A lovely cowl, a loss, a new treat, and new shoes

This last week has been pretty busy getting ready for term to start, so I have pretty much only been knitting on one project. Not only am I planning for this term, but I’m trying to leave an ironed out curriculum including weekly projections for my successor. And despite my exhaustive record keeping, there is so often some funny thing every term that makes it hard to set out what a ‘normal’ term 2 should look like. A teacher’s work is never done…

It’s been all chevrons, all the time here in the bush! When I started my rainbow chevron cowl I did a bunch of math, figured 15 repeats would do it, and started. I did a few rows of garter in black for the bottom, and then started alternating the two skeins of rainbow Felici. When I tried it on however, it was going to be way too big. Weird; from my swatch I was expecting each repeat to be 1.75”, and they were clocking in at more like 2.75.” I felt wounded that my taking the time to swatch had not paid off but, math is math, so, RIP!

I did 7 rows of garter this time, and only 12 repeats figuring that would hit the sweet spot for a no-wrap cowl—not too tight, but not so loose it doesn’t keep you warm. Well, now my repeats are more like 2,” and the cowl is just on the edge of being too small. So…either I am terrible at measuring, or the knitting fates have seen fit to smite me. Thankfully I can live with the size it is, and I have a feeling that a little blocking will also help. The only thing I’m not thrilled about is the rolling edging; I was hoping the garter would fix that. I’m not sure if I had done less garter if it would have rolled less, or if it is just an integral part of the structure of this stitch pattern. Maybe I’ll do fewer rows at the top and see what happens, or maybe it will block out?

This week brought the sad news that a favorite musician of mine, Jed Marum, had passed away. I had the privilege of seeing him perform live a few times at Four Winds Faire, and he was one of my favorites for several reasons. First of all I loved his rich baritone voice, and second I appreciated that unlike many other shows at faires, Jed’s never was raunchy or off color. I enjoyed the wide range of songs he played, and his original songs were thought provoking and moving. Jed was a born story teller, and there was a great story to go with many of his songs. Several years ago when I attended the Celtic Music Festival out at the faire, Jed performed with many of the people who were there, and also helped run the sound to support his fellow musicians. He loved to collaborate with other musicians, and never gave the impression it was the "Jed show." I had hoped to make it to Dallas to hear him again this summer, but sadly I’ll never get to do that. The world is always poorer whenever anyone dies, but this week it’s been sad to think of a world without such a talented musician, faire gentleman, and gifted storyteller. He will be missed.

I was off this first weekend, and I saw a recipe for cinnamon roll pancakes pop up on Facebook. Intrigued, I saw I had all the ingredients, so Sunday night I tried it out.

A few notes if you should decide to embark on this journey. A) The sugar makes a real mess--be warned! You're going to need some hot water to clean it up. B) The filling mixture would do at least two batches of pancakes; I'm stashing mine in the fridge for round two. C) I don't have cream cheese to spare, so I just made a regular glaze icing--which was fine! But I can only imagine how good the cream cheese one would be...

Parting shot: I can't get over how CLEAN and NEW these are! My green converse served nobly and well for almost 5 years; it's time for another pair.

Are you going to Scarborough Faire...

...Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.

So, for my birthday, I headed off with my sister and almost brother-in-law to Scarborough Faire and spent a wonderful day wandering around and taking in all the sights, sounds, smells, textures, and even some tastes! Among other fun things we heard Tartanic--a rocken' bagpipes and drums group with the most enthusiastic drummer I've ever seen,

We watched the beautiful hawks, falcons, owls, eagles, and buzzard of Last Chance Forever,

Heard a carillon played, and almost lost our hearing!

Watched the hilariously staged and cheesey joust--really, balsa wood lances? A Knight's Tale was better!

And enjoyed the lovely landscaping at the faire.

Some favorite memories of the day are:

* Playing with the Music of the Spheres wind chimes and standing with my head under the bass ones--as Jordan said, "Ear candy!"

* Eating a pretzel from one of the wandering pretzel men with pretzel's on a stick

* Hanging out with my rock star sister!

* The journal shop where Mary and Jordan bought my birthday present--a lovely leather journal with handmade paper pages. Yes, there will be a picture in the near future!

* Watching all the people in garb go by--getting ideas, and sharing a day with people who love a good faire as much as I do.

* Getting to do a tinny bit of court dancing--not as much as I would have liked, but it was more than I've gotten to do for the last three years!

* All the pretties at the faire. Boy, I could totally drop a couple of thousand there if left to my own devices...

* Walking around in garb all day. The corset *mostly* behaved itself, the new fathingale worked well, and I didn't die of heat. Win!

Notice that I was all patriotic for Memorial Day!

I do love a good Faire...

I didn't take very many pictures at all these last two weekends because I was so busy living the faire. Catching up with old friends, making some new, and just reveling in my freedom to be ME without constraint and judgement. Here are a few pictures and a few stories; when I steal my mother's pictures I'll put some more up!

The owner of the Faire, Sir Dustin, is a wonderful visionary who has made it possible for grown people to dress up in awesome garb and escape from the real world for a bit and enjoy the magic of the past. I love that he vigilantly keeps things family friendly, and that music is such a part of this faire. Huzzah to you sir--keep making this a wonderful place to visit!

I enjoy getting to be outside in the beautiful East Texan spring, and watching the beautiful horses of the Faire. This year there were two adorable little foals to provide the cute factor and some entertainment as they ran down the lists with their mothers. Jousting horse in the making!

There is all sorts of garb to enjoy looking at and get ideas from as well. Kilts are a popular attire, though I personally wouldn't want to wear one on horseback! As the man said, "Want to know what I wear under my kilt? A Clydesdale!"

One of my favorite parts of the faire is the music. I have a passion for live Celtic music, and it is so good to get to know the performers a bit and have that added personal connection with them. This faire I got to know the group Triskelion and even got a personal concert yesterday! There was also an impromptu gathering of musicians while my mother and I watched a booth for another vendor (yes, we are that well known by the booth owners that they entrusted us with a booth full of swords and knives for over an hour!). It makes me want to bust out my guitar and play some faire music!

All in all it was a lovely two weekends. So many good memories were made, and I was sad to go yesterday. I don't know when the next time I'll get to visit the Faire will be, but I'm so thankful for these two weekends that I just had.

Favorite Faire Memories

* Having Flynn come with us and be an enthusiastic audience member.

* Getting to watch The Celtic Armory for our friends Tim and Carrie--the porch is a great people watching spot, and it was cool to feel a part of the family!

* Listening to Jed Marum during the day and at the Celtic Music Festival.

* Shamelessly 'fangirling' Triskelion and getting serenaded in a private concert. Good music and good people!

* Watching the joust and cheering for the brave knights.

* Picking up several really cool pieces of handmade jewelry.

* Visiting with Tim and Carrie as well as making some new faire friends

* Eating chocolate covered bacon!

A Faire Sort of Weekend

This weekend my mother and I spend most of our time out at Four Winds Canterbury Renaissance Faire. I got gloriously sunburned, but it was totally worth it! On Saturday I wore a dress of my mothers that while being elegant and lovely, also left much of my shoulders and back exposed. Despite religious parasol usage, I FRIED. While I was guarantying that I will die of skin cancer, I enjoyed watching Captain Tom Bedlam perform his famous counterfeiting trick:

I was totally excited to be at the Faire that day as it was the Celtic music festival and I was going to get to hear one of my favorite artists, Jed Marum. He played a bit on different stages during the day, and then starting a bit before 8 that evening there was a line up of celtic musicians. Unfortunately, Jed was last, so we only heard the first few songs of his set because we had to get back home!

The second day I wore a bodice of my mom's and one of my chemises. No, I did not remember to take any pictures of myself! I also had fun hanging out at the Celtic Armory with our friends Carrie and Tim.

This week the project is to make myself an over-gown to wear to the Faire as my former costume doesn't fit me any more. I might try to get that corset working so I can wear it one day as well. By working I mean to sew up all the places where the boning poked through, and finish it off. I'll have to post pictures of that as well... So much to do, and only a week to get it done in!

Of Corsets and sleep

My two consuming passions this weekend were to a) sleep, and b) research and start work on a corset. The sleep thing is easily understandable, but the reasoning behind the corset thing is that I’m going to be attending Faire in a few weeks, and then will be a bridesmaid in my sister’s wedding. For someone with ‘lumpiness’ issues like me, a corset is an obvious solution! I found a lady who will make custom ones on eBay that looks promising (and reasonably priced!), and I also drafted a corset pattern for myself on Saturday afternoon. I cut out a ‘trial’ fabric piece out of nasty cheap chetengi, and was pleasantly surprised! I want to try using green bamboo as a stiffener, and if that one works well, I’ll make a shell to bring home and stiffen with a great idea I found on-line: heavy duty zip ties! Of course a third option would be to buy a corset at Faire, but they aren't cheap. Of course I understand about being handmade, steel boned, and lovingly assembled, but that doesn't make it much easier to fork over a wad! I think I’ll see how my version pans out, and then go from there. At the very least, I can now say that not only did I draft my own farthingale pattern, but I can do corsets up too!

Speaking of Faire, I have a hankering to try an authentic knotted hair net. I have lots of black floss, so I just need to see if I can find some suitable elastic for a base. So many ideas…so little time!