Happy August!

I meant to blog yesterday, but I missed it! So, I'm wishing this for you a little late.

Happy Air Force Day!

The photo was taken at Lackland AFB, where I was stationed for a couple of months.


I hope it was a happy one! Having been in the Air Force, I have a soft spot for it and flying. Find out more about Air Force Day from the Department of Defense here!

****************************

I'm still working on the shawls with the Celtic knots. The one I'm currently almost finished has a knot that's made up of hearts. I really love this one.

If you look at it, there are two hearts with their bottom points touching in the center, and the knot expands into a big, overall heart.

That's made from Knit Picks Tweed in Marine Heather. The color is rich and beautiful, and the photo doesn't do it justice. You can see it better if you click the link. It is a blue that leans toward turquoise, and the heathering makes it look so deep and rich. It's soft, and just a wonderful yarn! I love this yarn!

****************************

I talked to Holly on Sunday, and she's going to drive out here and see me. It's been a little over a year since I've seen her, although we talk on the phone frequently. I'm really looking forward to trying to find a good chair for me that doesn't damage my elbows like my current one does. I really hope we can find it on Sunday, because it I don't find it until later, I'll have to try to get it home by myself, which means a cab, which I don't think will be a good arrangement.

****************************

Well, it's that time of year again. Pennsic is already under weigh, and some of my friends have already gone. For those of you who don't know, Pennsic is one of the biggest events put on yearly by the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), and it attracts people from all over the world.

Pennsic started as a war between the Middle Kingdom and the Kingdom of the East, and it features all sorts of battles including a field battle, woods battle, bridge battle, siege, melee, and much more. The different battles accrue points, and points are also added for winning many other kinds of competition, especially in the arts and sciences. There are also classes in the arts and sciences, royal courts, and shopping, shopping, and more shopping! And I'm not even mentioning the large part of the populace who stay up and party all night.

We are still currently in the first week of Pennsic. It will really get going on Saturday, when the majority of attendees will start arriving. More info as it happens!

I need to get some other things done, now, so I'll try to blog more frequently in the future.

Have fun in the meantime!

Tweet

Moon Day!

Happy Moon Day!

Forty two (an auspicious number) years ago, a human being set foot on the moon for the first time!

For you older people, you probably remember where  you were and what you were doing at the time. For you younger people, it was an amazing event!

You can find more information on the Moon Landing here. In case you weren't paying attention, that was two links.

So, my opinion on all this is that I should do something loony today to celebrate! Actually, the most loony thing I can think of to do is to buy some of the moon. I can't afford it, but you might be able to.

Yeah, I know it's not expensive, but I'm broke.

Maybe next month for my birthday.

***********************

If you like the Harry Potter scarf from yesterday, you can make a matching watch cap (if you use the same colors) with the instructions here. The link is also in the sidebar, so you can find it any time.

****************************

Coming Attractions!

There are a couple of things coming up that I'd really like to go to, but won't be able to due to budget constraints and health reasons.

Can't get to San Diego Comic Con? Neither can I, and I'm all broken up about that. It's probably the biggest comic, science fiction and fantasy con around these days and it's happening this weekend! Actually, there's a preview night tonight, and one of my friends will be there tomorrow evening.

Another friend (John) will be there sometime over the weekend. So it's possible I'll get some first-hand accounts up here.

So, I propose a rerun of last year, wherein I collect the best of the best of Tweets about SDCC, and retweet them. If you don't have a Twitter account, you can follow them right here in the sidebar. See, over there, on the right, where it talks about Twitter?

It's not much, but it's a tiny taste of the con, and if it is the same as last year, there'll be lots of links to see photos taken there.

While you're checking Comic Con here, you might want to check G4, which will be broadcasting live from Comic Con at various times over the weekend (and then rebroadcasting the live shows later, if you miss them).

The other thing that's really breaking my heart to miss is Pennsic! If you click the link, you'll find out that it's a Medieval wargame held in Western Pennsylvania for two months in August. Actually, they've moved the dates up, and it now starts at the end of July, specifically July 29th this year.

Actually, Pennsic is far more than just a wargame. There is that, and a lot of Pennsic is built around that, but there's much, much more. To begin with, it's over 10,000 people getting together and living essentially the way people lived in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

SCA also has University classes, where they teach just about anything that was done during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and not just in Europe, but in the Middle and Far East. There are classes in blacksmithing, bellydancing, carding, combing and spinning wool and other fibers, period names and naming, period recipes and cooking, jewelry making, leather crafting, shoemaking, fletching, and much, much more. Just because I haven't mentioned it, doesn't mean they don't teach it.

I'll be doing the same thing with retweeting the most interesting stuff from Twitter, but I'm also going to try to blog almost every day, and include something that you would encounter in University classes if you were there. Since I do a lot of fiberarts, that's mostly what you'll be getting. If I can work up to real ambition, I might even show how to lucet some cord. I have a bone lucet that I bought a while ago and haven't used yet. This would be a good time to break it out. There were cords all over Medieval clothing, so this was a useful thing to know.

About the every day thing, I already know that at least two days (probably in a row) will be taken up with personal, time-consuming stuff, and I don't expect to be able to blog on the third or fourth of August, although I'll try.

********************************

I have lots of stuff to do, so I have to get going.

Have a great evening!

Tweet

Happy Birthday, Bob, and Pennsic Is Over for Another Year

Happy Birthday, Bob!

It's my granddaughter, Kyle's boyfriend, Bob's birthday today! I wish you a birthday as happy as the one that Kyle just had! I'm sure you can figure out which one is Bob.

Speaking of Kyle's party, here's my favorite photo from it:

That's Holly with Kyle.

********************

Pennsic is over for another year. At this point, some are already home, and some are probably still traveling, but it's all over.

It always makes me feel a little sad when it's done.

But then again, there's always next year's war to look forward to missing.

*********************

Yesterday, Holly came over and we went out together and she got to show off her new HumVee!

If I had to choose a single color name to describe the color, it would have to be grey. But it looks very blue sometimes, too, probably from reflections from the sky. Once in a while, you can see some green in the color, too.

We went to AC Moore, WalMart, and then to Ruby Tuesday. She said that she'd take me to Olive Garden for my birthday, but some other time because neither of us was really hungry, and you need to be when you go there.

**********************

Check out this neat article about yarnstorming (with lots of photos)!

*********************

Well, it's been a wonderful weekend for me! I'm all ready for my birthday tomorrow. Lynn said I should expect my birthday present from her to arrive on Saturday, but since the apartment place I live in doesn't let the post office deliver packages on the weekend, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to get it.

I hope you've had as good a weekend as I have, and a fabulous week coming up!

Librarian on TV Today!

Starting at about 5 pm (here), TBS will be showing all three of The Librarian movies back-to-back! Don't miss it!

**********************

Pennsic is ending, which is sad for all who were there. And it's always hard to pack everything up and go home, but home is so comfortable, just waiting for you. The good thing about getting home on Saturday is that you have Sunday to recover before you have to go back to work.

I'm sure that many people will start to put photos of the war up on the internet during the coming week, so that's something to look forward to.

***********************

The computer has been shipped via FedEx, and is on it's way from Colorado. The tracking number they gave me isn't in the system yet, so I don't know where it is. My experience with FedEx, though, is that it usually arrives by the time they manage to get tracking info up. I have high hopes for Monday.

This new computer may change the face of blogging for me. It should certainly change the face of Twitter for me, because it will be convenient to Tweet on the spur of the moment. We'll see.

***********************

Kyle's first sock is done (except for darning in the ends, and I've got a head start on the second one. She's found out about it already, and unlike most grandchildren, seems to be happy that I'm making her socks. She seems to become quite attached to stuff I make for her, just like her mother.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday, Kyle!

Hey, kid! Have a happy birthday! I'm sending you a link to the Birthday Dirge.

The Birthday Dirge is an old SCA tradition. I've heard that it was invented by the Tuchuks, but that might not be true. What is definitely true is that if you look around the internet, you'll probably find even more lyrics for it, and that new lyrics are being created all the time. I once heard a bard sing the Birthday Dirge for about 20 minutes without repeating lyrics the whole time.

*************************

All this reminds me of Pennsic, which is going strong, even as I write this.

Yesterday was Moonlight Madness. And they had a real, full moon for it, too. Last night was the full moon!

Moonlight Madness is Wednesday of the second week of Pennsic, every year, and they stay open until midnight at the market.

There are so many different things to do there, and one of my favorites is shopping! There are also many different kinds of shopping. For instance, the kind that everybody thinks of is buying things. That's a lot of fun, but you can also go shopping for ideas, which is my favorite kind of shopping. Usually the ideas I get have little to do with what's for sale, except for inspiration. And then there's always shopping for new friends. Meeting people and meeting new people at the market is always fun.

Of course, there are always battles. Bridge battle, field battle, woods battle, melees, sieges, and more!

Then there are the A&S competitions. A&S stands for Arts and Sciences, and could be thought of as craft work. Scadians do just about everything that was done during the middle ages. We have blacksmiths, vitners, brewers, spinners, weavers, leatherworkers, fletchers and so much more. The crafters are the ones that make the fun possible. How could you compete in Archery without a proper bow and arrows? How could you compete in the battles without the proper weapon and armor? How could you even get dressed in the morning without the right clothes?

And A&S leads me right into the subject of classes. There are classes at Pennsic to learn to do almost anything that was done during the Middle Ages. These are one of my favorite things to do there. Learn to bellydance, lucet, brew beer, make jewelry and garb plus lots more.

Bardic circles are fun, too. People group together and tell stories, sing songs and generally entertain each other.

And then, there are the parties! They are loud, fun and last until really late. Where else could you have a drink called a flaming dragon?

There is also the experience of falling asleep every night with drums beating. There used to be the smell of campfires, but they've been having some dry weather lately, and there may not be many, or even any this year. I haven't checked the fire regulations this year.

And speaking of falling asleep and night time, this is the time of year when the Perseids Meteor Shower is happening. Since they moved Pennsic forward in time, they'll be missing the peak of the shower, but it's one of my favorite things there. Going out to the porta-castle in the middle of the night, and watching the stars streak across the sky!

Being at Pennsic is the best way to see it, too. You're up in the mountains, and out in the middle of nowhere, so you can really see the sky. There should be plenty to see near the end of Pennsic, although they'll miss the best part.

One thing they apparently have this year is low-flying choppers early in the morning. There was a big hassle a few years ago about somebody who wanted to do aerial filming of some of the battles. They did put some cameras in the air and film some of it, but there were quite a few people who felt it was not Medieval enough.

*************************

Be sure to check the box in the sidebar from time to time. I'm updating it with info on what's happening at Pennsic, as well as all the other stuff I'm missing at the moment. And some of the retweets I'm putting up will have links to photos, like the one shown here.

Sock Summit is happening this week along with a fiberarts show. And lets not forget about WorldCon! If you miss anything in the Twitter box in the sidebar, you can catch up on it by following me at lostarts on Twitter.

*************************

Burn Notice is showing all day on USA. There will be reruns all day today, and the season finale will be tonight!

*************************

Well, the new computer has been bought and paid for, and now all I have to do is wait for it to arrive to find out how much I'm going to like it or not. I think I'm going to love it! If it works as advertised, I'll have internet access anywhere. And instant blogging, anytime, all the time. Plus the ability to write and draw more easily.

I'm beginning to worry that the problems I'm having with the mouse and keyboard on my desk computer may be in the USB ports of the computer itself rather than the mouse and keyboard. I'll have to get a new mouse and see how that goes. If it works perfectly, then I'm OK. If it has the same problems, then it's probably the computer. We'll see. But if there is a problem with the computer, then at least I'll have the other one to use for some things. I'm really excited about the new one.

Have a great Thursday!

Shore Leave Sunday

If you've been following my Twitter posts over in the sidebar, you've had a small taste of the Shore Leave experience, and I have to say, I enjoyed it. There were rumors of who was drunk, who attracted more than half the female population of the con, the second most popular person at the con being a 'droid, who called who what, who missed out because they were at the filk sing, which guests sang karaoke, and reviews of local Chinese restaurants (traditional at cons).

It wasn't the same as being there, but if you missed it, you can catch up here. There are links to photos of Klingons and 'droids as well as people just having fun.

I'm hoping to do the same thing for Pennsic later this month.

This will be short because I want to get back to watching Harry Potter movies on ABC Family. If you're a fan, you should check it out because they're showing a large assortment of trailers for Half Blood Prince during the commercials.

While watching BBC in America last night, I found that we're going to have one really amazing week later this month, starting on the 20th! The first thing up will be Children of Earth (Torchwood), shown over 5 consecutive nights from Monday through Friday, the premier of Being Human on Saturday,  and the Premier of the Doctor Who episode, Planet of the Dead.

My DVR is having a hernia this weekend, but it'll be bleeding internally after that week!

Speaking of watching BBC in America last night, they reran the episode of Primeval that was inevitable, and that I had been waiting for: the one where a dinosaur goes to the Middle Ages and is chased by a Knight through another anomaly into the present.

I really have to go watch Harry now!

I hope you've had a great weekend!

************************

Addition:

This whole thing with Shore Leave has started me down memory lane as far as SF cons are concerned. Which led me to discover something interesting. For years, at every con I went to, there was another con-goer called Filthy Pierre. He was in evidence sitting in hallways, playing wonderful songs on a keyboard. Well, my discovery is that he has an entry in Wikipedia! Yes, everybody's friend, Filthy is immortalized in their pages!

What started me off on this is that I wanted to find out the dates and places of upcoming cons with an eye toward maybe going to some of them, and, as everyone knows, Filthy is the person to contact about that.

Wow!

Pennsic Aftermath and Ravelympics

Today is the day I really don't envy people who had a chance to go to Pennsic!

Today is laundry day for them, and there's generally SO much laundry that the only thing to do is go to a laundromat and get it over with. There are mundane clothes, garb, and textile camping stuff, not to mention bedding. And they've all been out in the ragweed for a week or more, gathering up all sorts of other potential allergens in addition to the ragweed and grass pollen.

I don't miss that part at all.

Celtic sweater update: I spent all day yesterday and this morning trying to get the band around the neckline knitted. I've ripped it out so many times that I've lost count.

At this point, it seems as though it's going to be all right. I just have an inch to go, and the buttonloop, but I tried on the hood, and I think it's going to be good.

Because the neck opening is lower in front, it means that the hood fits fairly closely around the face, but blouses out nicely over the shoulders and around the back. It doesn't look like a sweatshirt hood, it looks like a hood on a cloak. The kind you see in Medieval movies.

I've run the rib off the band at the shoulders and the back. The shoulder break will go into the cable on the saddle shoulder band, and the back break will go into a loop at the back neck on the back of the sweater. That last wasn't needed, but I can, so I did.

Right now, it doesn't look like anything. Once I knit the shoulder cables, it will start to look recognizable.

Tonight there's a new Middleman! And I've figured out how to get to see the closed captioning, even though Comcast is not sending out the signal correctly. I'd be happier with them if they could just send it out correctly, but NO, they just don't care.

So, the first episode of Middleman I've seen with the sound available was last week. It's so much funnier than it is without sound!

I need to get back to the band around the bottom of the hood so that I can get it finished, start on the top of the fronts, and maybe even get started on the top of the back today. If I can do all that, I have a shot at finishing it for the Ravelympics.

Have a great Monday!

Pennsic is Over, but the Ravelympics Goes On...

Well, Pennsic is officially over. There's just enough time today to pack stuff into the vehicle and get on the road before you have to be off the site.

And the trip home isn't always fun.

One year, we were so disorganized, that it took us most of the day to get ourselves packed and on the road. After a week out in the ragweed (to witch I'm allergic), I carried/moved/dragged a lot more stuff then I should have that day, and went to sleep in the back of the van.

Steve woke me up and told me that I would have to drive home because he was tired. Then he climbed into the back of the van, leaving me half asleep, disoriented, and whining "But where are we?" in the middle of a snow/sleet storm.

Well we were somewhere near Breezewood, but all I could do was drive out of the parking lot he had stopped in (after I tried to clear the snow/sleet off the windows) and keep driving until I saw enough road signs that I could guess where I was and figure out how to get home. There wasn't much visibility with the precipitation, and it was almost dark when we left Pennsic, so it wasn't really easy. 

So, this is the one day of Pennsic where I can feel smug because I don't have to drag an entire encampment home in a six or seven hour trip. Especially when I look out the window at what the weather's doing. It's not overcast. Overcast is bright and cheerful compared to the day outside my window. It's raining, and it looks like it's going to develop into a storm any time, now.

Ooooh! Lightening! Yep, a storm for sure.

Well, so much for my plans to go to the grocery store.

But the Ravelympics is really just getting under way.

The wimple is up to a point where all the shoulder decreasing is done. I have pulled the needle tips off the Options needles in the wimple, and put stoppers on the cable. I'm going to have to go somewhere on the bus sometime this week, and it'll be a good project to take with me for the half hour ride (each way) to anywhere nearby.

In the meantime, I've picked up stitches around the bottom of the hood, and I'm knitting a band around it which will eventually have a button at one end and (when I get to the other end) will have a button loop knit into it.

Here is the hood with the stitches picked up.

This is something I should've swatched for, but couldn't really without reknitting the whole hood, which isn't something I was willing to do. 

So, I've ripped out the band twice, and I'm about to have a third try at it.

If I get too frustrated, I may go back to the wimple for a bit.

There are going to be two ribs from a 2x2 rib running around the bottom of the hood, and one rib is going to circle back and continue into the other rib at the end, making a buttonloop.

I bought some really beautiful buttons, but I've lost some of them since then. I have found some more on the internet, and I plan to buy them, but it's possible that when the Ravelympics deadline arrives, the buttons may not have. So, the sweater may not have all it's buttons at the end.

You can see the buttons here.

All the buttons down the front will be the same size, but I think the one that's going to be right at my neck may do better with one of the slightly smaller ones I bought at the same time. I'm glad I thought to buy some smaller ones. And I'm glad I was able to find them on the internet. They look so pretty with the yarn! 

I'm starting to love everything about this sweater!

Tomorrow and Tuesday, around 5 or 6 in the afternoon/evening, there will be the two-part episode of Stargate SG-1 called Mobius on the SciFi Channel. It's very good. And if you look at the schedule, you may notice that Charlie Jade is on every Monday night (actually, Tuesday morning).

The Sarah Connor Chronicles is back in reruns on Monday night, too!

I need to get back to another stab at the band around the bottom of the hood, so wish me luck!

Have a great evening!

Pennsic, Ravelympics and Bureaucracy

I can tell this post is going to have a lot in it already, but it can't be too long because I have Ravelympics knitting to do.

Before we even get into the main part of this post, John finally put up some information about Steve Canyon at Comic Con! Click the link, or check the link in the sidebar for all the information! 

The first episode of Primeval will be airing on BBC in America tonight. Check schedules. Somebody on Ravelry was talking about it, and they liked it. I haven't had the opportunity to see it yet, but pass on the info in case you're interested.

Pennsic

Today is the last day of Pennsic. Yes, I know that tomorrow is officially the  last day, but there's just enough time tomorrow to get your stuff shoved into your vehicle and escape before you have to be off the site.

So, today is the day that you hunt down friends to say goodbye, check out the merchants to see if they still have those beautiful buttons/trim/knife/etc. It's a time for finishing up and making sure that you do all the things that you wanted to do at Pennsic. It's an intensely happy time while still being just the tiniest bit sad that it's over.

I'm still reading Murder at the War, which means my personal Pennsic experience will continue for a little while.

Ravelympics!

The Bejing Olympics opening ceremonies started last night at 8 pm their time. I live exactly 12 hours ahead of them, so it started at 8 am here, even though the ceremonies weren't broadcast here until 8 pm.

I woke up at almost exactly 8 am, so I lost no time in casting on the wimple for Team Hogwarts and Team Hopelessly Overcommitted. I had a lot of things to do yesterday, and wanted an easy project where I wouldn't lose my place, and was small enough to drag around in my knitting bag all day, and the wimple was perfect for that.

This is the wimple at this point. The bottom border is done. The bottom border alone is about 1/4 of the project, so this is off to a good start. This is the result of knitting on the bus, and a little knitting last night. I was too tired when I got home to do any knitting on anything that required thought.

I watched some TV programs and switched to the Olympic opening ceremonies during commercials. I had planned to watch more of it, but every time the president blinked, the news people had to cover it, and they missed a lot of the ceremonies and drove me crazy.

Bureaucracy

I did a lot of riding on busses yesterday and a lot of walking and accomplished nothing!

I had talked to someone at Social Security that suggested that a little more information might get me more money on a monthly basis. The people that saw me in person at the office said (basically) "In your dreams!"

So, I bopped on down to Comcast, and, once again, they treated me as though I had just arrived from Mars. Obviously, all their other customers are masochists! So, showing up in person was obviously a waste of time.

Etc.

I got up this morning, in pain everywhere from all the walking. The Aleve is starting to kick in, so I'm feeling better now than I was earlier.

Holly and I went out this morning. I had a coupon good for $15 of merchandise there. I found a really neat little clip-on light in blue with stars on it for about $10, and also bought a copy of Knitters Magazine. It cost a total of $.99! Knitters has several shawl patterns that I love in it, plus one shawl in a star shape! I've seen several star shaped shawls/afghans/blankets, but this is the first knitted one I've seen.

As you can tell, stars are my favorites.

So, I got some really neat stuff!

Holly gave me my birthday present early. $50!

I plan to use it to live on for the nearly two weeks coming up, and then get it together as if to pay her back and buy my real birthday present from her then. I expect to add $10 to it and buy a set of Options needles from Knit Picks.

I need to go, now. I need to do some knitting on the Celtic Sweater for the Ravelympics.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday at Pennsic

First of all, I have to thank Crandall, who sent me this link so that I (and you) can read the Pennisc newspaper. I haven't read it all yet, but the parts that I have read are great! He also sent me to the following quiz...

Your result for The hardcore SCA Test...

The Lord or Lady

You scored 42% hardcore SCA!

You really enjoy the SCA and like to go to events when you can. However it doesn't take over you life or anything. You've probably got an AOA or will have one soon. Sometimes folks wonder where you've been when you make it back to a meeting or event.

Take The hardcore SCA Test at HelloQuizzy

We now return you to your interrupted Pennsic information.

After finishing my post last evening, I suddenly realized that I forgot to tell you about the meteor shower! How could I possibly have left that out?

You can find info about the Perseids meteor shower here. Of course, the shower happens everywhere, but being up in the mountains and away from major cities makes it so much more impressive. If you wake up at night and wander to the portacastle, you can stand out in the middle of the road, look up at the sky and see the meteor shower. It's always been a part of Pennsic for me. A part I love.

By the way, this has nothing to do with Pennsic, but while we're on the subject of things in the sky, there will be an eclipse of the moon on the sixteenth of August (my birthday!). The total eclipse will be visible in the North (pretty far north) with other areas seeing only a partial eclipse. What a great birthday present! Thanks, universe! There's a countdown to the eclipse (and my birthday) at the bottom of the blog.

So, on Tuesday, you're probably recovering from the previous night. Wednesday night is "Moonlight Madness" at Pennsic. All the merchants stay open until midnight, and most goods are on sale.

The wares are staggering! You can buy almost anything at Pennsic that you could buy during the middle ages. I bought a bead whorl spindle there with an amethyst whorl. For under $10! It's a work of art.

You can expect to find places selling jewelry, especially penannulars, circlets, coronets, and even crowns. My friend, Brock (the Magik Badger blacksmith) is usually there selling and making his wares. The thing he made that amazed me most (and that I was really brokenhearted that I could not afford) was a small forgewelded knife. Some people call forgewelded goods "Damascus" steel. This particular one didn't have the traditional wavy patterns in it. It had shiny stars against a dark background. I fell in love with it.

You'll find people selling garb, feast gear, miscellaneous period camping gear, shoes, boots, leather goods, scribners' supplies, handwoven goods, and lots more.

Another thing that I couldn't afford at Pennsic and have been looking for ever since was a pocket watch. This was a very special pocket watch. When you flip the top open, there was a scale model of Stonehenge underneath. If you flipped that up, there was an actual watch below.

I take that back. I looked on the internet and found this! It's not the one I saw a Pennsic, but it's pretty neat!

Then, later on Thursday, you'll want to take a nap so you'll be fresh for the party to end all parties at Chez D'Argent. This usually involves flaming and other drinks (Baron Silver invented the flaming dragon, and at least one other flaming drink in addition to my favorite, the Irish Fog), bagpipers, kings of several kingdoms, bards and drums! A mere blog cannot begin to do it justice, so I won't even try.

Then there are the things people do.

During my first Pennsic, two of my camp-mates, Lavender and Aurora, got bored. How you could possibly be bored at Pennsic is beyond me, but they claimed that they did.

So, they went over to camp security and volunteered.

The overworked people at security weren't too careful about looking at their motives. They gave them a golf cart and a little authority and sent them off.

So Lavender and Aurora proceeded to stage a mobile "kilt check" on the theory that you could never be sure what those guys might be smuggling under there. 

Eventually, security caught on, and that was the end of their fun, but not before they'd had several amusing adventures. They left one Count, who had been waiting in line, shouting at a Portacastle "Your Grace! Your Grace! You should have been out here a moment ago in a kilt!"

**********************

Switching gears in my train of thought...

I was about to swing into action, run out and catch the bus this morning, and then I thought to check the weather forecast. They said there would be thunderstorms this afternoon, but none tomorrow. So, I went back to sleep and plan to go tomorrow.

If I understand it correctly, sign-ups for the Ravelympics are over, buy you can still watch the fun if you didn't join. The board to watch will be the Finished Objects board.

Oddly enough, there is a list of projects signed up for competition that lists many projects that are already finished according to their creators. I think that something or someone is a little confused.

I've been dreaming about the Celtic sweater, and have even been doing a little swatching. I've decided that the bottom edge of the hood that I've already knit is a little bigger than I want the neckline to be. I had originally intended to make the cables that will go down the front overlap, but after thinking about it, I now think it would look better if the fronts butted together and the two cables ran parallel to each other. So that means that the hood is now too big around the bottom.

I'm going to put a band around the bottom of the hood that will extend into a loop for a button, and will also extend into the cable on the shoulder. I've started a swatch for this. It's not finished, but I have refined the buttonloops already. 

The I-cord that I did on the other swatch is thicker and bulkier than I really liked. I found that if I continue the two-stitch cable segment as three stitches in stockinet stitch, it looks good, not thinner, like the I-cord does. The edges turn under and it looks finished. 

If I do short rows on the loop, I can make it assume a nice buttonloop shape without all the extra bulk, and it looks much better and will button more nicely. I'm about to start the shoulder part of the swatch.

I'm also reevaluating the cable around the armhole idea. The more I think about it, the more I think I want to do something else.

On TV tonight, we have a rerun of Supernatural, and a brand new Burn Notice!

Don't forget the Doctor Who marathon on SciFi during the daytime tomorrow, too! And in the evening, there's a brand new Psych on USA.

And have a great Thursday!

The Pennsic Experience

The previous piece of art and humor was put together by Michael.

Each year that I haven't been able to go to Pennsic, I wind up sad and missing it for the duration.

This year, I didn't miss half of it because they moved the timeframe up a week and I didn't realize it until Pennsic was half over.

A friend of mine, Crandall, drew my attention to himself, and others who have never had the opportunity to go.

So I have resolved to stop feeling sorry for myself and enjoy my wonderful memories of Pennsic, and write up some of my most favorite memories for those of you who haven't had the opportunity to go.

Steve (my ex-husband) and I joined SCA (the Society for Creative Anachronism) in 1992. We chose our Scadian names, Etienne le couteau des Roches, and Ariane la Fileuse, and got them approved. My name is from the French version of the name Ariadne, who was the daughter of King Minos, and saved her boyfriend, Theseus from being lost forever in the labrynth by giving him a ball of yarn to unreel behind him which would later show him the way out. 

Most people had bynames instead of surnames during my period. Bynames are ones that denote some characteristic of the person, such as smith, cooper, webber, etc. Smith, of course, is a blacksmith, coopers made barrels, webbers were weavers, and la Fileuse is French for "the spinner."

Since we joined in the fall of 1992, we didn't get the chance to go to Pennsic until the following year.

The weather that year was unbelievably wonderful! We had hot, but dry days, followed by chilly evenings. On Thursday night, it rained a bit sometime between 2 and 4 am. Just enough to keep down the dust on the dirt roads. It normally gets cold enough in the evening at Pennsic that you can see your breath.

The second year I was there, we had almost constant rain, wind and storms. Really bad storms! I think on Thursday morning it was actually sunny for a few hours, but the rest of it was solid rain at the least. The roads were solid churned-up mud, and Saturday night I had the opportunity to hear what an approaching tornado sounds like in real life. Yes, it does sound like an approaching train. And it's even more scary when the only shelter  you have is a pavilion.

The tradition is that dry and wet Pennisics alternate every year. My third Pennsic (1995) was also dry and unusually warm. The field battle was called off before it started because one of the marshals was smart enough to bring a thermometer to the field. Once they realized that the temperature on the battlefield was 110 degrees, they called it off before it even began. That year, during the coldest part of the coldest night, it didn't get below 80 degrees! Thursday afternoon, there was a sudden thunderstorm, and it brought the coolest air of the entire encampment. It was the first time in my life I've seen a large group of people notice a thunderstorm starting and run outside to enjoy it!

We arrived on the second Saturday in the afternoon. Pennsic runs for the first week in a very informal kind of just-camping-out-way, and I've never been there for the first week. The second Saturday is the first day that Medieval garb is required. After that, you can arrive in mundane dress, but must change as soon as possible into Medieval or Renaissance garb. And you have to get your vehicle out of there right away, too, as soon as you've unloaded.

Some of our friends had been there for a week and had taken our pavilion, so when we arrived it was already set up, and all we had to do was move in and get dressed. We were camped with Clan Lurkr, and there was a large rented tent at the entrance to our camp. This serves as not only the entrance, but the party area.

Etienne and I went to walk around the market area, and had a lot of fun admiring the tents, the buildings, and the wares of the merchants. We spent a couple of hours walking around, and Etienne remarked on how big the market area was. Then I had to tell him that he'd seen less than half of it.

That first day I bought a circlet, having gotten my AoA a few months before. Then I had the fun of going back to the main tent at camp and hanging my circlet up with the rest of the "hats." Clan Lurkr has a rule that when you arrive, you have to hang up your "hat" on one of the main tent poles. The idea is that no matter what your rank, we are all equal in camp. But there were very few circlets there. Most were coronets or crowns. Wookie's place is a favorite haunt of Royalty, mainly because of the hat rule. It gives them a chance to get away from the responsibilities of ruling and just have a good time.

Clan Lurkr is run by Wookie, whose correct Scadian name is Viscount Sir Wulfbrand Lurkr. He is the most regal and king-like person I have ever met. I have no end of respect for him.

Pennsic is one of those things that you can never see all of. There are too many things happening, and not enough time to see them all.

For the fighting enthusiasts, there is a woods battle (everyone's favorite), a field battle, a siege, a bridge battle, archery competition, rapier competition, a melee, champion's battle, and more.

There is an Arts and Sciences competition with lots of different categories to win ribbons in, and tons of classes in everything that was done during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. I have gone to classes for washing and carding wool, spinning, knitting, lucet, and lots more. There have been classes in how to make a penannular, Middle Eastern dance, other kinds of Medieval dance, and more things than I can possibly remember.

And PARTIES! Almost every camp has a party almost every night. They don't call them parties. That's just what you do at Pennsic. Thursday evening is always party night at Clan Lurkr, and that means a real blow-out, complete with bagpipers, and every other outrageous party-type behavior you can imagine.

The first night we were there, Etienne insisted that we take a walk around the whole campsite. The names of the roads are wonderful! Clan Lurkr has been at the corner of Chandler and Wainwright every year I've been there, although they moved diagonally across the intersection a while back. Etienne and I walked down a road called "Good Intentions" until we got to a fork in the road and had to choose between taking the left-hand fork, "Free Will" or the right fork, "Abandon Hope." There is humor, even in the street names. There's also a small spit of land that sticks out into the stream called "Moot Point." The whole place is a delight all by itself.

We came back to camp, and got to enjoy a Medieval story-telling session by some of the best bards in the SCA. It was magical!

Tomorrow I plan to do all the stuff that I didn't do on Monday, so I'll add more about Pennsic then, but late in the day (maybe evening).

Last night I dreamt about cables and how I could possibly do the shoulder cable for the sweater and have it lead into the edging of the sleeve. I realized that it didn't have to actually divide itself in half and turn, all I have to do is run the cables off the side edges and pick them up in the other direction. I also realized that the cable could continue into a small stand-alone motif for the top of the sleeve. 

You'll have to see it to understand what I mean. So far, it's just a vague picture in my head with many possibilities.

Have a good Wednesday!

Pennsic

Pennsic started on July 24 and I didn't even notice it until today.

Maybe I'm starting to get over the SCA.

What a sad thought.

Actually, they started it early this year. Usually it's still happening on my birthday, and I've spent a few happy birthdays there. But this year, even if I were going, it's over on the 10th.

Clan Lurkr is on the list for land along with Chez D'Argent. I miss them all.

So I guess it's time to reread Murder at the War.

I just went to Amazon to find the URL for Murder at the War, and found out that they are releasing a copy of Beedle the Bard! Actually, two copies, a paperback and a real treasure!

I can't wait for December now so I can buy a copy of my own!

The timing of Pennsic is making me think ahead to the Maryland Renaissance Festival, too. I can't wait for that. I got their flyer in the mail yesterday.

In the meantime, I've been looking at cables in various books and thinking about the design for the Celtic sweater, but no decisions yet. I have to make some decisions soon.

I have some business to do tomorrow, and I expect to have to take a bus to the bus and then have a half mile walk to where I have to go, so I doubt that I'll be posting tomorrow.

Have a great weekend, with what little is left of it!