Poetry for the Queen

This past reign, I have been writing poems for the Queen.  My goal was to write one poem for each of the Royal Progress events I went to.  When the reign became virtual, I decided to keep writing poems for the virtual courts.  If this reign had been normal, I would have written about 8 poems.  With the extended reign, I ended up writing 16 poems.  I am not going to publish all of them but here are are few of my favorites.

(Seven x seven) x 2 + ??? more

A long long time ago, back in late February, when we could think of things that were not Covid related, a challenge was extended to the artists of the East.  The challenge was to make seven identical items to give as largesse to the incoming Crown at their Spring Coronation.   I saw the challenge and was like, "Wait, I can do that, no problem."  Then I thought, "You know what? I bet I could make seven different sets of seven identical items." 

So I did. 

But then Covid.  Suddenly nothing was happening.  So I thought, "You know what? I bet I could make seven more sets of seven identical items."

So I did.

Now I am starting on my third set of seven sets of seven identical items.  Since I have tons of beads kicking around more earrings and more necklaces are very likely.  More books and notebooks are likely since I always need to practice binding.  I am also considering giving some of these to the Baronies of the East instead of the Crown because the Crown is already getting at least 98 piece of largesse. 

All of the pieces I made are based on or inspired by historical examples.  When I say inspired, I mean for example the leather notebooks are inspired by the general period use of the long stitch in book binding but there are no examples of those notebooks in period.  However, they do have a nice in period feel and blend nicely into an SCA event.

ETA:  As of July 31, I have made over 200 pieces of largesse.  I don't have pictures of all the seven x seven sets because I became repetitive while working on my fourth set 

Paternosters made with beads, silk thread, and cotton thread tassels.

Safety pins made with 16 gauge "brass" craft wire, to be given in sets of three.

Long stitch notebooks made with leather and waxed linen thread.

Wire rings made with 18 gauge "brass" craft wire.

Byzantine earrings with fresh water pearls.

Close up of pearl earrings.

Byzantine earrings with green glass tear drop beads.

Close up of earrings.

Twisted wire veil pins made of sterling silver wire, to be given in sets of two.

Roman/Egyptian earrings. Brass craft wire with glass pearls and glass green beads.

Roman earrings made with glass beads.

Close up of earrings.

Wrist Clasps made of 16 gauge "brass" craft wire.

Various lengths of lucit cord made with gold and purple bamboo yarn.

Bonus Craft! I made needle cases for the veil pins and the safety pins. Cases made from gold and purple felt.

Roman style necklaces made with various glass, stone, and metal beads.

Fibula made with 14 gauge "brass" wire and glass beads.

Wee penannular brooches made of 14 gauge brass wire.

Hair forks made of 14 gauge brass wire.

Hair pins made of 14 gauge copper wire.  Only five of them because I ran out of wire.

Hand bound hardcover books.  Covers are blind tooled leather.

Close up of one of the books. They all have different patterns on them.

More long stitch notebooks made with leather and waxed linen thread.

Spectacle fibula made of 16 gauge copper art wire.

More fibula made of 16 gauge copper art wire and blue ceramic beads.

Viking bead spacers/hangers made of 12 gauge copper and brass wire.

Caelia's Vigil Book

I was asked to make a vigil book for Caelia's elevation to the Order of the Pelican.  The pelican in her piety is the symbol of the Order and of all the order symbols, it is the most detailed, with lines and divots all through the motif, plus there are little birdies and their beaks to sculpt!  These details were a challenge to sculpt in clay, but once I dove into it, it really came together rather quickly.  I did decide to cut the baby birds from three to two because I found the thrid bird cluttered the space and made all the babies hard to read, even before the leather was pressed down.  In the end, I believe that was a good choice as the two little birds fit nicely under the body of the mother.

As always with my vigil books, they are a mixed bag of periods.  The raised motif technique can be found on St. Cuthbert's Gospel, dating from around 690 CE.  St. Cuthbert's is bound with a Coptic stitch but my book is sewn on cords, which is a more medieval technique.  I am still working on headbands so they are not threaded in to the boards as they would be in a period book.  I also use modern materials, so these books are more an attempt at art instead of an attempt at period replication.

I tired a few new things and made a few mistakes.  Instead of smearing the glue on the boards and motifs, I tried putting the glue on the leather.  It worked really well, except in the smaller divots around the paws and the legs of the pelican.  I think in the future, I will put the glue on the leather and add a little extra around the details of the motifs and see how that works.  The modern technique of using a thick piece of craft foam to do a "first press" of the cover works really well to bring out the details of the motifs, so that is something I will keep doing on these books.  When I get around to my next iteration of St. Cuthbert's,  I think I will try a few layers of felted wool to see how that works as a possible period technique.  As for mistakes, the biggest one was wrapping one of the headbands a little to much.  I went one set of wrappings too many because I forgot how to end the headband.  It is a good reminder that even though I basically know what I am doing, it never hurts to have your instructions and tutorials hanging out nearby.  I am going to make some more practice books in the next few weeks and headbands are going to be a part of the practice.

There are a few skills I need to work on when it comes to books.  I need to work on my wood work.  I can cut the boards and drill hole in them but I need to start to bevel the edges.  I also want to try a few other sewn on techniques that require channels in the boards which I only have a vague idea of how to do.  I hope that moving up from plywood to solid boards will help jump start that process.  We will see.

I am, however, super proud of how this book turned out.  I mean, I still see all the flaws, but it looks spectacular hanging out at the vigil and I got many compliments on it.  Now on to the details and the pics.


This book has twenty quires (signatures) of four folded sheets of paper.  The paper is Mohawk Superfine Text Weight 8.5 x 11 (short grain).  I used twine for the cords and for the core of the head bands.  The text block was sewn on using waxed linen thread.  The head band was wrapped with black and red No. 8 cotton yarn. The book boards are birch craft plywood that were hand cut.  I hand drilled the cord holes (using a screw) and hand sanded it.  The motifs are paper clay and cotton cord. The cover is white leather (from my stash so I am unsure of the details on it) hand painted with Angelus Leather paint.  The end pages are from my stash of handmade paper made in Thailand. I used PVA glue throughout the process.

Sewing on cords.  I always forget to put a board or something to prop up my text block but things seem to work out okay.

Two text blocks for two pelican vigil books

Birb.  Pelican in her Piety sculpted out of paper clay

Puppers.  Wolf head for the device

Pelican and device finished and dried.

Rounded spine

End bands and naked spine

Cords fanned and glued to the book boards to attach the covers to the text block

Back of naked book (I would have a picture of the front of the book but it was all blurry.  And it looked like this only the spine was on the other side.  :)

Motifs glued to the cover.

After first press.  Normally, I would have already done the fold ins on the cover (basically wrapping the leather around to glue onto the inside cover) but I like to get the motifs in the press ASAP so I do a second press after I finish the fold ins and glue down the end pages.

Finished book!

End pages

Back of book

Spine

Head band

End band

Book curse!  It says "Blessings on the Reader/Indulgence to the Benifactor/Curses on the Thief".

A few books

I made a few books.  They are practice books in several ways.  I need to work on my sawing skills so both of these books have hand sawed boards.  I need to work on my blind tooling so both of these books are blind tooled.  And I always need to work on my cover work.

So!  Two books:

 Small leather bound book. Signatures are sewn on cords.  Birch plywood book boards.  Blind tooled decorations.  I messed up my measurements so the diamonds are wonky.  Measure twice, tool once, people! 

Small leather bound book.  Signatures sewn on cords.  Birch plywood book boards.  Blind tooled decorations.  Measurements worked out better on this one.

Things I learned from these two books:

I think I want to make some templates for several basic tooling patterns so that the wonky diamond problem doesn't happen again.  I also want to get some basic leather stamps for more variety (currently I am using a stylus for lines and a nail head for circles). 

I need to figure out a better wood source.  These boards splintered a lot while sawing.  Also, better wood working.  I need to start beveling my edges.

I didn't make headbands on these books.  I should have taken the time to do it because headbands add a finished touch to these books.  Remember to do this, silly.

Old bones

No post last week because my brain was silly and didn't want to fence.

Birka was a problem.  I felt terrible and decided not to fence.

BUT!  I went to practice last night and it was great.

Things I am working on:

Stance
Breathing
Actually lunging instead of just tossing my arm out and hoping I am close enough

Stance:

I was really working it last night and my thighs were happy to let me know.  When I am in the stance, I feel better defended and mobile.  I still need to work on the "thoughtlessness" of the stance so that I can get into and stay without having to think about it so much.

Breathing:

Oh, man.  More breathing, more better.  Still working on it.  I think I had some small success but I really, really want to better at this.  I feel like it will make a BIG difference in my fighting and my braining.  I hate feeling so out of breath after a pass and it pushed brain buttons of being out of shape.  Which then push "I can't do this" brain buttons and things spiral out of control.  I don't want that anymore.  I can do this and if I remember to breath, I will do it better.

Actually lunging:

I practiced lunging after foot work and when I had some downtime.  I was aware of the time when I should have lunged and I didn't.  I also made active choices to lunge in passes.  And it was good.  I need to do more of that.

I am not going to make it to another practice this month, but I am considering taking Remy's Intro to Italian class at the Cambridge practice.  Even if I don't, I will get to other practices.  Need to let my ego go.  I am not good and that is okay.

New Year, New Fails

So, let's get back to it.

Fencing last night.

I struggle with fencing sometimes.  It has a lot to do with my brain and depression.  However, I made it to practice and I did more fencing than I expected.  I did get frustrated with myself over one match because I just didn't seem to be able to deal with an off-hand weapon.  I let it distract me too much.  I should spend more time on that in the future.  I should also bring my own non-dagger off hand to practice and play with it some more. 

My focuses recently have been on my stance and my breathing.  I find when I attack, I hold my breath.  It really hard to remember to breath in the middle of all the other things I am thinking about.  Also, focusing on breathing makes it harder to get into the "zone" where I let my body do things instead of having to tell it to do things.  I mean, if you have to tell yourself to breath, you also find yourself telling your body to parry and riposte.  It makes for inefficient fighting.  It also also keeps me from moving on past my first or second intentions.

Still, I need to breath.  So I will keep working on it until it works.

My stance is getting better.  I have been working on a deeper stance that seems to make the rest of my body move better.  I must have been doing it right yesterday because I was getting good aches while drilling foot work.  I do need to remember to drill my lunges after I lead foot work since I don't do lunges with everyone else.  I think I haven't adjusted my lunge to my new stance so I need to do some more work on that.

To sum up:

Working on - Stance and breathing
Good: occasionally remembering to breath through the whole match, better at keeping stance through whole match
Bad: occasionally forgetting to breath through the whole match, need to work on lunges from new stance.

Lastly, I need to start getting out more.  Sometime this month, I need to go to another practice and just force myself to be bad in front of other people.  I need to work on just working at fencing and letting my ego about it go.  I am not good and that is okay.  I don't need to be good to have fun.