and then then work on a more even tension as I finished pulled the thread through. It was a very simple trick, but netted immediate results. I could see improvements right away.

.....I hadn't really enjoyed the silk-wool blend when I first pulled everything together on this loom. But things really were moving easily and fast yesterday and I was making quick progress. It was rather enjoyable. I wasn't in love with the color combination of white, black and blue. But I was inspired to hurry up and finish this band so I could warp up a new one. As a matter of fact I was so entranced that I finished the whole thing earlier today. I'll have to figure out a new pattern quickly so I don't lose momentum.

.....Madrun promised a lesson or two when things slow down. I can figure out regular patterns. But I'd love to be able to draft original patterns, or weave them on the fly. I'm just not savvy enough to do that yet (if ever). But we'll have to wait at least until after June Faire before that happens. :-)

.....Spent a little quality time with Aelianora. Not nearly enough, but I don't think I'll ever be able to remedy that one. :-) As usual I'm in awe of all the things she is managing to accomplish these days. Not the least of which is keep Ian employed and focused on the web-site in a manageable capacity. IMPRESSIVE! TBT and I want to meet with Aelianora at some point over the next month to talk about the web-site. TBT had been doing some preliminary work on it before Aelianora took the reins, and has a few ideas she'd like to float. Plus, it is always fun to site and chat. And if Renart does some cooking as well? Bonus! :-)

.....We slept in a little later this morning than we had wanted to. We didn't hit Starbucks until after 10AM. But we did something radical after that. We went to Office Depot and picked up a new computer!

.....OMG! I haven't had a new computer since I moved into this house in 2000. I hadn't realized until today that the computer I have has been doing all my work for me for almost eleven years! I'm sure that is almost ninety in computer progress years (sort of like seventy-seven in dog years :-)). I'm sure I'll feel almost agoraphobic the first time I really start playing on it. Holy Cow! I'll be able to open up the Internet and will be type URL's almost immediately! No more running into other rooms to get chores done while I wait for the Internet to queue up. I don't know how I'll be able to handle it! :-)

.....Ran into Cedric and Brighid today. Then JR, and Tymothy and a bunch of others. Some good conversation was had. But TBT and I had to get the weekly shopping done, so we didn't get to stick around and talk for too long unfortunately. But we did get to congratulate Talon for successfully completing his fourth marathon! That is IMPRESSIVE!

.....Will start making inroads on the May Crown and June Faire 'Action Item' lists this week. Things will move relatively quickly.

.....Have to hit up a few people on Tuesday at Fight Practice for help at May Crown, June Faire and July Coronation. Wednesday is the June Faire Board Meeting. Then Thursday is the May Business Meeting. Another full week.

.....I would have liked to have gone to Druim Doineann's May Pole this Saturday, but have another requirement in the hopper. And considering that every other weekend this month is booked with SCA Activities, I need to keep this weekend open for personal 'go-dos' or else I'll be running to catch up until sometime in late June. Not a good thing.

.....Hmmm, starting to get late. Must get ready to go to work tomorrow.

.....Aaron / Arontius.

.....I was at Mill Ends in Portland a couple of months back, during a 50% off sale. I ran across some silk embroidery floss that felt really good and the colors were really vibrant. I was standing there thinking that they would look good as a trim, so I went ahead and bought six spools of this stuff. There were 30-yards to a spool, at half price they were $3 each. The six spools cost me $18.

.....I put them aside for a while and then finally found enough time to card them up. By the time I wrapped everything up I had used almost five of the spools. We'll just call it an even 150 yards of this floss, maybe a little more when you consider the amount used on the shuttle.

.....I went for just a simple hook pattern, where the cards all went in the same direction continuously. I might have picked a different pattern if I had given it some more thought. With the cards going always in the same direction, the floss wound around-and-around to the point where I had to break everything down on three separate occasions so that I could untwist the threads enough to allow me to continue the pattern.

.....Even though I like the feel and the look of the silk, I've never liked working with it. Whenever I work a bobbin lace pattern with silk it frustrates me as it is always so slippery that if I'm not extremely careful my patterns continuously slide out of place the minute I pull a needle. So I was expecting the same kind of play on the card weaving. I was always careful to keep good tension and beat the threads into place hard.

.....The trim took no time at all to finish. I still like the feel and the look of it. But what dismayed me in the end was the 150-yards of silk floss equated to just 51-inches of trim! Not enough to do a whole lot of anything really. It turned out a little more narrow than I wanted as well. But that I kind of expected. It is amazing how much quantity of fiber goes into the creation of trim, and how expensive it really it. This piece cost the equivalent of $0.35 an inch ($4.20 a foot, $12.60 a yard). The sad part is that same 51-inches could have been done in less than a couple of seconds for pennies a yard at some factory in China.

.....But when all is said and done, I still like the finished product. I think that I'll use it for some dangly or something. Looks better than the majority of the chains I use now. :-)

.....Tamm was suggesting I try something using the wool embroidery floss she first picked up for the Baronail tapestry. The colours are kind of on the darker side, but I'll see what I can do with them.

.....Pictures:



.....and...



.....But I *AM* having fun with the cardweaving, and that's the bottom line. Right? :-) And just think of what I could do if I were really an artist. That would be cool. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.