For a list of Ildhafn's upcoming regular practices and meetings, please see our Regular Activities page.
I've been reading Lancelotti's book, Lo Scalco Prattico, quite a lot lately as I'm working on the menu for the Canterbury Faire Feast which I'm cooking in February. Lancelotti's book consists entirely of menus, so is useful in working out what sort of food tends to be served, where, and how.
I've been experimenting with renaissance bobbin-lace, slowly accumulating patterns and techniques. I'm making preliminary notes for most of the patterns I try here. From time to time, I do a more extensive write-up of a particular pattern, and give it its own page.
My very first piece was done with Lady Ginevra's gentle and skillful supervision, and Southron Gaard's first String Day (a one-day textiles-workshop). Ginevra showed Caterine and I the basic stitches, and lent us her bobbins and pillows for long enough to complete a small piece. Wonderful!
Several members of the Barony are excited by bobbin-lace at the moment, so I'm compiling a the resources we've found most useful here.
A fabulous collection of primary and secondary resources: facsimiles of renaissance pattern books, scans of 19th C histories of lace, modern articles on lace and lace making, etc.
Especially useful are:
I wanted to try bobbin lace, but didn't want to order bobbins or spend a long time making an elaborate pillow until I was sure it was something I'd do more than a few inches of.
Early experiments in brocaded tablet weaving part II:
Pattern 85 from Anna Neuper's Modelbuch.
*Update*
I added a photo of the second repeat so you can see what it's supposed to be like.
9 tablets, 20 row repeat.
About an hour of weaving - I actually prefer the wider bands, I just hate cutting out the cards.
After putting up the last band I managed to get a thicker jap thread from The Ribbon Rose
Early experiments in brocaded tablet weaving:
Pattern 85 from Anna Neuper's Modelbuch.
9 tablets, 20 row repeat.
about 1.5 hours of weaving, I was on a voice call to someone so I was working fairly slowly.
Here you can get an idea of the pattern as it came out and the pattern as given in the book.
I'm slowly accumulating accessories to go with my new gown. This was a very quick, very cheap project; and the finished product looks a lot like the pictures. I was even able to get real (though poor-quality) pearls for no more than the cost of plastic beads. My pearls are a little smaller and more irregular than most of those depicted, but they're not bad.
