Broomstick lace scarf

A few years ago I saw a lady demonstrating how to do broomstick lace. As I had never crocheted I didn't think I could do it but, the idea stuck in the back of my mind. When I saw this love yarn with these lovely autumn colors I decided to give it a try. I found this wonderful tutorial through Ravelry and now I can proudly present my finished scarf, tadaa!

I think I really need a broomstick lace hat as well ! ;-)


And my youngest sister always bakes the birthday cakes for everyone in the family. So for her birthday I gave her this:

1840's work dress

I am quite the peacock, I like my costumes to be bright and flamboyant. And now I am working on a costume that is quite modest and we are still not sure what to think of each other!

I have this green plaid 1860's crinoline dress, which is modest, at least to my standards. I wore it for two years but never felt at home in it. It was okay the first time, when the whole victorian thing was new and overwhelming but the second year I knew it just wasn't me. The I made my red velvet bustle costume and I love it. I have worn it, or a version of it, almost every year ever since. One year I wore a purple Edwardian costume but again it felt wierd and off...

And now yet again I am making a modest victorian costume and I am really a little bit nervous Will it work for me? You might ask why are you making it then? Well that is simple, it is practical! This year I will be attending a Victorian event without my husband. Which means I will have to be able to dress myself and travel by public transport. In my case  this means that a corset, a bustle or a crinoline are no option. I know that there a plenty of ladies who can get themselves into a corset without any help, but I am not one of them. And there are plenty of reenactors who get a kick riding the train, subway or bus in there costume, again I am not one of them!

So I choose to start working on a 1840-1860's work dress or wrapper. When my husbands grandmother died I inherited her enormous amount of fabric and there was one fabric that  I have a lot of  yards of that just screamed Victorian costume. It's a Laura Ashley fabric from a lot of years ago, it's slightly faded but for working class costume I don't think that's a problem.

The lace collar is a present I got from friends who visited Brussels.

To get a little bit of inspiration, I looked up images of:

•  Mrs Cratchit a character in one of my favorite Christmas stories: A Christmas Carol aka Scrooge.

My favorite image (above) is from costume designer Jonathan Knipscher

• Working class women ca. 1840-1860

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/mar/29/19th-century-newcastle-photographic-plates

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/oct/16/rereading-henry-mayhew-london-poor

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/oct/16/rereading-henry-mayhew-london-poor

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2123212/Black-white-pictures-capture-lives-Londoners-1800s.html

• The original dresses

Autumn colors

I always feel a bit sad when I put away my summer dresses in storage and take out the autumn and winter (and often a large part of spring) clothing. But I do love the colors of autumn, so when I came across this yarn I immediately fell in love.

\\

I had been wanting to do some broomstick lace crochet for a long time but was scared of because the technique looked quite complicated. When I saw this yarn the idea of making a simple broomstick lace scarf popped up in my mind again. On Ravelery I found this wonderful tutorial in English and Dutch, although I read English fairly well, I do prefer a tutorial in Dutch when I am learning a new skill.

I started on the scarf yesterday, while I have a lot of costuming projects, with deadlines approaching fast and household chores that needed to be done as well. I managed to do most of them and still work on the scarf as well. I am happy!

The other project I am working on is a combination of cuirass and french vest bodice for a friend.We do not have enough of the lovely petrol blue velvet for a cuirass bodice, so I am trying to combine it with a vest bodice. Alas the vest bodice pattern is cut several sizes too small, so that is why I am using the cuirass bodice pattern as well. It's one of those projects that seemed simple enough at first but is much more complicated than I thought. On the other hand I do like a challange!

The other project is a 1840's work dress for myself, both projects need to be completed at the beginning of December.

My viking hangerock or pinafore or apron dress had become pale after wearing it for a few years. As it is still fine, it has only one patch to cover up a burn hole. I decided to dye it again to refresh the color.

Here you can see how much the color has faded. The darker band is normally covered by my tabletwoven band, protecting the color from light. It has been dyed with union skins which is know for it's light sensity. 

The apron turned out darker than I had planned, next time when refreshing a color, I will use half of the original amount of dyestuff. The silk scarf, woollen yarn and small patches of wool fabric are from the second dyebath. The small patches where to try if the woollen fabric I bought a few months ago where dyeable with natural dyes.

I also finished my husbands woollen viking nalebound socks, that I started on during the vikingmarket in the Archeon.! Which means I can cross one of my winter projects of the list.

I also made these two cute amiguri owls!

The yellow one is made with Baby owl ornaments by Josephine Wu. And the blue one with the Confused owl by Karissa Cole

So I finished a lot of projects but also started a lot of new ones. 

An 1861 Crochet Godey's Neck-Tie

I found this victorian neck-tie pattern on Etsy while on vacation. I bought it and couldn't resist starting immediately. The scarf has been finished for quite a while now, but I completly forgot to mention it here.

I used the acrylic baby soft yarn sold at Zeeman and although I am quite happy with how it turned out, I am thinking of making it again. In a different yarn, like a good quality cotton or a wooll with a little more body. This one I used is to soft and the scarf doesn't have enough body. 

If you would like to buy the description you can find it here: http://www.etsy.com/nl/listing/110085454/1861-godeys-neck-tie-pattern
I really recommend visiting, her finished scarf is closer to the original description and turned out really lovely.

Vikingmarket Archeon

Our son making bone dice. 

He was gone most of the time playing with his friends,

 only to resurface at mealtimes. 

Because we where there for four days I actually got a lot of crafts done.

I hemmed a white linen undertunic, sewed a tabletwoven band to my, finally, finished

hand sewn green woollen tunic and did some nalebinding.

Nalebinding socks for my husband. 

Didn't finish them so I'll have to finish them at home.

He really needs a second pair of socks!

Wood carving 

Making salad with fresh chard, unions, fennel, radishes and honey

Our camp.

We had the times of our lives, the weather was great, the company was wonderful and the atmosphere almost stress free. (No rain helps an awful lot). At night the kids swam and played with the canoes. We walked barefoot for most of the time and picked blackberries.
Too bad that reality kicked in yesterday when my son had his first day of school and for me there was ofcourse the laundry!

I was really sad because this was my last, early medieval, event for this year. But there is going to be a blue dyeing workshop/event at Schothorst which hopefully I will be able to attend. It will be nice to be around people with the same interest and work on things together.

Back from the Archeon Vikingmarket

Just back from four wonderful days at the Vikingmarket, Archeon. So I am really tired and busy doing laundry and sifting through al of my 128 photographs.

Here are some YouTube movies from the Schothorst event from last week.

My son his first interview!
De Vikingen nemen landgoed in Schothorst

And another wonderful impression made by De Dauw Voeter
Impressie van de Schothorster Vikingmarkt Amersfoort 2013


I finally finished my handsewn green woollen tunic!