Summer break

I'm not one for going on holiday anywhere, but I'm giving myself the rest of this week off (and possibly also the following Monday). I hadn't been planning to do so, but there are two main reasons. One is that I had a stoma blockage in the small hours of Sunday morning, and it is quite astonishing how ill you feel with one of those; and, while it did clear eventually, I wasn't good for anything for the rest of the day, so there are a few things I want to catch up on. And the other thing is it's going to be stupidly hot for the next few days, and I can't think straight when I'm too hot.

So let's just take stock of where I am at the moment crafts-wise. The earrings are going at a comfortable pace, so I'm busy with them but it's not too intensive, and I now have enough for a full Christmas listing, so I'll be putting that up some time this week. (The same earrings will also go in the regular listings, but if I put them all together in their own listing as well I can specifically tag it so that anyone who's looking for Christmassy earrings can find them. There are some in this traditional colour scheme, some in purple and silver for a more modern look, and some in red, white, and grey for those who want to go full Scandi.) I am not, however, going to be drawing any attention to the Christmas listing until nearer the time, because there are limits!

The baby hats and string bags are also going at a comfortable pace - one of each per week; and very soon I'm going to feel justified in switching back from cotton to acrylic for the former, which makes me happy. For one thing it means Winter Is Coming (I'm sure I'm a Stark somewhere), and for another I just like knitting with acrylic so much better. It's softer than cotton (usually, though there are some quite nice soft cotton yarns around now), and it has more bounce. As for the string bags, I recently started buying jute twine by the kilo because it is so much cheaper, and I have got through my first kilo already. This time I'm going to try to keep count and see how many bags one kilo of twine makes.

The drama group is on hold. I was supposed to be having a script meeting a week or two back over Zoom, because the organiser is on holiday (a very long one, apparently), but she's now decided she wants to wait till she comes back; and if she tells me she wants me to make any more cuts I'm going to give her the side eye and exclaim, "Dumboozle!". I am hoping not. A few tweaks I can do, but it's already cut more than I'm happy with. I also need to make some nets, but I'm not starting those till I have an idea what sort of shape(s) they want, how many, and whether they want jute or cotton. (These will probably double for SCA net demo-ing.)

As far as the SCA is concerned, I now very nearly have presentable summer garb. Skirt 1 is finished (and indeed I'm wearing it at the moment; it's a lot cooler than you'd think, given it's polyester), so is the tunic, and I just need to finish the remaining hem on the Simple Wimple. After that I shall probably make Top 1 to go with Skirt 1, given that with any luck it won't be this hot for too much longer, then the winter cloak, then the summer cloak, and finally Skirt 2 and Top 2. Somewhere in there will also be a couple of cloths to go in the basket, for such purposes as hiding my very modern food flask and wrapping up dirty crockery/plates after use. I'll be making those with the leftover fabric from my tunic and wimple, so I shall in fact use every scrap of that, which pleases me.

The Discord crafts server is entirely too much fun, and I can thoroughly recommend it; you can find it here (the link is set not to expire). There are lots of people geeking out about a whole variety of crafts. Recently I learnt a new word there: bunad. It's traditional Norwegian dress... well, sort of; the actual bunad dates only from the early 1900s, but it incorporates a lot of traditional folk elements. Basically you have a white blouse with full sleeves gathered onto wide cuffs, and over that you have a kind of pinafore dress with a tight bodice (a bit like a waistcoat) and embroidery on the bodice and at the hem. The skirt is long and full, and over it you wear a co-ordinating apron. You've probably also got a little cap to match, and if you really want to go full bunad you add a small pouch that hangs from the waistband, with embroidery on it to match that on the dress. It is quite lovely. I am also trying very hard to resist taking up tatting (I do far too many crafts already); I have seen tatting sewn onto tulle so that it looks like traditional lace, and I am awestruck. And did you know you don't need a shuttle? You can do it with a needle. Must... resist...

I also have a pair of socks on the go, which is progressing very slowly, and once those are finished I think I need to get my super chunky slipover on the needles. Being super chunky, it should be a quick job. The whole purpose of this is to provide a bit of extra insulation, especially when sitting around outside for church services (we habitually have our Christmas morning service outside the community centre under the big Christmas tree, which is wonderful but can get distinctly parky), but it'll also work for days when it's just very cold and/or windy. (Ah. Very cold days. How I miss those right now!) And then once that is done, I can start knitting up the undyed yarn into strips ready for pre-dyeing... which will take a while, but I do have plenty of socks now. Not that it won't be extremely boring, so I may well take a break every couple of balls and do some more socks anyway.

And finally, I'm already starting to think about my next birthday party... but it'll be different next year. Next year I am pretty certain I won't have to scrabble for people to read, because now I am in the SCA, and the SCA is full of first-class geeks who tend to enjoy a lot more things than just dressing up in mediaeval costumes and bashing one another. The vast majority of people are at least one of the following: book nerds, gamers, artists, musicians, crafters of one sort or another (we have a metalworker in our chapter, which is quite something), calligraphers, or cookery wonks. Most people I've met are several of those things. I'm pretty sure I won't need to do any more than post "I'm planning a readthrough party, anyone interested?" to get a string of enthusiastic replies. Indeed I may have to write a lot of extra parts to keep everyone happy.

So that's where we are at the moment. I'll see you in about a week's time. Have fun and stay cool!