francesca_tessa

As with many things, SCA meetings and activites have been suspended for about a year and counting due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

I first heard about the Covid-19 Virus on January 21, 2020 when the World Health Organization first put out their Situation Report.

Suddenly costumes were out and mask making was in. Enter crash course on mask making, what materials were best, etc. Everything started closing and we were all working from home now. Being at home and not going out except for groceries had me quickly burning through my Netflix catalog. , after which my focus turned to YouTube which seemed to be much better content -wise than in years past. Suddenly I found all the costume historians who were running successful youtube channels. I had been waiting for YEARS for this to happpen, and Finally Finally I could get my fill.Thank you technology for catching up with my dreams.

So there is a TON of 18th Century, and Victorian and Edwardian costumers on YouTube. Not so many SCA period though.

I did find Morgan Donner though, she is the most popular (primary focus Medieval/SCA Period) Costumer that I have found on Youtube.

These YouTube costumers seem to be primarily on Instagram and YouTube, and also setting up patreon

So in an effort to not become a technological dinosaur, I have set up a Youtube Channel and I have been using February of 2021 to do a 28 day Video Challenge.

My content is all over the map right now, It may involve cleaning and organizing, yard and garden projects, fixing up my old house, local news, craft and sewing and embroidery, or just tracking the seasons, or posting old footage that I have editied together. There is also a lot of kitty content (have you ever TRIED to keep a cat out of frame?)

When I taught hand spinning classes, I always told my students, you should just try to spin a pound of fiber, no matter how badly, because at the end of that first pound you will have learned a few things.

So I guess you could say my 28-Day February Video Challenge is my first pound of wool:

Here is a link to the Channel: It is super new. I only have 6 subscribers (Thanks Mom and close firends....) There is not a lot of sca period content, but I am planning future posts to show some of my older projects.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY9l29wyDqYDS5GTWGw7hOg

francesca_tessa

I have spent the past couple/few months in a flurry of activity.

I have been helping out and teaching again. I made a bunch of linen pouches for the Autocrat of Foxes so she could have largess bags to give out to staff who helped out.
I took it as an opportunity to learn how to make fingerloop braid to use as the drawstring. I was on a tight deadline so Dixie (Dis in Rauða) saved me by making the five sets of fingerloop braids on the bottom row of this picture:




I also Finished the embroidery on the hem of my Roman Tunica: 

Our Shire Birthday is coming up the first Sunday in October so I am sponsoring a Drop Spinning Contest:

I made 20 drop spindles and have taught two of our newer members Felicia and Laura how to drop spin and will teach more before the competition: 

I have the Shire Birthday and Two events to attend in October.

I'll do a separate post about upcoming projects.

francesca_tessa

A friend of mine had 2 entries that she wanted to enter in Kingdom Arts and Sciences this year. The event was in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, and too far for her to drive on her own. I offered to accompany her so she could enter her pieces. Most of my garb needed altered so replaced, so I ended up re-working the tunic that went with my byzantine collar, slapped a white undertunic under it and called it a day.

francesca_tessa

I've not really done very much in the past year in the SCA.

Without going into a lot of detail, there were a couple of people in the SCA that I did not want to associate with that were beginning to stalk/harass me, and it was not worth the trouble of fending them off constantly.

One of them is no longer active in the SCA. The other has been told I want no interaction with them - and my Seneschal and my peer served as witnesses.

If anyone has questions regarding the latter or if you have concerns about things you have heard about me personally you should probably check with my peer.

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So for the past year I have been doing a lot of cosplay and getting to work in all sorts of non-period materials. I found that I'm doing a LOT more leather working in Cosplay - or utilizing those skills. Everything is so different - the synthetic materials,  using zippers, the garish colors and unlimited color ranges and combinations. Using a lot more wire armatures, paper mache props, it was like I had been playing on this one playground for 20 plus years, then someone says ... hey look over here... there's a door here.... and you go through it and there is a whole other playground with different things to climb and swing on, etc. It was kind of like being on creative vacation.

The really cool thing was all of the skill sets I was bringing with me to cosplay... it's nothing to draft a pattern, sew a buttonhole, make a leather strap, carve or cast, or any of the stuff. And instead of something in a costume being "period" being authentic to the original costume is being called "cannon".

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So, yes there are creative outlets everywhere, with common threads that they share.

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I'm probably going to try to play a little in both worlds now.

I miss the detail and the fine work of the projects I do in the SCA. I'm going to be pulling out my roman tunica and finishing the embroidery on the back panel - picking up where I left off about a year ago.

In Cosplay I still have to get a Jawa made, and finish my flowerpot munchkin outfit.

francesca_tessa

Here is the link to my Pintrest Page. I have a couple boards that are SCA related:

http://pinterest.com/francescatessa/

francesca_tessa

I am working on an introduction to food preservation class for March at our shire meeting.

I had been chasing my tail on how to categorize it.

I am thinking I might make a game of it before I give a handout. Need to get an easel pad.

Even found a thing or two I want to explore later. Maybe.

I'll post more later, I don't want to give away any spoilers.

francesca_tessa

I made these as a prize drawing for our Shire's Demo at Chattacon:

francesca_tessa

I stumbled across a variety of carrot that dates back to the Cookbooks of 14th century France.

Jaune du Doubs. Doubs is a region of France near the swiss border and Jaune (think Jaundice) is French for yellow. So yes, a period yellow carrott.

I ordered 10 packs of seeds and they came in on Monday.

This link is actually for the carrot page - their website is a bit wonky.

http://www.ohioheirloomseeds.com/Other_Seeds.html

Also, there is a nifty online web app that can provide you a planting guide based on your physical location:

It has 3 date columns:

• Start seeds indoors
• Transplant seedlings into the garden
• Direct sow seeds

Just enter your zip code or city:

http://allthingsplants.com/apps/calendar/?q=

I"m thinking about making a long raised bed for the carrots. Some of them will get planted at the local community garden. A few of the seed packets might be given out as largesse.

francesca_tessa

Well I actually managed to get to a local sca meeting for the first time in ages. Returned some loaner garb I had checked out for a mundane friend earlier in the spring and delivered some egg cartons to a friend of my who raises chickens and got to say hello and chat with a couple folks.

Not much else going on as I have been busy with a lot of mundane gardening projects. Might draft a class outline For how food was put up during the year to use during the feasting for the holidays during Elizabethan England. Going to scan the source material to see if a title jumps out at me.

I am thinking that my back craft room (which is closed off from the cats/and cat hair) is where I will do any crafts that have to be out of cat's way and used for storage. But the front parlor is working out to be a great studio painting space so I have moved all of my paints there - for mostly mundane craft projects.

francesca_tessa

I went to a headwear workshop in our local shire long enough to take a class in knitted flat caps. So far I have only knitted up my swatch and fulled it.. Hoping to have some free time to knit one up over the winter. I'll try to add a pic of the swatch later.

I am using the Patons Classic Merino Wool in a dark (charcoal) gray color)

http://www.patonsyarns.com/product.php?LGC=classicwool&SPP=999