Update!

The power has been out for the last 5 days -- no fun! I spent a good deal of time wrapped up, working on hats: a red one for me and a 'natural' colored one for Dave, with red and blue stripes. I also crafted four new bone nalbinding needles. It's interesting to me how they all turn out differently. I'll post pics later so you can see.

Anyway, lots to do in the aftermath. I'll have a new post for you with real content to enjoy later this week. See you then!

Viking Garb

We got over a foot of snow dumped on us today, which gave me an excuse to take the day off and get some pictures taken of me in my viking regalia in the snow.



The snow was so deep that it's hard to see that I have boots on, and instead I look like I have stubby legs. The Rus-style baggy pants do not help. Please believe me when I tell you that I do indeed have long legs.



The weapon? Oh, that's "Sundercrown" -- actually a sugarcane cleaver machete that I found one day in a ditch while I was walking a dog. Not exactly a Norse weapon, but look -- it also can be used as a makeshift electric guitar.

My Viking Kit

If you look back to my earliest posts, you'll see my viking cloak and viking-esque/modern-interpretation dress. I had planned to make a new, more period-accurate dress, but as I was pulling out the red wool to see if I had enough, I found two yards of cream-colored wool I'd stashed away. I had a sudden vision of a white tunic with green embellishment, and green wool pants to match. Because, hey look! -- I have a few yards of green wool hiding here under the white stuff. Perfect!

Sometimes I just don't feel like wearing a dress. Even a cute viking dress with beads. I'll still make the red dress. For next fall or something. But now...

I took advantage of two days' sick leave and handstitched this beauty. The green embroidery is a wool persian yarn from "The Super Yarn Mart" in LA, apparently, though I got it (of course) at a thrift shop for a dollar, in a bag with about four other skeins. More green triangles are going to go on the cuffs, and possibly on the hem.

UPDATE! Jan 14
I finished the collar appliques and decided the ones on the sleeves should go in the middle of the sleeve, not the cuff. I'm loving the way it looks! Pics when I'm done!

More hat!

Made from black roving wool for my Dave. He looks a bit ragged in the pic because I shook him from a nap with "It's done! Wake up and try it on!"

Yay Hat!

Okay, I'm hooked. I finished my hat tonight and I think it's super cute. That little tassel on the top? Hilarious. What a fun project! I sense a lot more of these in my future.

Nålbinding 3

Sick of the nålbinding posts yet? Me either. I'm having so much fun. Look at all the fun I'm having!

I made myself a new needle today out of bone. I'll admit the bone came from the dog's toybox, but there's nothing wrong with that. I drilled the hole first and then used a hacksaw to cut the general shape I wanted. Then I used a rasp to smooth and shape it further, then fine sandpaper, and finished up with a glass emery board to make it super-smooth. Then I rubbed a tiny bit of beeswax and olive oil into it and buffed it to a shine.

And it works beautifully. Yay!

...incidentally, sawing and sanding bone is kind of smelly. Phooo!

Nålbinding 2

Check it out, yo -- I've totally got the hang of it now! This is intended to be a hat, and I'm interested to see if it ends up being one. It may end up being a pouch of some sort. It's kind of in a larval stage right now as I figure out what I can do.

And also: that needle? I made it myself last summer from a lilac branch when we trimmed the bushes by the carport. Lilac wood is really pretty. You can't see it in my needle, but in a larger sample, you'd be able to see purple streaks running through the wood. Pretty cool. I wonder if I can find a pic online... sec.


Okay, here -- see the purple? Awesome. We let a local wood artisan have the logs from the lilac we had to remove. I hope he does something really cool with it.
(This pic is NOT his stuff, though. It's from Inaka Custom Furniture and Art.)

Nålbinding

Nålbinding is something I've made a few previous attempts at. A few tedious, struggle-filled attempts that left the air blue with my strident homemade swears: "stupid bint-biting nålbinding needle of underleg noise!" and the like.

To put it succinctly, I have been less than successful. Paragraphs like 'We prick with the needle into the backward thumb loop from the front.This is the equivalent to the stitch U O/. The first stitch U, because the first loop as the forward thumb stitch is folded over the thumb to the front.' found on teh interwebz did not make it any easier. Finally I found a short video in German that was up-close and slow enough for me to wrap my head around and things just clicked.



And here we see the results -- with Josie looking on approvingly.