2005-01-07 - 11:26 a.m.

It's crunch time!

Yes, 12th Night is almost here and we are all in the annual rush to get things finished, packed, and overall in some semblance of order before tomorrow.

And no, I do not have any new garb this year. However, that does not mean that I have not been running around like a maniac with assorted projects:

1. Finishing of the royal cloaks -- We finally finished all the pieces that we needed to embroider, and assembled the other roundels that Vitha gave us to the linen strips that were assigned to us. Marcellus was a great help. (This crack-headed project has kept a good number of people busy till the last minute, not just me! But it will be worth it!) Delivered to Vitha so the rest of the team can finish.

2. Designing the custom made clasps for the aforementioned new royal cloaks and get them made by Master Lothair -- They came out really nice. Gave them to Vitha to put on the cloaks as well.

3. Fixing the German Doublet of Doom (which after some more research I have discovered that it could have been Spanish or French just as well -- nobody knows exactly what its origins are). At any rate, after almost two years, I am still fiddling with the thing and now I know what to do and what not to do the next time I make one. But it is spiff, fits better, and I will look good. Yeah.

(And I still will be fiddling with the damned thing a couple of years from now, I am sure.)

4. Coordinating a couple of things that will occur at the event including, but not limited to, the competition on "All Things Middle Eastern" for the Tempore Atlantia -- Got the prize, the judges, and sometime in the middle I even got my sanity checked. (It wasn't anywhere to be found.)

5. Helping Marcellus finish his new doublet -- Contrary to popular belief, I do not make all of Marcellus' garb. Yes, I have made trunkhose for him, and 15th Century handfasting garb and also the occasional fencing shirt, but the doublets are all his work.

Also, his handsewing is so much better than mine! If you want speed, you call me (at crunch time, that's a good thing to have). If you want higher quality handsewing, you call Marcellus. In his own words "Real men know how to blind-stitch." (The man lucets, sews, makes kick-ass wrapped buttons, and cooks like a pro! How lucky can a gal get?)

At any rate, the doublet is coming along very nicely. He is doing a very nice job. Black velvet with lucet braid trimming and wrapped buttons with pearls on them. Sadly, there is not enough time to add sleeves, but we can always do that later. But the new pattern works and it fits like a glove.

5. Just for fun, I have started embroidering Marcellus' new white scarf. For the materials, I have picked silk over linen, using split stitch (Opus Anglicanun style). It is a pain in the butt, but it is worth it. The effect is really awesome!

6. And last but not least, I have been practicing my 'do with the "rats" that I got from AoD at Kingdom Crusades. This has been an interesting exercise that has involved a lot of cursing, as I try to make the damned things line properly.

But after much toil and trouble (and did I mention cursing?), plus some trimming of the "rats," it seems that I have beaten them into some sort of submission and it looks really cool.

Of course, I will be attempting to get my hair properly styled tomorrow morning. Very early. And I know that no matter how much I have practiced, as soon as I take that brush and that bottle of hairspray I will be cursing again like a sailor.

But I will look cool, dammit!

And we will have fun!

I can't wait.

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