Mitten, sausages, comb

I went to an SCA event on Saturday and startedgot quite a few rows of stitching done on the mitten. I also showed a couple of friends how to do the Asle stitch. On Sunday, I had friends over for an afternoon of A&S activities and finished almost the length of my fingers.

There is a big sale on sausage-making supplies in the city, so I plan to go out later this week and stock up on ham shoulders, casings, and curing salt. I found a place where I can mail order various curing salts and Fermento for the future, so it looks like I can get serious about making sausages at last. I have promised to teach sausage making at an upcoming event. I must also figure out some recipes so I can teach a children’s class on medieval cooking.

Last week, I received pictures of a lovely norse box made by Wilf in exchange for a comb for his wife Jhone. I have just added the comb to my list of projects, bringing the total to 72. I have at least 2 combs on the list already, an another comb in my workbox that has the side plates cut out but most work still to go, and some repairs to the first comb I ever made, back in 2000. I’m not quite inspired to clean my work bench yet, but I am starting to feel the pressure!

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Hockey season is back!

This means that I am back to naalbinding my mittens. I decided to start the second mitten today, rather than continuing the cuff of the first. It was a bit intimidating to start off – I’m not sure why I always find getting the first couple of rows so difficult. It feels all backwards right now, so I’m hoping I’m actually working it in the right direction. It looks right.

I pulled a bunch of horsehair out of my dandy brush so I could start naalbinding it, but decided that such a project would look too weird sitting at the hockey rink. Maybe I’ll give it a go later this week. I want to make at least one milk strainer of the type found in Margarethe Hald’s book. If I’m successful, I’ll carve the funnel thingy that goes with it.

The spinning is on the go once again. I can see the end of the leicester, which is being done on a drop spindle, but the huge bag of mystery roving doesn’t seem to be diminishing at all, even though I am starting to be competent with the wheel.

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Its’ a New Year – Time to Get Active

In order to complete this challenge, I need to finish approximately 10 projects per year, at a minimum. Life got really busy before Christmas, and I was sidetracked into finishing some longstanding cross-stitch projects, so I haven’t been very diligent lately. However, I have now set completing 10 projects as one of my new year’s resolutions. To get myself going, I took a large skein of wool off my spindle and started spinning some new wool. It was rather satisfying to discover that I may have enough already spun to justify thawing some of my dye tea and see what happens.’

I also got pictures of a new Viking box that a friend has completed in exchange for a comb. I now have a major incentive for making the comb. It will take a little bit yet as my shop is still in a mess following the renovations. I need to clear enough space to set up the vise on the workbench, at a minimum, so I can cut the bone.

I think my priorities from now until Spring will be: 

• bone comb
• mead
• Viking lucet
• naalbinding mittens
• spin all the leicester and dye it

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