A Cap of Maintenance

To recap my Facebook post in The Fellowship of the Traveling Hat group:

Mounted War Games holds a special place in the history of the Traveling Hat Club as it was our inaugural meeting of the Fellowship! (Or at least where the moniker was dubbed.) 

Although we had originally planned a meeting, it wasn't in the cards due to (exceptionally embarassing) reasons, but Her Grace AnneMarie de Garmeaulx was kind enough to teach a class on needle felting, a technique we often use to embellish the hats.

While the rest of class was learning new techniques, I was distracted by my shenanigans and speed needle felting some ermine spots (or strange nazar-like ermine spots, just work with me here) onto an existing hat created on a lark before Pennsic Great Court for the Midrealm. (The shenanigan being I snuck our matching hats into the car for the trip, then snuck 'em in to the event to work on his, then wore his hat before court to "show him what I did (for me!) in class!", then accidentally pulled it off my head when Their Majesties asked if there was any regalia for the new Pelican in his elevation ceremony. Tee hee.)

Anyway, here we go!

A cap of maintenance for Sir Crispin de la Rochefoucauld.

A Happy Little Accident

With the tagline of "Everyone deserves to be part of the story," how can you not want to be involved?

Sir Crispin dela Rochefoucauld spent the better part of the year working diligently to bring an Assistive Listening System to the Middle Kingdom. From the overview on his blog: "Assistive Listening System (ALS): A portable and event-ready system that provides real-time audio during courts, classes, and announcements that is delivered directly to an attendees’ personal devices, including Bluetooth earbuds or compatible hearing technology."

Without getting too lost in the weeds, I helped facilitate onboarding for those interested in the system and collaborated on documentation. At Pennsic, Crispin scheduled three technical support sessions at the Midrealm Crafters Green, and on a lark I sketched a logo on our camp whiteboard - blending the classic three-arch Wi-Fi symbol with a nod to the triple rainbow badge created by the system’s originators.

After Pennsic, I ran the photograph through ChatGPT with the command "Stylized/clip art style, exclude the silvery frame and focus on the words Midrealm Assistive Listening System and the wi-fi symbol on the left with five circles replacing the third part of the wi-fi symbol." and was pleasantly surprised with the first draft. Add several hours of Photoshop and viola the final logo was complete!

Inspiration.

First draft.

Final-ish logo.

Pennsic War 52 Classes I Took

My scheduled commitments, paired with catching a variant of the Pennsic Plague, prevented my attendance to many classes that caught my eye this year. (And the heat, let's not forget about the oppressive humidity and heat...) Nevertheless, here we go!

1. Bycocket Workshop.  Learn about the history, construction and finishing of a wool felt bycocket. This is a hands-on workshop that **REQUIRES** that the participants bring their own wool felt blank in order to make a hat. Individuals without a blank are welcome to sit in and receive a handout. [Instructor: Lady Margarette la Gantiere]
2. Coats, Cloaks, and Other Outerwear. Weather happens. Sometimes it's cold or wet. What is the appropriate coat, cloak, or other protection from the elements for your persona? Survey of European outerwear 1000-1600 CE. [Instructor: Lady Sisuile Butler]