July 2022 Recap: Take That, Checklist!
My July goals were:
Finish the calzas I’ve had in jail for a few months. These just need a waistband added to them so that should go quickly.
Finish the two pieces for my Pennsic Persona display and the documentation
Finalize the pastry recipe for my Nola pastry, and write that up for my first complete Persona Pentathlon piece.
And since I had such wonderfully reasonable and achievable goals, I started off the month with none of them! The first couple days (very literally, July 1 and 2) were focused on finished the Green Hood I started on the last days of June. I wanted to make sure I had rain resistant headwear ready to go for Novice the following weekend so this hood took precedence. It’s made from a tightly woven green herringbone wool, some leftover linen from the Summer Saya, and from a thin green and gold trim I bought on impulse. I have high hopes for this piece, and have a good feeling it will get mileage out of it over time.
The almost completed paternoster, less it’s felt ball in the pomander.
On the day of Evan’s 30th birthday party, all of the supplies for my first paternoster arrived. Just as people were supposed to be arriving. How very rude of them. But it did mean that the following morning, I got to knock out the first of my paternosters, which was great! I started with the black and gold one, and I couldn’t be happier with the result. It’s tied a little loosely, but overall, I am very happy with the outcome. The documentation is still in process, mostly focusing around the history of prayer beads, prayer beads around the world, etc. I ultimately decided to postpone making the green paternoster. I have enough stuff on my plate right now, both project wise and financially, and I already have one presentable item for this project. Best to add it to a future projects list. I am very happy with how the documentation turned out on this one, so please feel free to check it out here.
The Summer Saya did not have it’s day in the sun this month because Novice was miserably rainy. The downside of making it longer for the sake of feeling pretty is that inclement weather is going to do a number on this dress over time. I’ve been considering adding a facing around the hem, similar to the faldrilla I made for the cold months but have not made a decision yet.
Tiny adorable ink cups courtesy of Bea.
I did also start picking up supplies for my Persona Pentathlon work. I have a long way to go on that entry. I have one of the items in process (a recipe), three others chosen, and one that I’m still up in the air on. With about 6 months left until go-time, I really do need to start focusing. Some of the supplies for my commonplace book arrived as well, including both the beautiful handbound book and a pheasant feather quill I found on Etsy. These items are absolutely lovely and I think will make excellent additions to the display. On a trip to Plaza Art Supply while hunting for Sumi ink (which was recommended by the internet as a good starter ink for dip pens) I happened to stumble across actual walnut ink too! Walnut ink was on my list of things to look into for this project, so I splurged and picked some up to give it a go.
Also in Pentathlon news, I have finally settled on my five items. They are: a commonplace book, savory fritters, chopines, a gonete, and a quiver. They cover a lot of ground- the categories covered are manuscript and fine arts, medieval life, metal/leather/wood/hard arts, and garb/fiber arts. It’s a tall order, but I think if I’m smart they’re all achievable. While I know that my final Persona challenge item isn’t due until October, I think if I can knock that out in August, it’ll really free up the spoons for my Pentathlon attempt, as will clearing my work bench effectively.
Empanadas ready to hit the fry!
I made some very good progress on my fritter recipe this month. I have the filling about 90% done and have settled on the actual pastry as well. The documentation for this recipe is coming along nicely as well, but I do still want to work on making that a bit more extensive, specifically citing how I came to the decision on the ingredients I used. I have also been thinking about presentation for these. While I love how the rolled edge looks and works in the picture to the right it is not a viable solution for serving large quantities to many people at KASF. Hakon and I have been chatting about making a pie press on his new 3D printer that I think will be the more viable solution for mass production. There is some evidence of these being used in period in the same book I plan to reference for the ingredients.
For the vast majority of the month, I could not, for the life of me, find the calzas. I stashed them somewhere, but where that somewhere is, I did not know. They were lost to the ether until the 28th, when it was far too late to start something useful with them. Instead, I finally cannibalized the Parti-Colored Saya that’s been in jail for a year, and finally finished hemming the black loba/tabardo/I don’t know what. I do like how that piece wears, but I do want to make a better one someday, when I’m not constrained by the size of leftover fabric. The linen from the Parti-Colored Saya became three bibs for our Valkryie Viking project for Battle on the Bay and two new cofias, each made slightly differently, all of which were ALSO completed in July.
Sof’ia requested a few months ago that I knit some gloves for her to wear on the archery range when it’s cold out. She picked a gorgeous colorway and I chose a ribbed pattern that will fit snugly, but not impede her shooting. The progress on the first this month is encouraging and I have high hopes of her getting plenty of use of them this winter.
I also spent time reading and studying a particularly interesting paper on the theological and legal use of the word converso in Spain, and how it came to be the term used with regards to descendants of converts. The paper, “Defining ‘Conversos’ in Fifteenth-Century Castile: The Making of a Controversial Category,” discussed the impact of the Toledo Revolt of 1449 and the major public discourse that followed regarding the terms converso and neophyte. It then proceeded to show how regular colloquial use of the term cannot help but influence its use in higher circles of law and government, solidifying converso as a reference to both converts and their progeny. The most interesting part to me was the willingness or lack there of, even when it might better suit their goals, of descendants of Jewish converts to identify as such. The use of language in their legal pursuits, even though it was obvious from the complaints why they had been targeted, attempted to legitimize their status as Christians instead of the othering that the term converso implied. This somewhat mirrors what Bea covers in her “Woman Without a Man” class and how women chose to represent themselves to that same legal system. It was a fascinating paper and I highly recommend it. (citation below)
Reading the above paper did give me the idea of trying to read/study one article, book, or paper a month as part of my individual goals. I think adding to my researching knowledge and ability by the regular practice of it will help my long term goals of improving my research in general. So in addition to my making goals, I’m adding a “Research of the Month” goal each month, and will include my thoughts and a brief summary in each recap post.
One evening, I also did some reorganization in the SCA Closet and in doing so, found several items that needed some TLC. On this impromptu mending night, I fixed both existing pairs of calzas, one camisa, and a catastrophic failure of the headpiece for the Green Saya. I also ran some laundry trying ways of softening my linens without using fabric softener. I’m pleasantly surprised, but several pieces still need some work. The first load had vinegar in it, the second will have less vinegar and a bit of Epsom salt and I have high hopes. I did also find what I believe will be sufficient linen for another camisa.
The last weekend of July, when everyone was heading to Pennsic, I was feeling very sad at not being so myself, so I completed the above cofias, re-water proofed my parasol, pulled out the tent, cot, and pop up to assess, and ironed a bunch of clothes. In doing this, I found a series of holes that is about to turn into a large tear in the popup, that Sof’ia thinks is attributable to Bloodbath when it got blown into a tree. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can fix it, so I got myself on the waitlist for a Covering Up Historically cover finally.
My August Goals are:
Finalize the recipes and work on my class materials for my September University class.
Finish the calzas (now that I know where they are!)
Make another camisa.
Figure out what I want to do for Viking Garb (again) before Battle on the Bay.
Begin the actual construction of my belt for the final Persona Challenge display. This will need Hakon’s help for both method and tools.
Research of the Month: Educating a Princess: Elizabeth I’s Commonplace Book by Moira Duncan
Works Cited
Yisraeli, Yosi, and Yanay Israeli. “Defining ‘Conversos’ in Fifteenth-Century Castile: The Making of a Controversial Category.” Speculum, vol. 97, no. 3, 2022, pp. 609–648., https://doi.org/10.1086/720233.
