Preparing for War

Milord Talan and I have been preparing for war. We leave for Elchenburg Castle on the morrow. 

I still have a chemise to finish, and we need to assemble the kitchen. It seems there are a thousand things needing our attention between now and then. So much so that it woke me from my dreams long before the cock crew. I hope to sleep this night. 

28th Birthday of the Barony of Hidden Mountain

After being unable to travel for more than a month, milord Talan and I set forth in the company of Lutolf von Stuafen to rejoice with the denizens of Hidden Mountain. We accepted the hospitality of John Emeris of Ellenar, enjoined also by Mistress Megara di Alessandra.

Twas a beautiful summer day. Green darners danced all over the grass, and spicebush swallowtails perched on low tree branches and the dusty ground, slowly fanning their wings, revealing glossy blue tips. A soft breeze lifted the banners and house standards of Ellenar, Hidden Mountain, and Moorhaven.

I must confess to enjoying a peaceful period of meditation and slumber in the sun.

Diamonds adorn the necks of Hidden Mountain's populace

At Atlantia's Spring Coronation, I had the opportunity to speak with His Excellency Thylacine Aquila, Baron of Hidden Mountain, about his kumihimo patterns. He prefers a 16-strand diamond pattern in black and white. He often incorporates one strand in a third color, depending on the purpose of the cord. This third color makes a dot in the center of the white diamond. I've used a red thread in the cord I'm working now. Baron Thylacene will use red when the cord is going to a  warrior, blue for an A&S award or black for a service award.

Here is the layout of the loom to achieve this pattern:

32,1=B,B.
4,5=W,W.
8,9=R,W.
12,13=W,B.
16,17=B,B.
20,21=W,B.
24,25=B,W.
28,29=W,W.

I'm using #5 Perle cotton, which produces cord of about 3/16" diameter.

In Service to the Dream...

Battle for Marsh Abbey

On St. Catherine of Genoa's Day, being the xxv of March, A.S. XLVI, Milord Talan and I collected our household belongings to stand with our Barony at Marsh Abbey. It was a fine day for a battle. We had hoped to travel with the Lance du Coeur de Lyon, but the heavens had predicted foul weather, and so the Lance deemed it most wise to leave the Calvary out of the weather. As it happened, the rains did not come until late in the day, after the battle was lost. Would that they had come earlier... All was not lost, as we were to witness our good friend, Baroness Beatrice von Stauffen raised to serve their Excellencies Geldemar and Etain as Equestrian Champion. Following shortly thereafter, Baroness Beatrice was summoned once again before Their Excellencies, who made it Their pleasure to make Baroness Beatrice a Companion of the Order of the Gordion Knot. Huzzah and vivat to Baroness Beatrice!

Tangled up in blue.. and white and gold

Soon after becoming active in the SCA, I started looking around for something to keep my hands busy. After observing several gentles creating cords on foam looms, I decided to try my hand at the Japanese art of Kumihimo. While still a novice, I've become quite taken with this art form.

Recently, Her Royal Majesty Padraigin put forth a request for cords in the Atlantian colors for the Kingdom medallion box. I was delighted to find a focus for my efforts. The next step was determining the exact colours and pattern of threads. Baron Takeda and Dame Morwenna came to the rescue, providing both floss colours and number of threads.

I realized after completing two cords, that I had neglected to use the correct combination of thread-- my fault entirely. So I once again went searching for direction. Mistress Ealdthryth of Humberstone has documented in several places the history and illustrated directions for making Atlantian medallion cords.

Dame Morwenna recommended using a #5 perle cotton for the cords. Embroidery floss will work as well, but I like the perle cotton much better. Floss colors are DMC 796 (blue), B5200 (white) and 725 (gold). The cord is an 8-strand cord: 4 of blue, 3 of white and 1 gold.

When I first mentioned my interest in learning kumihimo to milord Talan, he brought home a foam loom. Unfortunately for me, the directions on the loom were all in Japanese. I found a wonderful YouTube video demonstrating how to braid using the loom. I also found a kit online here that includes bobbins for controlling the dangling threads.

I look forward to presenting a dozen cords to Her Excellency Etain for inclusion in the Kingdom chest.

In service to the Dream.