Largess: Gift Giving at it's Finest

I've been busy the last few days procrastinating on finishing my Trillium Exchange entry by creating Largess for an upcoming Dirty Dozen Largess Competition. But I seem to have become rather addicted to making things, twelve things, to give away to the Kingdom and to my Barony.

Largess is anything that is donated to the Kingdom or Barony that can be regifted to other people to show appreciation or  congratulations and that enhances the experience, feel, and atmosphere of the medieval game. Some people makes things that feel medieval or are replicas of something medieval. Others purchase items with the same effect. However, it seems to me that more people make their gifts as opposed to purchasing them.

The Dirty Dozen Competition is a Largess competition where the entrants, either individuals or groups, choose a theme and then enter twelve items for that theme. Some people will do twelve different items, while others will simply make a dozen of the same thing. Each entrant then chooses whether the Largess go to Kingdom, Barony, or split between the two. Our new Baroness is hosting this event to not only show off the artisans of out Barony but to also fill the coffers of the Barony and the Kingdom with items that can then be shared around to the rest of the known world.

The first thing I did when I decided to participate, after promising our Baroness that my Canton would help if I had to drag them kicking and screaming to the event, was to join the Largess group on Facebook. I got lots of ideas from the files section. Ideas for things that would be easy to make and relatively inexpensive that felt Medieval. I also found a few ideas for actual Medieval things that were easy to reproduce as long as you were willing to make a few pieces that were not of a decent quality but taught you the skills you need to make them. It also helps if you are a little insane about doing Arts and Sciences and willing to try your hand at anything at least once.

With ideas in hand I started thinking about themes and deciding on whether to do individual or group entries. After discussing with other members of my Household I decided I was going to do both individual and group entries. It is a well known fact in our Canton that I am slightly insane and totally gung-ho for any and all Arts and Sciences, so really no one was surprised when I announced I was doing both and asked the Canton to make a group entry as well.

My first individual entry is Archer's Abacuses.We have a lot of archers in Ealdormere and Skraeling Althing and I really liked the Archer's Abacus idea because I know it is hard for me to score my arrows, find missing arrows, and chat with others on the field at the same time. I figured if I needed the abacus then so would other people.

The Abacuses are very easy to make and can be as cheap or as expensive as you choose to make them. I found some painted, wooden beads at the local Dollarama, used some waxed linen cord I had with my leather working supplies and went to town. Ideally, I would have preferred to make the beads the colours of the Kingdom and Barony respectively but I could not pass up the deal on the beads. Each string is 30 beads long with the colours in sets of 5 to make it easier to tally at the end of the round. Since I was able to get some larger square beads I chose to use them at each end of the string so the archers can attach the strings easily through a loop or under their belts. Since the beads were so cheap I was able to make twelve for Kingdom, twelves for Barony, and I still have 13 left over to be used as site tokens or Largess for the Canton.


My next idea was to make Temple Rings with beads and wire based on the article found here. 1) I like playing with wire and 2) There are a lot of resources for people playing later period English, French, and Italian in our area but few for those playing Dark Ages and / or Eastern Europe. The packaging is some boxes that were purchased years ago for my business but having not used them I decided they worked for presenting and storing my Largess items. Writing the information on the inside lid and designated recipient (Kingdom or Barony) was just as excuse to practice my calligraphy while accomplishing something useful at the same time. Because I made twelve each for Kingdom and Barony.

My next project was to make some replica Anglo-Saxon rings. My reasoning, see the above paragraph. Wire and early period are all the excuse I needed but it turns out that there are some really easy wire wrap type rings that date from the Anglo-Saxon period. I was amazed when someone on the Largess forum linked to a museum showing a very simple wire wrap ring. Here are just a few of the images for wire wrapped rings from the Anglo-Saxon period.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/8272370.stm
http://www.obsessionistas.co.uk/historical-artefacts/0018-buried-treasure/9715903
http://www.time-lines.co.uk/anglo-saxon-twisted-wire-finger-ring-011013-22852-0.html
http://www.ukdfd.co.uk/ukdfddata/showrecords.php?product=13944&cat=205
http://www.ukdfd.co.uk/ukdfddata/showrecords.php?product=29806&cat=205
http://www.ukdfd.co.uk/ukdfddata/showrecords.php?product=27643&cat=205
http://www.ukdfd.co.uk/ukdfddata/showrecords.php?product=25909&cat=205
http://www.ukdfd.co.uk/ukdfddata/showrecords.php?product=25909&cat=205
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1341148&partId=1

Pretty freaking cool that I can now make myself authentic looking jewelry for my early Norse/ Pict/ Anglo-Saxon persona just from some wire that I already have. Of course I am using brass and coloured copper but eventually I want to try making myself one of the rosette rings from sterling silver. So far I have only made 12 of the rings and am trying to decide if I should go ahead and make twelve more or just give 6 of each to the Kingdom and Barony. Making more will take time but it will give me more practice and make my chances of making a nice one of silver that much better later on.

Another gift I have planned but have done little more than purchase the supplies is to create sampler packs of Medieval Spices. the sampler pack will include 9 spices, mostly hard to find spices, and a little booklet containing a recipe for each spice. I purchased most of my spices from The Silk Road Spice Merchant in Calgary, Alberta and a couple from Herbie's Herbs in Toronto, Ontario. The spices I chose were based on Medieval Cookery's list of essential spices for Medieval cooking and include Ceylon (Sri Lankan) Cinnamon, Cubeb Berries, Lesser Galingale, Grains of Paradise, Hyssop, Summer Savory, and Saunders (Red Sandlewood). I would love to include Saffron in that list but true saffron is very expensive. Instead I am going to include Green Cardamom and Sumac. If I run out of any of these spices during the assembly I will use Rosemary, Oregano, and Coriander as suggested by other members of the Largess group.

My final entry will be with other members of my household - House Adis North. The theme we have chosen is items that would have been taken on Crusade. Some people are doing banners, others are doing chests, and I have decided I am going to do Paternosters, an early form of the modern Rosary used by Catholics around the world. I have only just started researching and looking at period examples but I think I have decided on wooden beads, if I can find enough, strung on silk yarn I got in a box of partial skeins from the Potsdam Artist Council sale last year. I am still trying to decide if I am going to use a tassel or a charm of some kind on the end.

A&S 50/50 Challenge: Nalbound Hat #19

Wool Cap #19

Brand of Wool:Unknown Brand
Colours: Light grey
Stitch: Dalby stitch
Notes: This wool is very fine and is from a cone of wool I purchased at an event. It was left over from the Potsdam Arts Council and was being sold for donations. I made this hat very big so it could be felted down to fit the Spouse's head. Because the Dalby stitch creates a very smooth even fabric I plan to embroider the hat once it is felted.

I did the embroidery with a bone needle I created. It is to large to use on finer weaves but it worked very well for embroidering on the finished cap. I used the split stitch, the chain stitch, and the unequal cross stitch to create the different patterns.

A&S 50/50 Challenge: Nalbound Cap #18

Wool Cap #18

Brand of Wool: Homespun
Colours: Light Green
Stitch: Dalby stitch
Notes: I dislike this wool intensely. It is lumpy and tended to catch on itself while pulling the yarn through the loops. The wool is very course and feels stiff but not waxy. I started this hat at the brim but it ended up being to small for me. To make it larger, I went back and added more rows to the brim. Finally just stopped as it did not seem to be working at all.

At some point I started making a different stitch of an unknown name. I completed a row just for effect but had issues with how it looked and occasionally the yarn would break creating holes. I want to use this new stitch to make a hat.

The new stitch is a Oslo in the second loop and a York in the first creating an equals sign bracketed on top and bottom by right slants.
/
=
/
Update: In May of 2013, I figured out that the "new stitch" was in fact the Dalby Stitch. So all the previous hats listed as Dalby are incorrectly labeled and I have no idea what stitch they are actually made with.  I figured this out while looking at Neulakinna's Nalbinding and I found a video she did of the Dalby Stitch.

Now that I have figured this out I need to make some hats from the real Dalby stitch and figure out what I did on the others. After analyzing it I think maybe I was just doing a reverse Aisle stitch with an F1 connection.

A&S 50/50 Challenge: Nalbound Cap #17

Wool Cap #17

Brand of Wool: Paton's Classic Wool
Colours: Fall Variegated
Stitch: Coptic
Notes: Second run at the coptic stitch. The stitches are looser  than on the first coptic hat. It is obvious that I have figured out how to increase with the coptic stitch. As with the last coptic hat the working edge curls severely, making it hard to measure width or depth of the hat.

The variegated yarn creates some interesting stripes with this stitch, rather than blocks of colour like other stitches. I assume this is because the coptic more closely resembles knitting and the yarn was made for knitting.

A&S 50/50 Challenge: Nalbound Cap #16

In my book this entry is described as a fall variegated colours Aisle stitch with a B1+F1 connection that makes a ridged surface on one side and a flat surface on the other. I worked from the brow to the peak and as I make decreases the hat gets tighter and tighter on my head.

I think this is a double entry for hat number 10, and therefore throws my actual caps off by one.

A&S 50/50 Challenge: Nalbound Cap #15

Wool Cap #15

Brand of Wool: Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool
Colours: Brown
Stitch: Broden's
Notes: Very comfortable hat. I consider Broden's to simply be a variation on Oslo just as the Mamman stitch it. With Oslo you pick up one loop, Mammen two, and with Broden's three. I Assume I could continue on with these variations picking up 4, 5, or even 6 loops but I suspect that after a certain point it would become unyielding and to stiff to take up more loops.

A&S 50/50 Challenge: Nalbound Cap #14

Wool Cap #14

Brand of Wool: Paton's Classic Wool
Colours: Fall Variegated
Stitch: Finnish turned Stitch
Notes: This stitch is similar to Broden's but the 3rd loop is twisted before it is picked up. Also there is 1.5 thumb loops where you go under the first thumb loop and over the working thread that creates a braided loop in the rows.I find this stitch to be very slow, even slower than Aisle.

A&S 50/50 Challenge: Nalbound Cap #13

Wool Cap #13

Brand of Wool: Paton's Classic Wool
Colours: Varigated Green
Stitch: Dalby Stitch
Notes: Second hat with the newly learned Dalby stitch. The stitch does not look right but I can not figure out why.

A&S 50/50 Challenge: Nalbound Cap #12

Wool Cap #12

Brand of Wool: Paton's Classic Wool
Colours: Bright Red
Stitch: Supposedly Dalby
Notes: After finishing this hat I found out that I pulled my stitches to tight and the hat is to snug for my head. Yet another hat that will gifted to someone else.

A&S 50/50 Challenge: Nalbound Cap #11

Wool Cap #11

Brand of Wool: Paton's Classic Wool
Colours: Yellow
Stitch: Coptic Stitch
Notes: Started with the Josephine knot but got the slip know backwards. As I was working the top row came undone. I laced a piece of yarn through and tied a knot to close the peak. I ran out of yellow so I used red for the rest of the hat. It actually looks nice and has a nicely shaped peak. I think I would prefer if all my hats were either smooth or shaped like this, instead of the pixie acorn cap shapes I get sometimes.

The coptic stitch is the only nalbound stitch that I know of that looks like knitting, and will unravel like knitting. Near the top my increases were quite sloppy but they became much smoother as I worked further down. The mistakes and sloppy increases are easier to see in the red than in the yellow.

A&S 50/50: Nalbound Cap #10

Wool Cap #10

Brand of Wool: Paton's Classic Wool
Colours: Fall Variegated
Stitch: Aisle Stitch
Notes: The Aisle stitch can be made using either the F1/ F2 connection of the B1 connection. B1 is the same as F1 but it is from the bottom of the previous row instead of the top. This creates a heavily ridged hat on the outside but a completely flat row on the inside. It seems that the Aisle stitch with the B1 connection uses more yarn to create the same amount of hat as other stitches. However, the thickness of the resulting fabric makes it more likely to shed rain or snow and keep your head warm.

Costuming: Basic Tunics

 I've started several new pieces these last few weeks. Mostly I have been working on custom sewing for other people but there has been the occasional nalbound pieces including mittens, slippers, and hats. I plan to make more detailed entries for the nalbinding at a later date. I must admit that after hand sewing my own pants a few months ago, I truly appreciate the speed and precision of the sewing machine.

The scarlet tunic on the left is an archers tunic based on 13th C French over tunics. The person asked for short sleeves and the keyhole for the neckline.

The next is a very light weight charcoal wool made in a very similar style to the last one but the arms were left long and the sleeves were belled to more closely reflect the image of the original in the costume books. It was made for a young man who is very tall and quite thin.

As you can see from the model it fits someone heavier than the intended recipient. To correct this problem I sewed a dart from the beginning of the split up to the neckline on both the front and back seams. By the time I reached the neckline the dart was over two inches, removing a total of 5 inches from the chest area of the tunic. Prof that mistakes can be correctly without starting over or making ugly alterations.

Trilliem Exchange: #8

 I have had to start over on the box. I was finding the wood quite chippy and recommendation on the carving forums was to soak it for an hour in water. Unfortunately, the glue I used was water soluble and the pieces came apart. The next morning I found the long narrow panels had warped to the point of not being able to glue them back together again.

Of course before I could make a new lid, life got in the way and I am only now coming back to this project. I have decided that instead of deep relief I am going to use chip carving to create the images from the original onto the one I am making. After all the images are chip carved I will go back and do a very shallow relief work on the clothing just to give it some texture.