A Fox in Istanbul

BIG News of Both the Mundane and SCA Variety!

2009-07-16T19:26:00.000-07:00

My deepest apologies for having disappeared for so long! The summer months are usually SCA-free for us so most attention wanders away from clothes and customs and more toward the mundane. However, I wanted to check in as I have some grand news to report!

First, as of May 24th, 2009, my Lord Ashikaga and I are officially engaged! Of course much craziness ensued and I lost touch with the outside world for a minute. We have decided to plan the wedding for October 16, 2010 which gives us more than enough time for balancing wedding life with all other life!

Second, Happy 30th Birthday to my beloved Ansteorra!! We attended the grand affair last weekend and, while it was unbearably hot at times, enjoyment was had by all!

Third, a very boisterous VIVAT to our newest Steller Highnesses, Owen ap Aeddan and Genevria di Betto di Adriano!!!!! If you will recall, we were honored to watch Sir Owen compete and win Wiesenfeuer Championship last April and now we will be honored to watch him ascend the throne this November! Huzzah! This will be the first Northern Ansteorran to win crown in a very long time, so we are all overjoyed at getting to witness a Coronation in our own backyard, so-to-speak.

Thanks to my readers for being so patient with me. I know there were some questions of just where the heck I have been lately...

Waaaaaaaay OT: Corset Help?

2009-05-14T23:57:00.001-07:00

I have been asked to DJ a steampunk party next month at SoonerCon and I really want to look the part. Can anyone give me some pointers on making an underbust corset? I have found some patterns online that seem easy enough, but can I buy steel boning at craft stores or is this something I have to order? I'm going to need the strong stuff to hold all the me in!

Thanks for any help you can give me!

Illuminated, Part II

2009-05-01T04:00:00.000-07:00

So I went to Scribal Night tonight and was reunited with my simple little AoA scroll. Lady Shanna hooked me up with some paints (she let me take home a whole set!) and I got to work...

(by the way it's not really crooked, that's just from the way I was holding it up while I took the picture)

I think it's coming along quite nicely for my first scroll ever. I got lots of compliments on it from other people who were there which boosted my ego a bit... Okay, a ton.

I'm using kind of bright, obnoxious colors because they told me I could paint it however I liked and I figured it couldn't hurt anything to at least practice with primaries. That was also before I had really researched what Ansteorran scrolls look like. Guess I'll be a little more picky with my color choices next time.

Anyway, I asked Shanna if I could take home one or two more scrolls and she gave me this...

...which is the same scroll that both Cadfael and I received when we got our AoAs at Baronial. Speaking of my scroll, I completely forgot to share...

I absolutely adore it! It was done by a talented lady from The Steppes named Oranna (or possibly Osanna?) de Burgh. I wonder if the person who picked it out for me knew that fall colors are my favorite? My name is misspelled, but that doesn't even matter to me that much.

Shanna also gave me a scroll that someone else had abandoned, with the instructions to "pretty it up." I plan to use that one to acquaint myself with gold ink. It's the same as the scroll I'm currently painting.

I don't expect to ever draft my own scrolls or draw extremely intricate designs in the background or add in the recipient's coat of arms or calligraph it in some visually striking style, but I truly enjoy painting the charters and pattering along behind my mentors, HL Nicolaea, Lady Danielle and Lady Shanna.

Illuminated

2009-04-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

This has been an... odd week.

Over the weekend we had a house guest: Lady Danielle was in town for a work function, but they were not providing her with lodging, so I offered for her to stay with us. I just started getting to know Lady Dani at the Medieval Fair. She and Lady Nicolaa were doing a lot of illumination under the Living History pavilion and, while I was busy doing other things, in the back of my head I was wondering if illumination was something I could do.

My grandmother was a painter and every summer when I went to stay with her, she insisted I paint something while I was there. Usually that was the nap alternative, so I was happy to comply. Now that I'm older, I can't help but think my grandmother was looking for some painting talent in her favorite granddaughter, and while I don't think I'm just gifted or anything, at least I can stay in the lines!

So when we went to a demo for the Campfire USA kids last Saturday, I asked Lady Dani if she could get me started with illumination. We had made papier mache masks Friday night for an upcoming masquerade ball, so I had purchased brushes (a pack of 30 various sizes and qualities for $5). When we got to the demo, there was an illumination table so we set up there and she and Lady Shanna got me started with paints and AoA charter scrolls.

The particular scroll I was working on was laser printed on nice paper and had very little decoration -- just a bar with vines and flowers on one side, a simpler version to the right at the end of a sentence and a decorative capital "p." I started painting the flowers red and was having a grand time of it when the skys opened up and started pelting our covered pavilion with rain and pea-sized hail! We were doing okay for a little bit because there was a generous overhang on the roof, but before long the wind picked up and we started scrambling about trying to save the scrolls. I threw mine in Lady Shanna's portfolio and that was that for the rest of the day.

I thought I would get to paint again at Scribal Night the following Tuesday, but it was cancelled due to a conflicting meeting. So now I'm practically foaming at the mouth to paint again! I thought I'd enjoy it, but I didn't think I would be dreaming about it every night! They told me where to get the paints, but I wouldn't know what colors to get or what to even look for so I'll just wait and keep my fingers crossed that they won't cancel Scribal again next week! :)

What exactly does this have to do with the ongoing subject matter? Lady Dani has Persian scrolls I can learn to make! Woot! And since the Ottomans wrote most (if not all) of their poetry in Persian, I can't wait!

Happy Talk Like Shakespeare Day!

2009-04-23T10:35:00.000-07:00

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and today is Talk Like Shakespeare Day!

No, I don't live in Chicago, but if Talk Like a Pirate Day can go international, why can't a day honoring The Bard himself?!

http://www.talklikeshakespeare.org/

If you can't tell, I love the Shake.

Wiesenfeuer Baronial Championship, Part II

2009-04-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

After feast, my feet were killing me so I parked myself in a chair (the first time I had sat down in nearly six hours!) and chatted with Lady Danielle while the feast hall turned into the Court of Their Excellencies Wiesenfeuer. Eventually the rest of Clan Namu joined me, as the unsuspecting Cadfael was up for an award. We cheered for the Baronial Champions, cheered for our newest Flaming Weasel (Lord Orlando burned a large hole through his froofy-sleeved shirt whilst cooking feast so he got what is basically our blooper award) and watched as our Baroness became an apprentice to the mesmerizing belly dancer Mistress Rhiannon.

Then HL Thomas Quilliam started reading the next award. Poor Thomas. Welsh is not his forte at all. As he read the scroll, I could barely understand the name Cadfael Ap Mynnydd Ap Dowen Ap Dafydd (not that I was surprised or anything... I can't pronounce it myself!). I turned to look at Cadfael who looked completely perplexed. "I think that's me?"

"I think that's you, man, maybe you should stand up and approach the thrones!"

While Cadfael made his way to Their Excellencies, escorted by his sister, Katrina, I darted around to the side of the audience with her camera and captured a few nice pictures of the moment. When Baron Elric turned Cadfael around and introduced him to us as the newest Lord of Ansteorra, our entire clan (all 6 of us) chanted "Namuuuuuuuuuuu!" and applauded him. It was a proud moment for us all.

When he came back to his seat, he still looked bewildered. I sat for a moment looking at his scroll until Thomas began again...

"Their Excellencies do call Emine Hatun al-Tha'labii bint Abdullah into their presence." All I heard was "Emine" (the rest proved that Turkish is not Thomas' forte either), but that was all I needed to start my hands shaking.

Since I was sitting on the outside isle, I started walking that direction. Ashikaga had expected me to follow him to the center isle, so I wasn't exactly escorted to Their Excellencies, but I made it there somehow. We bowed in front of Baron Elric and Baroness Dominique and I knelt on the baronial pillow.

To be completely honest, I didn't hear much of what Baron Elric was saying. I was too busy trying not to cry (it wasn't working) and the Baroness was making "Aww, honey, don't cry!" faces at me. His Excellency had me rise from the pillow as Thomas was reading my scroll to the populous and Her Excellency gave me a long, reassuring hug. After His Excellency gave me a hug, he turned me around to face the populous while Thomas showed off my scroll. I turned to look at it and couldn't help but clap like a little girl when I saw how pretty it was. The Baron introduced me as the newest Lady of Ansteorra and the populous clapped for me and shouted "Vivat!" while I heard the low, chanting tone of "Namuuuuuuuuuuu!" That's when I looked down at Ashikaga who was prostrating himself before me, resplendent in his Japanese court garb, reverence capturing his face.

I was awe-struck for a moment as they handed me my scroll and I walked back to my seat, forgetting to take Ashikaga's arm once more. When I sat down, my clansmen greeted me with hugs and pats on the back. Tomburr whispered in my ear, "After nine years, it's about time. Well deserved." I wiped the tears from my eyes and enjoyed the rest of court with a big, silly grin on my face and the overwhelming desire to go sit in my tent and cry.

Saturday Night
After court we went back to Their Excellencies' cabin once again to prepare for the hafla. Most of the populous was already at the covered pavilion and we could hear the drummers warming up while we stacked serving platters together to transport to the little kitchen down there.

As I mentioned in my recent blog on cooking, the hafla snack bar was a fantastic success. Branislava is a goddess and I look forward to learning more about Mediterranean cooking from her. We're planning on doing a cooking day in the near future so I can learn the right way to make rahat loukoum (aka Turkish delight). I have made it before according to a recipe and video on About.com, and it turned out exactly like the video portrayed, but it wasn't authentic at all and it didn't taste all that great. On top of that I have issues with food textures and it was just too much like Jell-O for my liking.

Anyway, as we were hanging out at the hafla, it started raining and by the time the party was over, there was mud everywhere. I was ready to go home to sleep (we live about 15 minutes from site) and come back to get our sopping wet things in the morning, but Ashikaga convinced me to give our Coleman tent another chance.

Just as I remembered, camping in the rain sucks. The next morning we packed in the rain and neverending inches of red, Oklahoma mud and drove home, leaving our tent there to dry. Turns out, our tent was leaking like a sieve so we trashed it. I guess that gives us even more reason to work on getting a period tent.

In conclusion, an absolutely amazing event. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend (trust me, I tried to convince the head of my Household that it was time to make me a full-fledged member, but he wasn't buying it hahahahaha).

Wiesenfeuer Baronial Championship, Part I

2009-04-15T23:00:00.000-07:00

I have to tell you, this was the most amazing SCA weekend ever. Aside from the rain and sore feet, an absolutely perfect event. And now, in a billion words or less...

Wiesenfeuer Baronial Championship

Friday
Whilst at work I finished a couple of sewing projects and then went home where I packed and headed for camp. It was nearly midnight by the time I got there. Luckily, Ashikaga, Cadfael and Andy had already set up our tents and were sitting at a nearby picnic table talking to our long lost Namu brother, Nickolaus. After a bit more catching up, we all went to bed.

Saturday
Saturday was the busiest day I have ever known. It started at 9:30 am when Kyna woke me up on her way to the list field. I had a gate shift at 10, so I threw on some make-up, combed my hair out as best I could, got dressed and headed for gate. I have recently made a good friend in Lady Genefe Kruse who turned out to be my gate partner along with a gentleman I had never met before. For three hours we sat under our little tent and chatted about a variety of topics. I shared my harrowing sharab experience and made Genefe promise to try my ma'mool at the party that night. She happily swore she would.

After my shift ended at 1 pm I had just a little time to play before I needed to run home and pick up the cookies and syrups and return for the Champions' Ice Cream Social. I found Ashikaga on the list field, luckily between fights. He had lost the championship to Sir Owen, but wasn't too upset about it. We both (and undoubtedly everyone who has ever met him) adore Sir Owen and agree he deserved to win.

As Ashikaga went back onto the field for some pick-up fights, I made my way toward the car. However, I was unusually popular at this event and everyone stopped me to chat. So what would have been a 5 minute walk to the car turned into an hour and fifteen minute walk to the car! Not that I would have had it any other way -- every conversation was a pleasure -- but I was a bit late getting back for the ice cream social. Shanna didn't seem to mind, though.

Lady Shanna Camber was asked to do the Champion's Ice Cream Social a couple of months ago and, much like the Middle Eastern snack bar, I offered my services to her. Shanna and I have been steadily become better and better friends over the last year so I was more than happy to help. And I loooove ice cream! haha Luckily, Lady Genefe had also asked to help, so the three of us had fun for a couple of hours dishing up ice cream to all the past Baronial Champions, their consorts and anyone else who wanted some refreshments. At one point I had five smalls asking for ice cream at once and I wound up getting it all over my gomlek sleeves (Note to Self: make a shorter-sleeved gomlek in which to work).

The ice cream social ended about 4 pm, I think, so I rushed off to see if Branislava needed any help with the snack bar stuff. She had come to me earlier to say there had been a mix-up with the lamb meat and she needed Ashikaga to help her grind it in an old-fashioned meat grinder. By the time I got to the cabin she had the lamb kofta (meatballs) finished and, let me tell you, they were fantastic!!

Things started getting fuzzy about this time because I was getting so nervous. Lord Orlando di Gilead had asked me several weeks ago if I would be Head Server for his feast. I have served many times, but I've never been Head Server, so I was starting to get rather jittery about it. I walked up to the feast hall and found Ashikaga and Cadfael already working in the kitchen. I had called for a servers meeting around 5:30, so I just kind of wandered around and mentally went over my game plan until enough of my servers had shown up.

I won't go into all the gorey details, I'll just say that feast didn't go exactly according to plan. I'm not much of a leader so I floundered back and fourth between wanting to be authoritative and follow the plan Orlando and I had discussed and wanting to accomodate my servers and make sure they weren't too stressed to enjoy it. Throughout the meal I had several people come up and tell me I was doing a great job and I never really felt bombarded by complaints from either the servers or guests, so I think that's a measurement of a success. Everyone seemed happy and full by the end and my servers got fed (we had more than enough food left over for everyone so if they didn't get their fill, that was their own fault). In the end, I think I did better than I gave myself credit for at the time.

At the end of feast, Kyna came over, wrapped her arms around my neck and whispered in my ear, "I just want you to know that I am so proud of you." I probably should have figured out then that something was up...

Period Cooking: Sharab and Ma'mool

2009-04-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago my wonderful friend, Lady Branislava Kirilova'doch Volkova, was asked to put together a Middle Eastern snack bar-type thing for Ansteorra's 30th Year Celebration this July. It's not wonder she was handpicked to run it because she is an amazing cook! I tell this story all the time, but several years ago I was invited to attend a period Russian feast. While most people will hear Russian feast and think, "Potatoes?" this feast hall was jammed with people. The food was incredible and I don't believe there were any leftovers by the end of the night. Around here people know that when Branislava is cooking, it's an experience you don't want to miss. I don't know why she isn't a Laurel yet...

Anyway, since I have been foaming at the mouth to try out some period Middle Eastern recipes, I begged to help her. She agreed to let me ride her coat tails and we began planning. Something I think it is important to understand about me is that I routinely set challenges for myself. One of my most recent challenges was to branch out and try something new in the Society so cooking seemed as good a choice as any.

Because the snack bar was requested of Branislava and not me, I let her handle the decision making and I just nodded and tried not to drown her with my enthusiasm. Since I am a far better baker than cook, I offered to make these little nut-filled cakes called ma'mool (sometimes spelled mahmoul) and a small variety of sharab.

We decided to do a snack bar preview for Baronial so we could see how things would go. Thus, bright and early last Friday morning I was in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove and loving every minute of it.

Sharab

Basically, a sharab is a drink syrup made of water, sugar and some kind of flavoring whether it be spices, freshly-squeezed fruit juices or the concentrated stuff (I used the latter with excellent results). There is even a recipe for a carrot syrup, but I'm not brave enough to try that one! To drink, you just dilute with water to taste. Simple!

I used recipes found on Stefan's Florilegium (look under Beverages > jalabs-msg).

The Recipe:
I started with lime since I love limeades and figured this would turn out similarly. My exact recipe was thus:

4 cups sugar
2.5 cups water
15 oz lime concentrate

I put the water and sugar into a medium pot and let it come to a boil, stirring occasionally to help the sugar dissolve. I let the mixture hit a rolling boil and turned it back down to simmering, adding the lime concentrate (in retrospect, I would have been just fine adding the lime along with the water and sugar, which is what I did for the other syrups). After simmering 20 minutes I carefully poured it into a clean wine bottle and let it sit until it was cool (actually, I let it simmer for 40 minutes thinking the syrup would thicken up more, but it did not. So if you forget about it for a bit, it's not a problem).

The Taste:
Just as I thought, it tastes like limeade! Very refreshing and, of course, best when cold. The syrup seems thin -- not quite what as thick as I expected, but it makes up perfectly. I couldn't estimate the ratio of syrup to water I used. Just mix them until it tastes the way you like.

Unfortunately, because I was still expecting a thicker syrup, I decided to experiment with the pomegranate...

The Wrong Recipe:
16 oz POM (this can be found at Wal-Mart in the juice section)
4 cups sugar

Same procedure as the lime except that I started with 2 cups of sugar and when that wasn't thickening at all, I added 2 more. Totally the wrong thing to do!! The syrup is so thick it won't pour out of the bottle!

The Right Recipe:
15 oz POM
4 cups sugar
2.5 cups water

The Taste:
In other words, next time I will do it exactly like the lime recipe. The upshot is that, while the syrup is basically unusable as a drink because of the insane thickness of it, if you lick it off of a spoon, the taste is fantastic!! Almost like candy! I may try to salvage this syrup by reheating it, pouring it out of the bottle and adding the water. We'll see if that works or ruins it. Either way, I will definitely be attempting this again in the future.

The orange sharab was more for me than for the party, so I wasn't shy about adding some cinnamon...

The Recipe:
2 cups water
4 cups sugar
1 can orange juice concentrate
cinnamon!

This one gave me no problems at all. It made right up and bottled without a hitch. However, after it was allowed to cool for a few hours, I noticed that a foam had formed on the surface and it looked kind of nasty.

The Taste:
But despite the weird look of it, it tastes great!! I would liken it to wassail, but if you made wassail using only oranges and cinnamon. Definitely a pleasant, breakfast-y drink that would be wonderful hot in the winter. I let Cadfael's younger brother, Andy, try some and he fell in love with it, asking me to make a bottle just for him. He called it the Nectar of the Gods.

The lemon came last...

The Recipe is same as the lime, but with lemon. I made a double batch because I thought it would be the most well-received at the party.

The Taste:
Tastes just like lemonade! If you dilute it just right you can get that nice lemony tang of lemonade.

Ma'mool

The ma'mool were more difficult but only because of the need to clarify butter every time I turned around. I should do some research and find a better butter that doesn't reduce down so drastically.

The Recipe:
You can find the recipe for ma'mool by going to the Florilegium, clicking on Sweet or Decorated Foods and finding mahmouls-msg. I actually used Alys Katharine's recipe which is not period, but was more within my budget. And I trust Alys Katharine's opinion of what is tasty.

The only thing I would change about the ma'mool was the nuts. I used walnuts because they were the easiest to find and because I didn't want to poison the barony in light of the recent recalls. Next time I will use pistachios or dates. I had dates, but I don't care for them. I think I would prefer the pistachios for their slightly meaty flavor.

The Taste:
To me, they taste like those Dutch shortbread cookies. Other people, including Ashikaga, likened them to walnut sandies. Personally, I thought they were a little bland, but they disappeared quickly at the party and I got a lot of approving comments.

I thought it was a fun coincidence that ma'mool are the traditional Easter cookie and I was making them for an Easter weekend event.

The Result

Absolute pandemonium! Branislava had made lamb meatballs with mint and other spices (called kofta), homemade tzatziki (yogurt/cucumber sauce) and hummus with pita chips and soft pita wedges, fresh orange slices and grapes, homemade tabouli, and rosemary roasted mixed nuts. The spread looked wonderful! As soon as we opened the serving window to the little kitchen, people swarmed and a symphony of mmmmm's and oooooh's ensued.

Some were coming back for seconds, thirds and fourths on Branislava's kofta so we had to ration people to just one or risk running out before everyone had a taste. The tzatziki was incredible (I'm a sucker for the stuff!) -- I couldn't stop myself from grabbing a nibble every now and then. My ma'mool went over very well and as soon as I started advertising "middle eastern lemonade" people were thrusting their mugs at me for a refill. I think they were impressed.

In all, I think it was a successful first attempt. I can't wait to see what July brings!

Blog FAQ

2009-04-12T09:50:00.001-07:00

Snagged from Creepy Cupcakes...

1. How did you come up with your blog title OR what does it mean?
When I first started in the SCA I had a Romani persona who went by Lelya de Foxfire. No one could remember Lelya, so everyone just called me Fox and I went by that for years, even through two more persona changes. At one point I was given a fox tail as a gift and wearing it on my belt helped people to remember my nickname. Through each new persona I incorporated the word "fox" into it: when I had my Celtic persona her name was Cera inghean Sionnach meaning "Cera, daughter of the man called Fox," and Emine has the laqab (descriptive byname) al-Tha'labii which roughly translates to "the foxlike" although further research will almost assuredly change that (the Turkish word for Fox is actually tilki).

While we are on the subject, I am currently documenting a Greek name for myself which would have been my name before I was sold into slavery. I know I will use the first name Cassandra since my mundane name is Kasandra and I'm sure "fox" will be included somewhere. I do not intend to use this name, only to weave my mundane name into my persona story.

2. What are your general goals for blogging?
I'm using this blog to chronicle my journey through 16th century Near Eastern clothing, food, art, and culture. Basically I write whatever I have been thinking about recently and if someone deems it interesting enough to sit through, all the better. If someone feels inspired by something I've written, I'm happy to have brought light to the subject for them. But I'm not out there to tell anyone "this is the way it is and if you don't do it this way you're wrong!" by any stretch of the imagination. I respect other people's ability to dress themselves according to what they like and I am a firm believer in the "you pick your own level of involvement" concept.

3. Do people “in your real life” know that you blog and do they comment on your blog OR is it largely anonymous?
I post the link to my blog in my email signature. It seems that I get a few readers this way, but I'm not out hunting them down or anything. I have a few very good friends who are subscribed, but at least a couple of them are not involved with the SCA so I believe they read along on the more personal posts. My SCAdian friends who read regularly have approached me with questions or comments which is always a nice feeling because, like any blogger, I love discussing topics about which I have blogged.

4. How often do you post (x per week)?
Depends on how busy I am, but usually at least once. However, I write every day, so there are several posts waiting to be finished. I just work on them when the mood strikes me and post them when they feel finished.

5. How often do you read other blogs (x per week)?
Since I check my blogs every day and I always read my feed blogs as soon as I get them...

6. How do you select blogs to read (do you prefer blogs that focus on certain topics or do you choose by tone or…?)
Most of the blogs I have subscribed to are SCA-related just because that's where my focus is right now. I tend to prefer the hardcore costuming blogs just because that's the direction I would like to travel in with my own costuming. And since the harcore costumers are usually Norse or English in origin, I spend a lot of time drooling over garb that I will never make. lol But I do enjoy watching their processes. I also have a lot of A&S blogs on my feed dealing with embroidery or fiber arts because those are other things I'm interested in. I have a very small number of blogs that are not on any of these topics because I either enjoy their writing or they are close personal friends of mine with whom I enjoy keeping up-to-date.

7. Do you have any plans to copy your blog entries in any other format, or do you think that one day, you’ll just delete it all?
I hadn't really thought of it before now. Perhaps one day when I'm a Laurel in Near Eastern stuff I'll reconsider. lol Until then I'm quite happy to share my journey here.

8. What are the things you like best about blogging?
First and foremost is the opportunity to write. I used to write constantly and got out of the habit during college when I had other projects going on. Secondly, the ability to share knowledge with others who are just starting to work on their personae. I don't pretend to be a professor of Near Eastern studies, but I do a lot of research and follow people whom I consider to be experts on the topic and I think sharing that information is important for us Near Eastern personae since we are in the minority of the Society and most information is geared toward Europe.

9. What are the things you don’t like about blogging?
I'm constantly afraid of offending people so I over-explain myself. And as a certified obsessive compulsive, I hate worrying about spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes. (Vanessa, quit laughing!)

10. How do you handle comments?
That's the most annoying part of Blogger, in my opinion. If someone sends me a comment on my blog I have to comment back on their blog or they will never see my reply. In the meantime, they think they have gotten this really valid comment on something they've said and then they find out it's just me replying to something else. Annoying. I wish blogger had its own email system.

11. Do you have any burning thoughts to share on blog etiquette?
I know some people dislike comments and that's fine, but it's hard to ask questions that way!!

12. Any desired blog features?
Other than the email system mentioned in question 10, nope.

13. Have you suffered blog addiction?
I don't suffer, I enjoy it!

Medieval Fair Recap

2009-04-03T21:47:00.000-07:00

The University of Oklahoma Medieval Fair was this weekend (for those of you wondering just why I'm mentioning this, please click here). In all it was a good weekend but not a great weekend. I feel like I let myself and my baronies down in a lot of ways. I had volunteered to be a water bearer, but they seemed to have more than enough people at any given time. I had volunteered to walk the ropes and talk to the audience, but felt better suited to hanging out in the living history tent making buttons (article coming soon!). At least there I could talk to people without having to scream over the audience. A herald I am most definitely not.

Friday I spent much of the day in the SCA Information booth. Unfortunately, the word "information" threw off the proper operation of the booth's sole inhabitant (I was SO bored and SOOOOO lonely!!!) so I wound up answering (or attempting to answer) ridiculous, non-SCA-related questions like...

"Where is the cotton candy booth?"
"Do they have the monkey this year?"
"What is this game called and how much does it cost to play?" (speaking of the heavy fighting)
"Where can I find those hair things? I don't know what they're called but they go in your hair."

Needless to say, not the most fun I've ever had, but it was better than nothing. Someone finally offered to take over for me and I got to walk around the fair briefly with Kyna and our newbie, Andrew. We had a chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick and enjoyed perusing the shops for about an hour before securing site and going home. Afterward Kyna and Andrew joined Ashikaga and myself for dinner at Denny's and much laughing and drooling of sandwiches ensued.

Saturday at fair was much more fulfilling. I spent most of my time chatting with Genefe in the Living Artstent (we called it "Living Arts" because people were in it actively working on projects; the other booth just had displays). I had a project in my lap, so people were actually asking me questions and I think that was much better for me than trying to scream over the audience. I'm just not that outgoing.

Saturday night we had court at the local Masonic lodge and there was supposed to be a party afterward, but we were very tired and sore so we went home pretty much right after court. I was asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow.

Sunday was.... horrible. It was cold and unbelievably windy. Many of the tents had been packed up and taken home early in the morning. Their Excellencies Namron left their tent up and had a heater going so many of the ladies piled in there to sing and work on crafts. I was too cold and tired to make more buttons so I just watched everyone else. Of course Ashikaga was fighting, but I couldn't see him from the warmth of the tent so I was bored most of the time. About 3 o'clock Andy (Cadfael's little brother) asked me to go for a walk and I got a chocolate covered turtle cheesecake on a stick (c'mon it's only once a year!). Afterward I had to take Cadfael to work so I left Ashikaga there to fight with Andrew and I went home.

As for garb, unfortunately once again I was strictly behind the camera and didn't get any pictures of myself. But I did get a test run on my new gomlek and even newer entari (article coming soon). There are some things I don't like about both so I will be modifying them this week in preparation for Wiesenfeuer Baronial next weekend. I need to make at least one more entari and finish my caftan... after I rescue my sewing machine from Adena.

One of the highlights of my weekend was spending time with my SCA family that I don't get to see very often. What is funny to me is that they are all Norse and here I am, little Turkish girl. haha But being the odd one out has its benefits because my Norse family all does leather work and likes to experiment with other cultures. Papa Halldor is learning how to make period Turkish slippers just for me and fur-covered Japanese boots for Ashikaga! Yay!

Hair and Make-Up

2009-04-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

I apologize in advance for the rambling/disjointed nature of this post. I have been working on it over the last few days in between all my other projects.

With just two days until the Medieval Fair, I have been seriously thinking thinking about the more rarely discussed details of costuming: hair and make-up.

In the past I haven't really worried about hair and make-up at events. I do my usual routine: moisturizer, foundation and a little mascara, sometimes with eye shadow, usually without. Sometimes I can sneak off to the privy to flat iron my hair, but I usually just run my fingers through it, dampen any crazy spots, spray and go. It's not that I don't care about my appearance, it's just that doing hair and make-up at events is kind of a pain so I do the bare minimum most of the time. But when I started developing my Near Eastern persona I began paying more attention to these details.

Hair

I wear a very modern haircut, sometimes with unusual colors. I started veiling last year because I was tired of how blatantly modern my hair was an how it threw off the rest of my look (and I was tired of getting those nasty sunburns!). Now, when I say "veiling" I don't mean the whole covering-everything-but-the-eyes veil setup. I'm talking about a standard veil that just covers the hair much like the European veils. Underneath the veil I wear a small pillbox hat which I will feature in an upcoming article on accessories.

According to a lady named Amaryllis on Stefan's Florilegium, women in the Middle east wore their hair in five, seven or nine long braids (always an odd number, though she doesn't say why). She also doesn't mention where her facts come from, but other people subscribe to this belief so they may have documentation of which I am not aware. Since my hair is far too short for that, I have considered attaching faux braids to one of my hats, but my fiance said he wouldn't be able to stop laughing at me... and I'm not sure I would be able to either! For now I'm happy enough with just covering my hair. Although I'm still not sure what to do about my bangs...

Most of the time I keep my hair a medium shade of burgundy. While the dying process is obviously not period, the color certainly is! Henna was often used to stain not only the skin but the hair as well. I have seen hair dyed with henna and it is quite a bit brighter than mine, but I have dark hair to begin with, hate bleaching and don't have the patience or self-esteem to wait until all of my hair grows out just so I can dye it with henna. Garnier is good enough for me (and much faster!).

Eyebrows

I usually keep my eyebrows waxed, but money has been tight lately and I've had to give up that little luxury. Instead I have subscribed to a practice called khite in Arabic. In the United States we know it as threading or stringing. The origins of this method of hair removal are unclear, but it appears to have originated in India, China or the Middle East. Basically you use a thread to pluck out the hairs in a line. It's no more painful than waxing and the results last about a month which was about how long my waxes lasted.

If you are interested, here is a video about threading:

It appears that eyebrows in period were something quite out of the ordinary for the modern mindset. It was considered fashionable to darken the eyebrows with kohl and draw them together over the bridge of the nose. Now, I don't know about you, but I go through a lot of trouble to get rid of those unsightly hairs between my eyebrows, thus I doubt I'll ever adopt that look. I'm okay with darkening the brows, but you won't find me with a full-fledged unibrow any time soon.

Eyes

According to Master Rashid of the East Kingdom, eyeshadow is period, which is great because I love eyeshadow! I will occasionally spend my Sunday mornings just browsing make-up videos on YouTube, a couple of which I would like to share with you here. Both videos feature surprise Internet sensation Lauren Luke (I'm a big fan!):

Arabic Eyes

And my favorite...

I'm not saying either of these looks are period, but they do make the eyes stand out and especially the second one has a nice understated-but-glamorous look that I think would compliment a Near Eastern persona. I think a lot of non-SCAdians expect a very bold eye make-up which helps with the illusion at demos and fairs. And in our region at least, the Near/Middle Eastern personae spend a lot of time on their party make-up so that's when I started experimenting with mine.

Eyeliner is my downfall. I'm really awful with liquid liners so I use a regular liner but it doesn't give that dark, dramatic line. I try to pile it on, but it never fails, I will rub my eye and get it everywhere. Looks like I need a make-up practice day.

Lips

Two years ago my friend Katie introduced me to lip stains and I can't thank her enough. If you're not familiar with it, a lip stain basically dyes your lips (or cheeks, with some practice) with a splash of color, usually in a dark red or reddish-purple. I like it because it lasts so much longer than lipstick and it looks like I have used berry juice to stain my lips (and if you stain your lips and then put on lipstick it doesn't look so bad when your lipstick rubs off). Katie showed me how to lightly stain my cheeks and fingernails/fingertips with it which made for a very authentic look. I use Revlon's Just Bitten in Berry Juicy, but the applicator is rather annoying -- I much prefer a sponge tip to a roller ball. I just found this fascinating article on About.com on how to make your own stain using Jell-O! I think I'll give it a try!

Everything Else

I took a henna class at Lilies War several years ago and, while I enjoyed the class and enjoyed learning how to make henna paste, I am not a fan of wearing it. Of course I'm not knocking anyone who loves getting henna'd, I'm just I'm too fidgety to wait until it dries. Luckily henna can be faked with brown liquid eyeliner, a Sharpie marker or harquus paint.

Speaking of harquus, I'll be the first to admit that they look really dramatic and add a mysterious tribal aspect to your make-up, but I have no idea if they are period. I know it's a very popular look with the tribal bellydance community, but that's not saying much for authenticity generally. If anyone knows more about this, I would love to chat with you!

Well, that's it for my hair and make-up review. Please feel free to share tips, tricks or (polite) criticisms in the comments.

The Gomlek, Part II

2009-03-29T23:55:00.000-07:00

This is the second blog in a series. You can find the first part here.

My (completely hand sewn!) gomlek is finished! And after much nagging, my fiance finally took some pictures of me wearing it (albeit sloppily)...

(Please ignore the deer-in-the-headlights look on my face and the horrible angle. My fiance is 6'5" so I guess I always look like a total frog from his height.)

I put on the black tank top for modesty, of course, but also in the hopes that it would give you an idea of proportions and would help you to see where the neckline ends better than it would on my extremely pale skin.

Using Basina's description as a guide, I went ahead and did the neck-to-navel length neckline. Urtatim mentions a "long slit in the center front," but does not say exactly how long. Because there are no extant gomlek for us to study, this observation comes from miniatures which, to my knowledge, don't show the neckline that well to begin with. So, to be completely honest, I'm not really sure why the neckline has to be this long. Perhaps because it gives you the option of showing a little cleavage or not dependent on your mood? haha I'm not claiming to be an absolute expert or anything, but I have seen many keyhole necklines that look just as good so if you would rather not have to fuss with it that is a viable option.

I'm really happy with the length here. As I mentioned in an older blog, I still can't get used to the look of period salwar (pants) so the more I can cover that up, the better. Since gomlek lengths range from the knee to the floor, I was able to use that to my advantage. However, I think my next gomlek will be knee-length simply because it is slightly more difficult to maneuver in the longer one. The gores on the side offer plenty of walking/running/lounging movement, but I absentmindedly tried to straddle a bench and found myself suddenly bound up about the legs. All I'm saying is I think a more suitable working garment would be a shorter one.

As for the proportions, that picture doesn't tell you much. The gomlek is actually quite large on me, but it is not a tight garment to begin with. There is ample shoulder room and more than enough room for my hips.

The sleeves are very loose and end about an inch or so before my fingertips. Any longer and they would have been in my way constantly, any shorter and they would have felt strange. For those pursuing a Persian persona, your sleeves would have been fitted closely to the arm and very long so that when the sleeve was pushed up to the wrist it would bunch up. It seems the Turks wore their sleeves like this also, but for the Persians it is almost the norm. (An example of this can be seen in the next picture looking at the lady in the middle.)

I cut my sleeves on the fold so that there was no seam running from my shoulder to wrist which seems to be the general method. However, the Codex Vindobonensis clearly shows a decorated seam on some gomlek (as in the woman to the far right below). I'm calling this one a case of personal preference.

Here is a close-up of the neckline. Every edge on this gomlek has a hand-rolled hem with a button hole stitch. I found that it made the nicest edge without the ugly white stripe of a regular hem showing through. I plan on doing the same thing with my veils.

For the loop, I took three strands of white crochet yarn, braided them together tightly, folded them into a loop, stitched them in place and then cut off the excess. Easy peasy!

I found these glass buttons at Joann's Fabrics for a nominal price, I think it was around $1.25. I chose them for two reasons: 1) they were the only pearl-like buttons in the entire store that weren't huge and 2) they are slightly flat! My hope is that the flatness will help them to stay buttoned. So far, so good!

I will wash and iron it before Medieval Fair, check for any frays in the seams and fix those if need be and then I get to wear it for real! I can't wait!

Picture Credits:
Codex Vindobonensis courtesy of Urtatim of Dar Anahita
All the rest taken with my camera phone by either Ashi or myself

Quick Update

2009-03-29T10:23:00.000-07:00

With Medieval Fair only a week away, I am proud to say that I am finally making real progress on my garb. Beezlebub's Caftan is almost finished, just needs the facings stitched down. I know I did this in a completely incorrect way (incorrect by professional sewing standards), but it was the best way I could come up with that I could do and it's actually working out just fine. I'll explain in my final caftan blog when I finish it.

This evening I will be putting together my entari which should be a cake walk compared to the caftan.

Also this evening I will be trying my hand at making mamoul (nut-filled cookies), lemon jalab (syrup) and possibly some candied orange peel if I have the time and energy. More on that later.

And my fiance has had enough of me complaining about not having pictures of my gomlek, so he is helping me with that as soon as we get back from dinner. Post following shortly.

The Caftan, Part III

2009-03-25T22:56:00.000-07:00

*random cussing and pulling of hair*

I am officially changing this caftan's working title from "The Green Striped Caftan" to "Beelzebub's Caftan." I swear this has been the most irritating project I have ever undertaken. The whole thing is currently sitting in pieces in a box next to me, waiting to be completely resewn! After staring at it for another two weeks and thinking there was just something I didn't like about it, I decided it was the sleeves.

Thanks to a book I checked out from the library, Suleyman the Magnificent and the Ottoman Empire by Miriam Greenblatt, I am in love with the idea of a sleeveless caftan. In the book there is a miniature of Roxelana in the harem with six musicians, two dancers (presumably female), two acrobats and the Chief Black Eunuch. In the picture, Roxelana is wearing a green, sleeveless caftan with brown trim over a pink entari.

(Click to view a larger version)

You can clearly see Roxelana seated under the canopy in the center and you can see the caftan in question. My only issue with the picture is that a couple of the women appear to be wearing turban-like headdresses, something I have always been told is inaccurate. While it is entirely likely that this miniature was painted by someone who had never been in the harem, I don't know why they would have painted a woman wearing a turban if that was not a practice of the time.

I have posted these questions and a few others to the SCA_Turkish_Personas_Moderated list in the hopes that someone will have more information about the picture. I will update this post when/if I get any replies.

In the meantime, I guess I'll work on putting the darned thing back together... Or maybe it would be more constructive to work on that entari... I hate SCA-ADD...

EDIT: I received two replies to my post about the picture, but I didn't care for either of the answers. lol

Both Asim and Urtatim placed the picture in the 17th century or later, thus ruling out everything I mentioned. Asim drew my attention to the U-shaped necklines on some of the women, which I can't believe I overlooked! That alone should have told me the picture was out of period, but I guess I was just so excited about the caftan that I ignored them. For those who don't know, what I am calling a U-shaped neckline is not the actual shape of the neckline. It is a normal V-neck that is left unbuttoned to under the bust. The jacket is so tight that it makes a "U" shape. This is where the idea of the underbust neckline comes from with the ghawazee coats. Definitely out of period.

Both replies corrected my sleeveless claim, instead pointing out the possibility of capped sleeves. Since I have not yet seen capped sleeves on extant garments, I'm going to stick with the sleeveless idea for now. If I decide to add cap sleeves later, I will just add them to the coat as-is. I think a sleeveless caftan is necessary in the Ansteorran summers and why make a beautiful entari if I can't show of at least a bit of it?! I still plan on doing faux sleeves for the winter.

Asim says that the dancers are female and Urtatim says they might be male. But I was under the impression that "attached" males were not allowed to even look upon the harem women? Perhaps that is a part of the fantasy I have taken from books. Urtatim also says that the acrobats are probably dwarves and male.

This has taught me that I have a very long way to go in recognizing period miniatures. It's a good thing I always ask for opinions before proceeding, even though I feel like a heel doing so because I don't want people thinking I'm riding their coattails into an A&S competition. For the record, I'm nowhere near entering garb into A&S and when I am I will be basing it off of miniatures that I knew to be period previously.

I have spent this week slowly putting it back together. I expect it to be finished by this Saturday, sans buttons/frogging. My frogging tests haven't turned out like I wanted, so I will continue experimenting until I get it right. My caftan will be fine without buttons for now.

The Anachronists' Encampment

2009-03-23T00:13:00.001-07:00

The lovely and amazingly talented Lady Edyth Miller and her husband have just started a new blog all about period camping! On a budget! For those of you who don't follow her personal blog, The Completely Dressed Anachronist, you're missing out (even if you don't have an English persona). Edyth is a fun writer with great ideas and beautiful, meticulously researched garb. And I absolutely love the pictures she had taken the other day! She is definitely an inspiration for me as I wander along the path to authenticity.

One of the things I am most hopeful about seeing in Edyth and Dearg's blog is how they deal with the different personae issue. Dearg is Irish-Norse and a couple of centuries older than Edyth who is English. My fiance and I are currently saving up to make our first pavilion, but it has been difficult finding a compromise that both a 16th century Ottoman Turk and a 14th century Japanese samurai can agree upon. At this point we know we want a square pavilion, probably 10x10 or 12x12 (so it will fit in my car), but that is where negotiations cease. haha

Now if only Lady Edyth would allow comments on her blog so I can pick her brain! (hint hint!!)

Essential Links for Ottoman Personae

2009-03-22T00:15:00.000-07:00

I will repost this blog every time I update it.

Dar Anahita

Mistress Safiye's Amazing Garb Photo Album

The Red Kaganate

How to Improve Upon Your Middle Eastern Wardrobe

Middle Eastern Clothing Practical Primer

Stefan's Florilegium

Ottoman Fabrics

Miniatures!

All About Turkey

Ottoman Men's Patterns and Notes

Kismeta.com

LivingPast.com

Overview of Ottoman Clothing in SCA Period

Topkapi Museum

Blog Updates

2009-03-14T23:01:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the lack of updates lately. With nearly everyone we know getting ready for Gulf Wars, I was pounding pavement looking for another part-time job and recovering from a mysterious cold. I have finished (!) my gomlek and made some progress on other projects though, so expect some updates from me over the next few days.

In retrospect, we're kind of relieved to be staying home from Gulf Wars. Of course I wanted to be with my friends and attend the amazing classes which I have repeatedly drooled over (especially the What Your Persona Would Know About Islam class, taught entirely in persona... DRAT!), but it made more sense financially for us to remain another year on the home front, saving up our drachma and vacation time for next year. Besides that, my surgery got rescheduled for next Monday and there was no way I was going to let them reschedule me a fourth time. Nothing to worry about, just a minor procedure.

Obviously I have been doing some aesthetic updates to the blog, more out of boredom than anything else. I know, I know, "But you could have been working on something!" Well, that was the two days I had my mysterious cold and didn't have the energy for much more than weaving. But I did do quite a bit of that. Just not enough to even out the workload on my green striped kaftan. Oh, well.

(If you were curious, the progress bars came from this site.)

Something I have been thinking about lately is starting a Near/Middle Eastern persona blog ring. Anyone interested? Feel free to drop me a comment or an email to emine (at) cox (dot) net.

Well, back to the ol' sewing machine...

The Caftan, Part II

2009-03-03T02:01:00.000-08:00

I was hoping to be completely finished with this piece by last Friday, but, alas, it has taken on a life of its own. The original plan, as outlined in my previous installment on the subject, was to make an unlined "summer" caftan. Then I considered putting in just facings. Then I decided to line it with a brown/copper lining fabric with facings out of the same fabric. Then I settled on lining it sans facings, stating that it would be "good enough for now." Everything was going well with that until this afternoon when my brain kind of snapped and I realized that "good enough for now" wasn't really good enough and I needed to have a piece that really popped and showed off my burgeoning abilities.

So here I am, blogging at 2:01 am because that damned caftan was hanging on the back of the bedroom door taunting me and I couldn't fall asleep for obsessing over it. Thus, I have decided to take the lining out of it, face it with orange or yellow satin and put the copper lining back in. In my head, the overall look is similar to what is seen in this picture by Dick Osseman. My research has often stated that caftans were lined in a complimenting color with a different color of facing, hence the orange or yellow that I plan to put in. Now if I could just decide which one... any votes?

Also, the caftan's shape just isn't right and I think it's because I put the side gores in too high. Right now they are at my waistline when I believe they should be more toward my hips, perhaps even an inch or two below. I think when I measured and cut them I was trying to make the skirt fuller, but I wound up taking shape out of my midsection in the process. Using Mistress Agnes' ensemble as a guide, it appears that her gores start just at her hips, allowing her to tailor the midsection into a more fitted garment. I'm not sure this is completely agreeable with me since my midsection is not so svelte as hers, but I think it will help to give me some illusion of a figure since the caftan in its present state does not.

Luckily, the question of the side gores is easy enough to fix. I just have to pick them out, drop them down a few inches and resew them in place. The fact that I have to do this on both the coat and lining is what leaves me more than I little annoyed. But in the end having a beautiful coat that I am proud to wear and show off makes it worth any irritation.

I have also decided that this caftan will have short sleeves, but detachable long sleeves that I can button in during the cold months. This is a perfecly period practice and one that will help me get more mileage out of the coat. A fun, period feature is the inclusion of gauntlet sleeves that will form dramatic points on the backs of my hands (think Morticia Addams).

Lastly, it has occurred to me (not without some embarrassment) that I should have made the frogging and buttons prior to putting the lining in. My fiance, always trying to be helpful, suggested I just sew the frogging on through the lining, but because the caftan will probably be worn open from neck to bustline, the stitching would show, so I had to reformulate my plan on that aspect. I'm still not happy with my fingerloop weaving ability, so I'm trying to decide between inkle weaving them or using flat kumihimo braids. I do a lot of kumihimo, but I would have to use several strands of each color to get the right thickness and I'm afraid that would take away from the braid's flatness. Obviously, this requires some experimentation, but I am still leaning more toward the kumihimo because of the ability to make uniform loops with them.

Before I go, I wanted to share a small site I just found that shows pictures of extant caftans. What sets the Cevat Kanig website apart from, say, Dick Osseman's website is that many of the coats are labeled with the name of the sultan who owned them. And since I have decided to be a member of Sultan Suleiman's court, I can't help but be excited to see pictures of clothes he actually wore!

Islamic Arts Website

2009-03-02T12:24:00.000-08:00

This website was posted on one of my mailing lists and I thought it was so fascinating! Now if only I had several thousand dollars to spend on antiques and a museum to put them in...

I especially love the copper ring (the first one on the page). If I ever learn to work with copper, I would love to make a replica of it.

And the rest of the website is worth a look, as well. They have some beautiful, if very out-of-period, textiles and Turkoman jewelry that might be of interest to Tribal bellydancers.

A Quick Update

2009-02-15T22:24:00.001-08:00

I had a very nice, relaxing weekend. Spent most of Saturday goofing around with my fiance. We don't really celebrate Valentine's Day, but we slept in, had a meal and then walked around the lake for an hour or so at dusk. I spent the evening working on my gomlek while he worked on his armor. We were up until about 4 am watching Kingdom of Heaven and Hidalgo, neither of which have period garb, but it was more satisfying to watch that while working than, say, Shaun of the Dead (though it is my second favorite movie).

I spent most of Sunday oversleeping, then finishing the seams on my gomlek and putting off cutting the neck hole. I have a good template so I think now it's just laziness. Kyna drove up from Namron in the evening and we spent a lot of time talking about event season, how I need to stop dallying around and enter something in A&S competitions, and plans for next weekend.

I was invited to participate in Namron's "float" in our local Mardi Gras parade. The theme is something like a timeline of costume, so the new goal is to have everything done by Saturday. This is not so far out of my reach, I just need to budget my time wisely. I doubt I'll have the frogging on my kaftan by then, but I'm not too worried about it. In fact, I have my navy kaftan, so I could leave out working on that altogether, but it would be nice to have the new green one.

Garb Status:

(Almost) finished with gomlek. Just have to cut/finish the neck hole and trim/hem the sleeves and bottom edge. I'm estimating I will have it completely finished by Tuesday.

Progressing on kaftan. Putting on gores Monday unless I decide to put that project away until after the parade.

Washed chirka fabric, ready to cut Monday night. I can get away with not wearing this piece for the parade, but I would rather have it.

Washing entari fabric in Monday. Need to buy yellow lining fabric asap.

I can put off hemming the veil as long as I put some fray stop on the edges.

I need to take a look at my shoes and fix the buckle-thingies. Look for an article on accessories in the very near future!

The Caftan, Part I

2009-02-09T20:37:00.000-08:00

I went ahead and put the gomlek to the side for tonight and started working on my caftan. Don't worry, I will get back to the gomlek tomorrow (it's almost finished!!), but I couldn't wait to start working on my green striped caftan.

Caftan Overview:
The caftan is basically a slightly larger version of the entari, worn as an overcoat. According to Neefa bint Durr, caftans were usually made of silks or brocades and lined with cotton in a contrasting color with silk facings (unless it was a summer caftan in which case it would not be lined, but would still have the facing). Winter caftan were often lined with fur.

Caftans could be made with or without a standing collar or were the same as an entari -- small and round or very slightly v-necked. They had large gores on both sides and in the front.

From the pictures of extant caftan I have seen, the sleeves were usually short, but some have detachable sleeves. The short sleeves often had a crescent-shaped cutout in front for ease of bending the arm (you can see this quite well in the picture above). In some cases it appears there was a gusset in the underarm, but I don't believe it was always done this way.

Closures consisted of long bands, known as "frogging," across the chest. In her article Making a 16th Century Turkish Coat, Neefa bint Durr states that buttonholes through the fabric were not used. She also says that the frogging was made with the same general colors of the fabric (but usually no more than three different colors), sometimes with geometric designs which were made by either fingerloop weaving or card/tablet weaving. Frogging went from the neck to waist, loops on left, buttons on right. (To see these closures in excellent detail, please visit the Sackler website, choose "View the Robes in Detail" and click on the fourth thumbnail from the bottom. Moving your cursor over the picture will allow you to explore an extant caftan!)

My Caftan:
About a year ago I acquired this beautiful green striped curtain fabric (on the right in the picture) at a sewing party. My friend Adena had it but didn't know what she would use it for, so I purchased the whole bolt from her for $15. I think I came away with 6 or 7 yards, so I feel like I got a great deal. Had I bought it from a store it would have been at least twice that.

The instant this fabric met my hands it whispered to me that it wanted to be a caftan. Always one to listen to my fabrics, I held off on cutting it until I really understood the process. I used the aforementioned article Making a 16th Century Turkish Coat by Neefa bint Durr to work out the measurements. (I would love to link you to her article, but you must be a member of SCA_Turkish_Personas_Moderated to view it. If you join, look in the Files section for Turkish Coats PDF.pdf.)

Now, according to many, many sources on the web, striped fabrics were favored for children's clothing and clothing for the poor because they were easily made and, therefore, cheap. Living in the harem my persona probably would not have worn stripes, but I must make a concession for this particular fabric as the mundane me loves stripes and wears them often.

I have cut the fabric with the stripes going vertically down the body piece, diagonally on the gores and horizontally on the sleeves. This may sound hideous, but it will all come together, I assure you. Due to the fact that coats were often cut without regard to pattern continuation, I'm not too worried about the stripe directions.

I don't think I will line the coat as the fabric is already going to be rather warm, but I will use a contrasting facing (if I can figure out just how to do that).

I will not be using a collar, but instead a slight v-shaped neckline.

My fingerloop braiding skills aren't good enough for making the frogging, so I will use either thin tablet woven bands or kumihimo braids. I will be doing thread covered wooden beads for the buttons.

Anyway, check back often as this project is about to kick into high gear!!

Other Links of Interest with Regard to Kaftans:
Hurayrah's Passably-Period Caftan (instructions begin on page 9)
Dick Osseman's website

Photo Credits:
- Orange/red caftan belonging to Selim I, circa 16th century: Topkapi Palace Museum
- Fabrics: Me

The Gomlek, Part I

2009-02-06T00:12:00.000-08:00

I started hand sewing my gomlek on Monday. Of course it's a slow process, but I'm really enjoying it! I never though I would enjoy sewing things by hand this much, but...

...look at that French seam!

Now, I don't mean to brag, but that's a pretty perfect French seam for being the first one I've ever done. I kind of feel like I've made a huge step here!

I back stitched the seam, pressed it open, trimmed it a bit and then folded it together into a casing. The purpose of a French seam is to keep the edges of your fabric from fraying to the point that your seams fall out. I'll be honest, though, I don't know if the French seam is necessarily period for my persona. But it was used extensively in the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe, and since thus far I have not found any secondary or even tertiary research on what seams were used in Istanbul during the 1540's, that is close enough for my liking. For now.

For those wondering just what the heck a gomlek is, think of it as underwear -- a chemise or undershirt -- that goes under all of your clothing, but shows at the collar and sleeves and hangs down to the knees or ankles. The neckline is cut into a high, round collar which is buttoned at the throat (I have some sweet little pearl buttons for this), but is open from the throat to the navel. It is not a fitted garment, but instead hangs loosely on the body. Based on what is seen in period miniature paintings, the cloth is sometimes very sheer, perhaps cotton or linen, but since there are no surviving examples of period gomlek, the fabrics they were made of and their construction is mostly conjecture. I prefer to use the pattern provided by my friend Basina, which can be found here (gomlek instructions start on page 41).

The best example of a reconstructed gomlek I have seen can be found here on Mistress Agnes' blog. Hers is made of linen, which is my goal once I find a good linen supplier. There is not much in the way of good fabric around here, so I may have to wait until Gulf Wars and purchase from a merchant there. (I know I could always buy online, but I prefer to feel what I am buying first and buy from SCA-friendly people.)

Anyway, back to my current gomlek. I bought the fabric for $1.50/yard at Wal-Mart. I know, I know, it's practically a sin, but I was desperate to get started and this fabric, while it doesn't feel too authentic, looks really good in person. I'm sure it's a polyester/cotton blend, but it is rough-woven and I'm okay with that until I can gain access to more period fabrics (and more money with which to buy said fabrics). And, yes, I'm planning on using the same fabric for my veil (I bought the entire bolt...).

I've been sewing on it quite a bit in the evenings at work and again when I get home. At this rate, I should be done with it some time next week, if not sooner since it's really pretty relaxing. The rest of my kit, however, will probably be machine sewn simply because event season is fast approaching and I've got to get this stuff done! But now that I know how, I'll probably do all the visible hems myself.

Edit: I should mention that my research on the gomlek comes mostly from Urtatim's Dar Anahita and the article by Basina mentioned above. I just condensed the information to familiarize you with the garment. Also, the miniature is from the mid-17th century and originally appeared in 9000 Years of the Anatolian Woman, borrowed from Urtatim's website with permission.

A Side Note

2009-02-04T07:56:00.000-08:00

Something in the back of my head has been nagging me about the completely out-of-period pictures I am using on this blog. The picture in the heading is The Siesta by John Frederick Lewis, circa 1870s, and the miniature I have been using as a profile picture (just until I have some proper pictures of myself in garb!!) was done by Abdulcelil Levni in the 1720s.

I was fully aware that both of these works were out of Emine's time frame as well as the overall time frame of the SCA, but I do so love Pre-Raphaelite art and it struck me as interesting that I actually resemble somewhat the sleeping woman in The Siesta. I thought perhaps by obscuring the picture a bit it would make it less noticeable, but I'm still noticing it so it'll have to go.

The miniature I'm using as a profile pic has been a favorite for years and, while I in no way wish I make excuses for the garb she is wearing, I would much rather wait until I have proper pictures of myself in garb before I replace that profile pic. Hopefully that will be very soon.

In the meantime, here is a picture of me in very inaccurate garb (and with shorter hair), just in case you were wondering what I look like...

Edit: Okay, I went ahead and replaced the profile picture with this one. For now.

SCA Idols: Mikal the Ram

2009-01-30T19:56:00.000-08:00

(This is actually the second blog in a series. You can find the first blog here.)

I was just browsing through old article on Stefan's Florilegium when I stumbled across a posting by one of my dearest SCA Idols, my Bard, Mikal the Ram. I nearly cried when, after reading the entire post, I found his name signed at the bottom and a flood of memories washed over me. I have met Mikal the Ram only once, but the impact this dear man had upon my SCA life was immeasurable.

I was 17 at my first Lilies War and was loving the Calontirian bards, sitting for hours listening to them in stunned silence. At that point, all the bards I had seen around the fires at home were more suited to weaving dramatic stories or amusing tales for a laugh or two, so listening to these bards who actually sang and sang extremely well was a treat for the ears as well as the soul. I have sense learned that Calontir is known for its bards, a much-deserved distinction.

As I remember it now, the day was muggy from a brief rain a few hours prior. I was sitting under a large tent watching Kyna have her hair braided by a girl we had befriended. The girl was a year or two younger than us, but she had a lovely voice and was already praised for it within her barony, if not her kingdom. She taught us the SCA staple "Savage Daughters" (a song that I still find myself humming sometimes as I tinker about the house).

As she was singing, a man dressed in Norse garb wandered up and sat down across from us. At the end of her song, the few gathered clapped and thanked her for the song. Then the man asked if he might share one.

He prefaced the song by sharing a story of love lost and regained and then sang for us "The Valkyrie Song." Would it not have been for his voice -- so unrefined, but so infused with emotion that it sounded like an angel weeping -- you could have heard a pin drop. Afterward, as people around the circle wiped their eyes, Master Mikal gifted us with another tune, "Loki's Song." Upon its conclusion, we applauded and wiped our eyes once more, each of us touched somehow by the Other Side.

Mikal the Ram passed away on August 18, 2008 after a long battle with cancer. When I heard the news I wept. Though it had been only a small interaction, I still counted him a great influence in my SCA life. That man was surely an embodiment of The Dream.

The 2009 Project List

2009-01-29T20:40:00.000-08:00

I noticed the other day that my Project List was getting rather long and needed a more permanent home than a string of Post-It notes stuck to the computer desk. So I decided to take some of that pent up "Snow Day" energy and arrange it in a (slightly) more organized manner here.

Projects to Finish Before Company of Wolves
(February 27 - March 1)

Gomlek
I have a sheer burgundy gomlek waiting to be hemmed and a sheer white gomlek cut out and waiting to be pieced together. Shouldn't take me more than an hour for both, but I've been letting small weaving projects get in the way. And I'm debating whether or not to hand sew the white gomlek now that I have discovered an innate flair for hand stitching. Perhaps it would be more efficient for now to machine stitch the hidden seams and hand stitch the hems and neckline. I could always take it apart and hand sew the hidden seams later if it bothers me that much.

Kataginu
Though this should be the first item on my list and it looks like a simple enough project, the kataginu is one of the most annoying pieces I have encountered in making Japanese garb for my fiance. I know it sounds terribly whiny, but I absolutely hate doing the collar on these things and the shoulder pieces never look right to me, despite his insistence that they are perfect. I do owe him this piece, though, since I already finished a pair of matching red cotton hakama back in December.

Entari
This is probably the most important item on my project list. I have a gomlek that can pass for now, I have salwar that fit well enough, but if I had to go to an event tomorrow, I would have only ghawazee coats to wear over them. Just the thought makes me cringe and then break out into a cold sweat. Ever since I started pursuing a more accurate wardrobe, the very sight of a ghawazee coat disgusts me. Therefore, of all the projects I have ahead of me, this one is the most dire. (The only reason the gomlek is #1 is because the pieces are cut and waiting on me and that is a project I can throw together in an hour... unless I'm handsewing.)

But I do need to make a mock-up for this first as my last mock-up was a complete disaster.

Salwar
After tinkering with the pattern a bit, I need to make a new pair of salwar in a softer fabric with smaller leg gores. The last pair I made were in some kind of wool blend that was rather scratchy and there was a ludicrous amount of fabric between my legs. This leads me to believe that I either miscalculated my measurements (which I am almost sure I did not) or that the pattern is specifically designed to be fiddled with until you get a cut you like. For those of you who might steer me toward an answer to this musing, the pattern in question is that of Master Rashid.

Veil
As mentioned above, I am getting pretty interested in hand sewing and I blame it all on this silly veil. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about having a veil and having it completely hand sewn, but, I seem to be having trouble with the hand-rolled hem. I just can't get the hang of it. I have picked my way through online tutorials, but it still looks weird to me. Maybe I should wait until PFAN next week and ask Annabell to give me a lesson.

Chirka
Through sheer serendipity, I came into possession of a lovely pale peachy-pink woven-looking fabric in a large enough amount to make a chirka. Though the chirka follows almost the exact same construction as an entari, it is my assumption that a chirka should be even more fitted (since it is the support layer, much like a corset) and therefore deserves its own mock-up session.

Projects to Finish Before Gulf Wars
(March 15-22)

Kaftan
The construction is almost exactly the same as the entari, only a bit bigger, so this project shouldn't be a problem after I am finished with the former.

Frogging
Maybe it's the marching band geek in me, but I absolutely love the look of frogging down the front of a kaftan!! And now that I know how to fingerloop braid, I should be ready to try it soon (I want to practice my fingerlooping a bit more first).

Buttons
I found a tutorial online about how to make thread-covered beads to use as buttons. Not that I think this is a difficult project, I'm just not ready to sit down and make them until my frogging is done.

Japanese Garb
Ashikaga is going to need at least one more pair of kimono / hakama / kataginu before Gulf Wars. Now if I can just get him off his rear to pick out the fabric, I could get started.

More Ottoman Garb
I could always use more garb for myself -- even more so since Gulf Wars is a week-long event! I don't want to resort to wearing ghawazee coats just to get by!

Projects to Finish Before Medieval Fair
(April 3-5)

Something for HRM Gunthar

I would like to make something, whether it be food or largess, for his Majesty Gunthar since he was the first SCA royal I ever met and Medieval Fair will likely be the last time I see him before the end of his reign.

Ashikaga's Namu Sash
I started on this last year and ran out of time to finish it, thus it needs my attention once more.

Projects to Finish Before Ansteorra's 30th Year Celebration
(July 9-15)

My Kit
All Ottoman garb must be completed by 30th Year because I have been asked to help run a Middle Eastern snack bar at the hafla Saturday night and I want to look awesome!

I'm sure there are things I left out, but these are undoubtedly the most important. Hopefully some of these will find their way onto the blog in the form of pictures and tutorials. haha

SCA Idols: The Garb Goddesses

2009-01-23T10:43:00.000-08:00

I think everyone who spends more than a little time in the SCA finds someone they consider their "SCA idol" -- someone who has inspired them, someone to emulate or someone they have always wanted to meet. Maybe that person wears beautiful garb or they are well looked upon or they fight like a demon on the field.

If you are like me and spend most of your spare time researching period costume, crafts and cooking, it's likely there is someone out there you have been stalking -- er -- following for some time. In the case of period costuming, I call these my Garb Goddesses.

In no particular order...

My first Garb Goddess is a lovely woman I stumbled across on Flickr named Lady Agnes Cresewyke. She is a Laurel from An Tir who does weaving, dying, and embroidery, as well as many other things that I could never hope to learn. As I understand, she normally plays with a European persona, but ventured into Ottoman costume, drafting her own patterns and making some of the most beautiful garb I have seen yet. I check her photostream religiously every week to see if she has posted any new garb photos. Lady Agnes has unknowingly answered so many of my questions about what period Ottoman garb should look like on the body, whereas most other websites have only provided me with miniatures and patterns. She also taught me not to be turned off by the shape of Ottoman pants (after wearing "harem pants" for nearly 10 years, having something tight around my ankles feels so alien!) because the length of the entari can hide this. And perhaps most important of all, she has taught me that I don't need expensive, elaborate fabrics to pull off a really smokin' Ottoman look. :)

Somehow I stumbled upon her LiveJournal where she goes into a bit more detail about her costuming methods, which was exactly what I needed (and that lets me add her to my Blogger feed)! From that LiveJournal account, I was able to find her personal LiveJournal, which led me to her personal page which has a lot of examples of her other A&S pursuits. (See? I'm not stalking her, I'm being resourceful!)

My second Garb Goddess is Viscountess Safiye Konstantiniyye from the Principality of Tir Righ. I first found Safiye's AMAZING A&S photo album on the SCA_Turkish_Personas_Moderated YahooGroup. I don't remember specifically what I was looking for at the time, but I was blown away by the lengths this woman will go to for authenticity's sake! She handmade a pece from real horse hair!! I have to tell you, I am in awe of this woman. Not only is Safiye a Laurel who makes incredible garb that looks almost identical to period miniatures, she has this tent that leaves me speechless! And she is a former Princess of Tir Righ!

Another of my Garb Goddess is Urtatim (urr-tah-TEEM), webmistress of Dar Anahita, your one-stop-shop for all things Near Eastern. That's right, I said Near Eastern. If you have done any googling on "Ottoman clothing" or "Turkish clothing," etc, chances are you have already found Dar Anahita, which I would call the ultimate resource for anyone interested creating an Ottoman persona. Urtatim has put a tremendous amount of work into dispelling myths and rumors about Near Eastern culture, clothing, and dance. On top of all that, she has recipes (which I will be utilizing in the near future as I have been asked to help with a hafla snack bar at Ansteorra's 30th Year Celebration -- more about that later).

Anyway, I owe this woman so much! It is because of Urtatim that I feel confident and beautiful in period garb and actually prefer the period cuts to the more revealing non-period stuff. She basically taught me how to feel sexy even when I'm all covered up. ...Now if we could just find a way to prove that tassel belts are period, I would be the happiest Turk in the world! (If you were wondering, tassel belts are NOT period.)

Of course, what kind of garbmaking fangirl would I be if I didn't mention my Garb God, Master Rashid of the East Kingdom. I have been fascinated by Master Rashid's patterns since I was a 16-year-old lurker on the SCA-Garb list. It wasn't until about a month ago that I finally figured out how to turn those lovely diagrams into tangible pieces of clothing. Now, my first pair of salwar didn't turn out exactly like they were supposed to (at least I don't think they did -- no one else in my area wears period salwar for me to examine), but at least now I'm able to think in terms of measurements and shapes and tweaking the instructions instead of relying on commercial patterns for everything.

Years ago I spent a lot of time studying the patterns of Duchess Roxane Farabi, but, unfortunately, I didn't save any of them before she took her site down. Also unfortunate is the fact that everyone uses Duchess Roxane as a resource, so everyone's links are broken.

My last Garb Goddess is Kass McGann, owner of ReconstructingHistory.com. Though my early period Celtic persona and I are no longer associated, this woman still made me drool over a thousand-piece reconstructed Irish bog dress for almost eight years. Okay, it didn't have a thousand pieces in it, but it sure had a lot and there was no way a newbie seamstress was ever going to figure it out on her own. I emailed Kass about the possibility of a pattern and one was being drafted, but then my interests shifted and I started pursuing Near Eastern culture instead. She does have some nice Near Eastern stuff, but I would much rather draft my own now that I understand how to do so.

So that is my first installment on the topic of SCA Idols. I have a lot of thoughts on this subject, so expect to see more articles about it in the future. Thanks for reading!

Portable Fiber Arts Night (PFAN) and the Simple Ottoman Veil

2009-01-22T11:25:00.000-08:00

Last night was the second edition of Portable Fiber Arts Night (PFAN) in the Barony of Namron. I live in Wiesenfeuer, but I work in Namron, so after my shift I swung by the cafe where it was being held and, let me tell you, I had a great time!! The circle started at 7, but I don't get off until 8, so I was about an hour late. Not that it mattered much because everyone had just brought their current projects and was sitting around chatting. I am currently between inkle weaving projects, so I just took my new kumihimo wheel and practiced my box braids for two hours.

It was especially nice because my best friend, Kyna, had the night off and came out, too. We got caught up over hot chocolate (by far the best I've ever had!!) and split a bagel.

In just the short time I was there I learned a little about tablet weaving (which I'm not ready to try just yet), how to make a maru dai out of ply wood and dowels, and the best way to finish the edges of the veil I'm working on.

Speaking of the veil, I'm ridiculously excited about this project because it will be my first attempt at handsewing garb. I have handsewn before, but it has been limited to small projects like pouches and pillows. And I know a veil doesn't sound like that much work, but it's a very looooong veil, so it should take me a while. Hopefully I can get it done before Medieval Fair!

Ode to a Fair

2009-01-09T23:05:00.000-08:00

As the new year picks up steam, almost every corner of my head is crammed with ideas. And with the highlight of my SCA year just two months away, it's getting worse by the hour!!

The University of Oklahoma's 33rd Annual Medieval Fair takes place the first weekend in April and is the largest event of its kind in the state, not to mention one of the top 5 or so largest in the nation... and it's FREE!

Even if I wasn't in the SCA this would be a much anticipated weekend, but being in the SCA gives it almost Mecca status. And I'm not the only one who feels this way...

People who haven't come to an event in four years suddenly show up with shiny new armor and fine clothes. People who haven't missed an event in decades are as excited as newbies. Okay, okay, maybe that's a an exaggeration, but it does get people pretty worked up around here, and for good reason. Our local groups see this as an opportunity to widen our appeal, bring in new members, educate the public about what we do, and maybe even show off a little.

Mostly I see it as a test of my abilities. It seems that every year since I was sixteen Medieval Fair weekend has been the time to prepare for and learn new things. The year I was sixteen I tried my hand at sewing my first piece of garb: a far-too-long, off-the-shoulder English-style gown in some heinous fabric I can only describe as a mixture of fleece and felt. I was miserably hot and constantly tripping over that ugly train. I think the next two days of the fair my friend Adena loaned me some middle eastern garb because I was so disappointed. In fact, I don't think that dress lived past its first wearing. I'm pretty sure I threw it out that night.

Last year I was just getting to know my new persona so I spent several weeks before Med Fair making middle eastern garb. I made two new ghawazee coats, two new pairs of froofy harem pants, and a standard undertunic, all of which I thought was period for this new persona -- wrong! -- but I didn't know that at the time so I felt like a goddess all weekend and got plenty of compliments on my new, pretty garb.

This year I know better. Much better.

So, in preparation for this year's festivities, I started working on some mock-ups tonight. I've been experimenting with period garb for several months now after finally learning how to draft my own patterns. Thus far I have only been able to get the salwar down because the entari instructions I had were a little off. But I've been tweaking the pattern and the mock-up I cut tonight appears to be the right formula. I'll baste it together tomorrow and, if it works, I'll tear it apart and make paper patterns off of it (then I'll sew it back together, chop off a foot or so from the bottom and call it a chirka!).

In the meantime, I also need to get a kataginu finished for Ashi. I made him a gorgeous pair of red court hakama for Wiesenfeuer Yule Revel, but he didn't get to wear them because we had to leave the event early. And since he is going to Estrella War in a few weeks, a couple more kimono probably wouldn't hurt.

Anyway, I will have a proper "dress diary" in the next week or so. Until then, thanks for reading!

Emine Redux

2009-01-05T23:52:00.000-08:00

1. What is your SCA Name? Emine Hatun al-Tha'labii bint Abdullah. Emine means "confident" (something I aspire to), Hatun means "royal lady" (documentable even without my AoA), al-Tha'labii is a nickname meaning "the foxlike" (though probably not documentable), and bint Abdullah means student of Allah (meaning that my persona later converted to Islam).

2. What time and where do you portray? The time is 1540 and I live in Istanbul in the Topkapi Sarayi.

3. In plain English describe your device. I do not have one yet, but my (unregistered) device is a black field with a red faceless fox head. I'll worry about documentation when the time comes, but the fox head adornes my older camping gear.

4. How long have you been in the SCA? Since I was 16, almost 10 years ago.

5. Do you have any special titles you have earned? Not yet.

6. What kingdom and local group do you belong to? Kingdom of Ansteorra, Barony of Wiesenfeuer though I will always consider Namron my homebarony.

7. Do you have preferred colors for your SCA Persona? It seems Emine prefers reds and golds although she does have her eye on a green and gold jacket in the near future.

8. What is your war that you look forward to going to every year? I have only been to one war (two years in a row) and no matter how many wars I attend in the future, The War of the Lilies in Calontir will always hold the dearest place in my heart.

9. Do you hold any offices? I am currently the Webminister for the Barony of Wiesenfeuer. I am considering applying for Hospitaller, but I'm not sure the strain would be worth it at this time.

10. Favorite memory from an event? There are quite a few, but probably my favorite was at my first Lilies War. My best friend and personal SCA muse, Kyna Terricsdottir, and I had shared a tent all war until one blustery afternoon when a storm came up and completely flooded our little temporary home! My beloved Sven Sixstrong loaned us the use of his yurt as he was planning to spend the evening with a new ladyfriend. Kyna and I, both 16 years old, delighted in being able to say we spend the night in Sven's yurt, in his luxurious bed, no less! The icing on the cake was on the next day, whilst galivanting about the woods with Queen Larissa's daughter, Tressa, we stumbled upon the missing "Girls" sign from the bathhouse. With Tressa's help (okay, she did all the work) we retrieved the sign and afixed it to the front "door" of Sven's yurt, claiming it as our own!

11. Are you a fighter? What kind? If I were a fighter I would be the terrible kind. That's why I am content to sit on the sidelines and practice my stitchery while my beloved Lord Ashikaga fights to his heart's content.

12. Are you crafty (making things)? I like to think so, though I have never had the patience to finish anything to the standard I'd like for an A&S project. Someday... someday...

13. Do you teach classes at events? Ha, not in the least, although every once in a while someone asks me a question and in return they get a barrage of information they could've probably done without.

14. Do you play instruments at events? I drum occasionally. I'd like to do it more often, but my drums need attention. I have abandoned them in favor of needles and thread.

15. Do you dance at events? On the sidelines. I'm not terribly coordinated, but I can undulate a bit and I dance enough to make myself happy.

16. Do you feel that there is enough flirting and chivalrous behavior in the SCA? If that is one's goal, there is plenty to be found.

17. Are you a “Black Hat” or a “White Hat”? I'm not familiar with those terms... strange... Someone refresh my memory.

18. What is one of the reasons you’ve remained in the SCA? After 9 long years I am finally starting to find my place.

19. What peerage(s) do you aspire to? Someday I hope to have a Laurel in costuming or fiber arts as those are my truest passions. My lord aspires to join the Royal Peerage so I wish him that success and will follow him happily.

20. Who was Crown when you joined the SCA? Duke Gunthar Jonsson and Countess Sara Penrose

21. If you are a Peer, who was the Crown that elevated you? See question #19.

22. Have you lived in more than 1 kingdom and which ones? I have lived in Ansteorra my whole life and hope to die here a happy woman (although I hope there will be plenty of travel in the meanwhile).

23. Have you helped found a group? I am the Kanpaku (Legend Keeper) of Clan Namu.

24. Have you had any house affiliations? Other than Clan Namu I am a whelp of House Wolfstar, one of the last of the Screaming Spoons and the last of the Sisterhood of the Shorn Heads.

Merhaba!

2008-12-08T21:29:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog! My mundane name is Kasandra, but I am known in the Society for Creative Anachronism as Emine Hatun al-Tha'labii bint Abdullah.

I have been playing in the society for nearly a decade, but only "met" Emine last year (before that I was hanging out with this Irish girl whom I never really understood). Since then Emine and I have begun the long and arduous (but unbelievably fun and rewarding!) journey to "periodness." Thus, I have started this blog to serve as a chronicle of that journey as well as a place to record my musings along the way.

But this blog isn't only about the pursuit of accuracy. I have a little thing nicknamed "SCA ADD" where I get easily distracted by new and interesting activites and often drop everything else I'm currently doing to immerse myself head to toe in whatever shiny thing has wandered across my line of vision. These activities are usually related to period cooking or candymaking, needlework and other fiber arts (especially weaving!), or toymaking.

One of my favorite things to do is research a topic down to the smallest detail and then try to link it to Emine's world in some way. Or I will come up with a question and need to justify it for her.

Other times I will muse upon the SCA itself, its traditions and oddities. My fiance, Lord Ashikaga Hideyoshi, and I often ponder these things over dinners at our favorite Mexican restaurant (I blame it on the tortilla chips).

And every now and then this blog will serve as a place to outline garbmaking projects. I'm not the best seamstress, but I am improving in leaps and bounds and I don't think it's a half bad idea to have some sort of diary of the process.

So feel free to follow along, make a comment if you like, and we'll see what happens.