May 27, 2024

A Triolet

From the Crown Tournament of Their Majesties Ivan and Katalena, the consorts were honored with original prose. Crispin and I were honored again to be represented by Rav Ezra de Barcelona, an artisan of great renown residing in the Cleftlands.

Behold the coming silvered onyx dawn,
a shining lady crowned with regal light.
Look now, with aurous lion she comes anon
behold the coming silvered onyx dawn.
Make no mistake, she clearly be no pawn
but queen may be, most excellent and right.
Behold the coming silvered onyx dawn,
a shining lady crowned with regal light.

- Ezra de Barcelona

 

May 5, 2024

An Unexpected Honor


Hear now the Words of Merry Neassa, great Queen of the Middle Kingdom and Wigthegn our stalwart King. May all the lands know of the high esteem in which Gianna Vettori is held by our Kingdom and Ourselves for stepping in on short notice to serve as webminister for their Majesties. In recognition of this, we are pleased to bestow upon her this sign of the Queen's Favor, the Award of the Doe's Grace.

We grant unto her all rights and responsibilities attendant upon this rank and the right to bear the badge, Azure, a sword proper enfiled of a wreath of flowers argent, slipped and leaved Or, without let or hindrance from any person. Done by our hands this 4th day of May, Anno Societatis LIX (59) in our Barony of Brendoken.

Artwork by: Lady Úlfrún Barefooted of Cynnabar.

A dear friend who was in the role was unexpectedly unable to complete their duties as webminister for their reign and I volunteered to take the load off of their shoulders so they could focus on their new duties. Stepping in and steering a ship already under way was the least I could do as I enjoy reign websites.

So, thank you to all parties for allowing me this opportunity to serve.

May 3, 2024

A Rose By Any Other Name

For any that know me well, I rarely take commissions... It isn't that I do not wish to help others out, it is because I am notoriously bad about placing any value on my work. However, when asked directly by a dear friend to provide vestments for their champion, it was an offer I was unable to refuse.

After receiving the recipients measurements, I did a bit of mathing and geometry to figure out a pattern to use and shortly thereafter I realized I had another partially complete project that was just a few dimensions off matching what I needed. I set to work, creating a Rus-style tunic with French seams (to tighten things up a bit) and provide the person with less points of failure. I decided to add a little running and blanket stitch as embellishment, delivered at Standard Bearers in April. (I should also mention this part of the project was given with roughly a week's notice.)

Once the test piece was created, I turned my focus on to creating a champions tunic -- outside of my area of expertise, for sure. I wanted to create something that gave a nod to their Russian reign, but was comfortable enough for the combatant to fight in.

After several days of staring at heraldry, I chose one rose pattern then sent it off to the (3D) printers to create a stamp (Crispin) who delivered the wares on short notice. I took a evening to stamp and heat set the semy of roses on hunter green linen. The first run went through the wash being heat set by an iron, but there was something about it that I just didn't care for, so I scrapped it and started again with my guides more precise and the pattern more crisp, this time heat setting it several times at high heat in the dryer. (Fingers crossed!)

I feel I need to add the caveat that, while I have stamped fabric in the past, I am no subject matter expert. This is very much trial and error and I understand that the recipient will be using the tunic for the next five months, so it wasn't necessarily stamped with the intention of longevity.

Despite initially feeling that the semy of roses in black would be sufficient for the chest placard, I decided that wasn't really pronounced enough so I spent a few hours painting each of the roses. And yes, I was chanting the mantra of "Never send a scribe to do a clothiers task!" or something equally as not-witty as I laboriously painted between each line of the stamp. I chalk this up to "Never Again" knowing full well I will do something like it again to punish myself.

After the placard was attached and tunic sewn together (what is not seen is every bias-tape reinforced seam and the +20 hours of whip stitching...) the finished tunic wasn't precisely finished. I felt I missed the mark and added a chaplet of roses around the bottom of the tunic. It's not exactly Russian, but it's SCA-Russian with a touch of 14th century mystery added.

I hope it serves the recipient well during their time as champion.