Medieval Arts & Sciences

Last week I was at Uprising War, an event of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) held in Firth, Idaho. On Wednesday evening, I taught a class on Norse Astronomy. It was a short class. For one thing, it was cloudy, so no stars were visible. For another, while the Vikings knew & had names for a number of stars, we can only identify a few of them. See Digitalis: Norse Constellations and Viking Answer Lady: Viking Age Star and Constellation Names for more information.

While at Uprising, a challenge was issued to create a complete outfit from any period or culture covered by the SCA. Basically, this means anything pre-1600. I will be creating a Viking apron-dress. My sister-in-law gifted me with 5 yards of hand-woven wool that's about 23 inches wide - a common width for period fabrics. She wanted to give me brooches for Christmas, but the mold didn't work, & I want to try to make some myself (with her teaching me, naturally). I also want to make a linen chemise, but I need to figure out how I'm going to get that linen as there is a $100 limit. And I will be making a coat, probably out of flannel that I already have. All of these are projects I have been planning for this summer, but now with the challenge I need to take pictures & finish them by New Year's Day. Wish me luck.