It's really, really frustrating to arrange your schedule around something that you're doing for other people, only to have nobody show up. I don't know if it's a symptom of some of the political crap that's going on in the barony right now, or if people are getting tired, or if I was wrong, and people really don't want to have monthly Saturday project days. I know there are some people who were sick, I know some went to fighter's collegium, but I know that doesn't cover everyone.

On the plus side, one of the 2 people who did show up helped me fix the jerkin I'm making for Neale, and we generally had a nice evening. My grandparents brought me the dining room table that my great-grandfather built, which I love and am happy to have, and I'm glad I have it without anything bad happening to my grandparents, but at the same time, this doesn't belong in my house, it belongs in Grandma's house, and it's kind of weird.

Neale woke up sick this morning, we think with food poisoning. That has NOT been fun for anyone. Candlelight camp, my favorite local event, has been canceled. Supposedly because it wouldn't draw enough people, and the barony would lose lots of money on it. I think that's an excuse, but that's just me. I'm trying to save it, and I'm putting a bid together. I was supposed to go with Kat to look at a site, but I think I need to stay home and take care of Neale, so I'm going to do it on Thursday instead. Not what I'd planned to do with my monthly half day, but that's how it goes.

I finished the shawl! And, once again, I've had snow days. Still snowed in, unexpectedly, for 2 days, but this time, it was Monday and Tuesday. I don't know about tomorrow, the streets are still wet and slushy in places, and the temperature is supposed to drop to 19 or 20 degrees tonight, so I may wake up to ice-covered streets and a snow day, but more likely, we'll have a delayed start if anything.

Anyway, the shawl still has to be blocked (I forgot to do that today), but it's done. I've done a little more on the quilt, but I spent most of today reading and drafting the pattern for Neale's new jerkin. It's kind of hard to describe. Vest with a skirt? Henry VIII wore them, but usually under a "gown" (big swing-coat thing), so it's hard to tell what they look like. He requested sleeveless this time around, which I know is probably supposed to be worn over a doublet with sleeves, but he gets hot, it's Arkansas, not Ireland. I bought some gray cotton, and I'm going to make one out of that, and then order royal blue linen for the one for coronation. Since I drafted the pattern myself from a little picture in a book, I want to make the trial one out of $2/yard cotton, and save the $7/yard linen until I know it'll be right. I'll give the shirt one more chance, if it doesn't work out, he can buy one from Elaina, if he wants a new one. I really want to do this right, and actually end up with nice garb for coronation. I'm leaving mine until close to the event, because I want to make sure it fits. I'll probably make my dress over spring break. I'm thinking of a better version of my original dress, royal blue with a red petticoat. I'm not going to do the pale blue lining this time, to make it lighter. I'd like to make a leine, but we'll see.

I've been snowed in for two days. Today, it was sunny, and the roads are clearing nicely. It would be nice to squeeze another snow day out of it, but it was really nice to get out a little today.

I have one skein left to knit on the shawl, and 10 squares left to quilt on the quilt, then the border, and the binding. I'm trying to get at least one of these finished before starting the next round of projects, but I don't think I'm going to make it.

So far, in my quest to catch up on my reading, I've read The Dark is Rising, Yarrow, and The Book of Three from The Prydain Chronicles. The Illuminator, by Brenda Rickman Vantrese and The Holy Grail, by Norma Lorre Goodrich are next.

I'm taking over as A&S (arts and sciences) officer for the Barony. This basically means I'm responsible for coordinating and reporting artsy-crafty-type stuff within the group, and with the Canton. Fun. So, at the end of February, I'm teaching a class on applique, because several people have asked me about it, which is kind of cool, but I'm kind of wondering how they knew to ask me. Anyway, there's a call for artisans to donate two of whatever to the kingdom for largesse. I'm thinking of combining the two, and using scrap fabric to make pouches, decorated with some sort of applique.

The big project coming up is going to be garb, I think. I want to make Neale an early Tudor-style jerkin. I've promised, no codpiece, no tights. I ordered the pattern for the Irish dress. It's the kind you see in the Gaelsong catalog and all the sites that cater to rennies. It's a simplified version of a dress that was found in a bog that's been dated to about the 16th century. I found this website http://www.geocities.ws/Jongloresse/SCA/costume.htm when I was looking for adaptations of the Shinrone dress. I ordered the painstakingly researched pattern, and asked a friend to make it for me, and I don't like it. The skirt is pleated in a weird way, that makes it extremely heavy and awkward, and it just fits oddly. The less-accurate common style is more comfortable and flattering, so that's what I'm going with, but I'm going to add hanging sleeves, and I want to embroider them. The goal is to make nice spiffy new garb for us for Coronation in April. I'm thinking I'll order the material soon, and start on Neale's stuff, and embroidering the sleeves for mine, and strips that I can attach to the bodice, and I'll actually make the bodice closer to time, so I can be sure it will fit properly.

Well, dress is done. Done enough to wear, anyway. I finished the sleeves at the event, but I had them to wear for the afternoon. The skirt needs to be hemmed a bit, and the overdress needs to be hemmed a LOT, but it works. I need to get more rings for lacing to add to the sleeves, because I don't have quite enough to get the sleeves to lay right. It just needs a little tweaking, though. I'm going to make a lightweight gown for summer. If I wear it belted, it may work over a chemise for summer. I definitely want to make the overdress, though, since it was announced today that both the next coronation and crown list are going to be local, and I want something nice to wear.

Well, I'm still working on the quilt. I've quilted about 7 squares out of 36. So far, so good. I didn't do any Christmas Eve or day, or really over the weekend. We were busy with holiday plans and other stuff. We saw Sherlock Holmes on Saturday, and had Game Day on Sunday. I quilted three squares last night while we watched Star Trek.

I think I'm about to start on a gown. No, today, I'm going to do it. I'm going to cut out the pattern pieces, and maybe even start cutting. There, now I can't back out. Really, I just need to sew the big skirt panels and the bodice on the machine. I suck at pleating skirts to bodices and attaching them by machine. In the Tudor Tailor, I found a hand technique that should work better. I'm going to pleat it by hand, whip-stitch the pleats together at the top, then whip-stitch it to the bodice. That's the plan. We'll see how it goes. First, I need to re-wash the white linen for the bodice lining, to see if the blue dye that bled from the fabric I washed it with will come out, then, I cut.

The quilt is finally put together, and I have started quilting it. Yea! A lot of the holdup was being busy, but most of it was that my sewing machine needed to be cleaned, badly, and I didn't realize that was the reason I was having to fight it so much. It is much better now, although I don't think the bobbin tension is quite right, still, but it works. So Wednesday, I sewed the outer border to the top of the quilt, pieced the back together, put all of the layers together and basted it with safety pins. I didn't quite get the yardage right on the backing, so a long time ago, I bought a yard of a print. That yard, intact, is the center of the back of the quilt, and I sewed a wide border of the navy fabric to the edges of it. At some point, there will be pictures.

I've been holding onto fabric for garb for a while. I want to make a late-fifteenth century Florentine-style gown. My favorite that I've seen is the Ghirlandaio portrait of Giovanna Tournabuoni. http://www.abcgallery.com/G/ghirlandao/ghirlandaio26.html This is only a partial view, the portrait is from a fresco in the family chapel. If I remember correctly, it's one of the frescos that shows a biblical scene with the family of the patron, in the latest contemporary fashions, as witnesses. The style is for a slightly high-waisted gown with an overgown that is open down the sides and front, usually clasped in front, somehow. I've got 5 yards of lavender linen for the under dress, and a couple of yards of heavier white linen to line the bodice, and 4 yards of navy blue wool for the over gown. I'm kind of thinking of doing an overgown/cloak. It wouldn't be period to take the over gown off when I came inside in a public place, but I'll be honest, I suck at making cloaks. I don't know why, but I do. This tabard, I have a pattern for, it looks simple and straight-forward, I think I can manage it. I'm hoping I have enough left to try a jerkin for Neale, but we'll see. Anyway, I've been holding onto fabric, because we have been trying to start a family, and I'm about to get an ipod touch, and join my mom on the idiet. She's lost 20 pounds using a calorie-counter app, and I really want to try it. I have no idea what size I'll be six months from now, so I haven't seen the point in making a lot of new stuff, but this kind of gown, I figure I'll have some wiggle room. It doesn't necessarily have to lace closed in front, I've seen plenty of portraits that show a small gap. I can sew lacing rings onto another strip of fabric, and move that piece if I need to. If I make it side-lacing, I'll have even more latitude in altering the bodice, because it won't be as visible. So, now that the machine-sewing on the quilt is done, I think this dress is going to be my next project.

The older I get, the more I realize I just don't like Christmas programs. First of all, what are you going to do? There's music, or a play/pageant of some kind. There's a lot of great Christmas music out there (and some dross, but a lot of that is people trying to put their own spin on classics and screwing them up. Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli singing "What Child Is This," anyone?). So if the group in question is a band, choir, or orchestra, your project makes sense, and has a clear purpose, go ahead.

What is the point of a Christmas play? If it's an established drama group, like a high school club, or college theater department, that's ok. Same principle as the band, the group exists, has a purpose, if they want to explore holiday-themed material, go for it. If it's a church group, that's fine, too. After all, Christmas has been a religious holiday for over 1,000 years.

Otherwise? No. Just, no. The act of celebrating Christmas is, in itself, a time-consuming undertaking. There are gifts to buy, there is cooking to be done, and it's always nice to spend time with family and friends. Don't make the holidays harder by filling the time with extraneous stuff.