Teffan posted video of me presenting Edward with the Princess' Sleeve.

This is both weird for me to watch and hilarious. It's weird because I'm not used to seeing myself from "audience point of view." Hilarious because I can literally SEE the "Princess Voice" trail off and run out of things to say and then the clutch and shift happens and WWED* takes over. It's almost seamless.

It's good to have an Excellent Laurel.

*What Would Eithni Do?

So... I have this problem. I don't have as much quality garb as I'd like for the reign. (2 outfits ain't gonna cut it... I managed to wear both of them in one day at Crown, and I've got 2 WARS to attend...)

That being the case, and being as I've had more kind offers to help than I can keep track of, Eithni and I put together some "tunic kits" last night. We cut out all the pieces required to make me a tunic, printed off some assembly instructions, and a card with contact info if there are any questions, jammed it all in a zip-lock baggie, and now anyone who wants to help CAN with very little trouble. All you need are a needle, thread, and nimble fingers or a fancy machine...

I'm hoping that I can put together some similar "kits" for sirzig next week and get those into circulation quickly as well.

My only complaint? I really, really hate cutting out patterns. It is my LEAST favorite part of sewing. I really love sewing... I want someone to make ME a Pretty Princess Kit so I'll have an excuse to go sit in a corner and play with string.

Ah, well. Hopefully I can get one together for myself in time for the looooong drive out to Silks, Needles, and More! out in Korsvag. That'll be something to look forward to. In the mean time, I'm trying to figure out if I have time to slap together a new apron dress for ARRG! You know... Because I have too much spare time on my hands.

Remember when you were little and your Mama told you not to cut your own hair because you'd end up looking stupid?

That advice remains sage even when you're older. Even if it's for a cool project. Even if you're Princess. None of these things makes you a hairdresser.

Boy do I look like an idiot. I hope my bangs grow back before ARRG.

Speaking of which, I hope you will all come and fence in my tourneys! Yes, that's TWO WHOLE TOURNEYS. Sile said I didn't have to choose which tourney format I liked more. She is letting me have BOTH. She is sweetest ever. Now I just need to get dispensation from the King and Queen to write up some pardons for a few people...

Home from the event. I am wrecked. The house is wrecked... I think my tidily planned schedule for the next year is uh... "dramatically altered."

I have a mess of organizing to do. I need to call "Merry Mongol Maids" and tell them I got a recommendation from previous patrons... Hope their Aelfs can work miracles...

Would anyone like to stand in for me as Gate Troll at AARG? Aparently I'll be too busy holding a tourney to take care of that myself. Sorry Sile.

Thank you to everyone who shared the day with me and kept me too distracted to get nervous. Hope I can make you all proud to be Northshield. I know I am.

Coronation was a grand and successful event all around, I'm thinking! I got all of Stephen's garb done by eithni's prescribed deadline of more than 4 hours before the event and I think it was a fairly acceptable blend of period and not crazy-making. (Though I might have stated differently while I was making 39 button holes by hand...)

Morning court was entertaining and touching and dynamic. I'm not normally able to sit still during court, but found I was enthralled by the pagentry. I had fun stealing up behind the thrones as Aesa and Raito left the hall to adjust the Queen's Crown so that it would go on Ailleanne's head. (We were hoping we could adjust in advance, but sadly, with the crown at the right size for Ailleanne, it was a necklace for goldfrog.) I think the knights really had a good time with all that live-steel-waving during the taking of the throne.

My class seemed to go over well, and though it wasn't maxed out it was well enough attended that I was very glad that Mochi had time to stop by and be my Assistant Instructor. I think everyone left feeling fairly confident that they could use their kit to make good string with a little more practice! (On a side note, I notice that I hold my spindle in my right hand when I'm spinning, but for some reason I do it with my left hand when I'm trying to demonstrate to an individual. I think it's because they're facing me and my brain is trying to show them how they should see their tools as they use them. This confused the hell out of me the first time it happened because I didn't realize I had switched hands. I was just suddenly extremely lacking in coordination and my spin direction was backwards. :P If I'm going to continue trying to be ambidextrous, I obviously need to practice more with the left hand.)

The WW planning session wasn't as dreadful as I thought it was going to be. I wasn't lost and didn't come off sounding like an incompetant retard, so that's good. I'll send out the call for instructors to the NS Hall tomorrow and see what happens.

Evening court was wonderful, though I was sad that not everyone was there to recieve their award. sirzig did a pretty good job heralding, though he did refer to Grimmy as "Baroness." He swears it was an accident, but HRM Stephen doomed him to a world of disbelief by catching the binder he tossed down in disgust mid-air with such adroit speed and dexterity that most people assumed that the flub was rehearshed. (I'm told that HRM nearly blew a seam in his cote with that manoever.)

( Blah-de-blah, blah, Crown Combatants. )

Yesterday's sweatshop was a grand success and we finished that which we set out to do! TRH are all set to wear Japanese for Boar's Head, and their outfits are darn pretty, if I do say so myself.

Many thanks to arebekah, devikat, lostvirtue, Moira, cass_lee, Tatiana, and Nagamochi! You all really helped keep things moving along, and as a result, TRH will not be naked for Boar's Head!

For anyone who was wondering what I did last night, I was at TRH home teaching them all about making messes!

(I had so much fun explaining this at work... "DAY ONE! RESIST! DAY TWO! DYE!" "Resistance is futile?" "No, actually, it works quite well!" "Then why are people dying?" "No, not DIE! DYE!" *maniacal laughter*)

We were making Kimonos for them for Boar's Head and experimenting with a rice paste resist technique for dying called tsutsugaki. Sunday night, HrRH and I squeezed rice paste out of a cake decorating tube onto the fabric, which was stretched over frames that were ethnically engineered for me by HRH and Kegslayer. We let our resists dry over night and then EVERYONE, HrRH, HRH, their son Daniel, and I painted the dye onto the fabric within the "coloring book outlines" that HrRH and I had layed out the night before. ( And here are the resulting messes and successes! )

10-11: Men's Fitted Hosen (Rm: 3)
11-12: Greenland Garb for Guys (Rm: 4) - negotiable... I'm really just trying to fill this time.
3-5: Draping a Grand Aissiette Pattern on a Live Form (Rm: 6)
5-6: Period Weaves for Fabrics (Rm: 4)

It's a good thing I've already taken G's Knitting class or there would have been CONFLICT!!! I don't normally make these kinds of decisions until I'm AT the event and staring at the list taped to the wall, but the class list was so long and interesting that I decided I'd better have a look at it in advance, or there might be tears. Now I just have to decide who to use as a dress dummy for the Grand Aissiette class. (If I use HRH Stephen, I can be assured that his clothes will fit properly... On the other hand, if I have someone fit ME with supervision, I will have a pattern for MYSELF and can then use my new knowledge to fit Stephen another time... Decisions, decisions...)

 So.

 

I have been asked to be their Highness' "Wardrobe Mistress." I'm not entirely sure what this entails, but I've been given permission to make it up as I go. So at this point, I'm taking it as standing permission to play "Prince and Princess Barbie" with Stephen and Ailleanne. Would anyone like to play too? (HALP!)

 

I'm not saying that either one of them is poorly dressed or has bad taste... It's just that they probably don't have enough garb to get through the reign - but then, unless you've been royalty before, who does? (I have like... the one good tunic and a bunch of crap that I wear at Pennsic.) 

 

Tonight, I have plans to get their measurements, and next week, I'll go through their exiting garb to 1.) see what they have and then calculate what they will NEED and 2.) steal all their "super comfy garb" and trace it for patterns. 

 

After that it's ON, and I'll be looking for volunteers to help hand-sew, cut, EMBROIDER, make buttons, provide morale support, make coffee and tell me to stop taking myself seriously. And for the love of GOD, someone volunteer to provide fashion advice, because while I can make a tunic, and even fabric, I am NOT the person to ask for fashion advice. I still think a black t-shirt and combat boots are essential to any girl's mundane wardrobe. You do NOT need to know how to do any of the above things in order to help me. I would be DELIGHTED to teach you what you need to know! (OK... everything but the fashion. That's talent, and something I haven't got.) You don't have to be local to play! If you want to make them a nice thing, they'd love 14th cent. English (his period) or 10th century Irish (her period) garb in Kingdom colors. Very shortly I'll be able to mail you paper patterns of their existing garb or their measurements upon request.  So.... Who's in? 

 

Braaaaaaaaiiiiiiins.

Yeah. I'm kind of a zombie this morning. I stayed up until 2:00 in the morning "sewing like the wind" to finish up quackersbob's tabard. Not all the seams have "finished" edges, but I think it'll hold up to heavy fighting and teenage-boy attempts at "laundry." (For all I know, he's actually better at laundry than I am. My attempts at laundry are STILL in the category of "teenage boy.")

Anyway, despite the slight slap-happiness, I'm actually feeling pretty good. Two months ago, I'd have been a BASKET CASE on 5 hours sleep, but right now I actually feel like my old self. Fidgety but productive, I have trouble sitting down for long periods of time, but I've been getting a remarkable number of projects finished lately.

I think quackersbob is a great kid, and I probably would have made him garb anyway if gwyneth1362 wasn't already an accomplished seamstress, but really the thing that keeps me going on something I'd normally consider a "snore fest of mass production" is Zig's delighted pronouncements of satisfaction upon seeing his guys all dressed up pretty in matching tabards. (This is one of those things that makes him the Best Boyfrend EVAR. He is very generous in his appreciation for my string related skills, and his encouragement has been most inspiring to me. I've never finished as many projects in my life as I have since I've moved to Madison.) He thinks that the tabard is going to be a bit big on quackersbob but I pointed out that teenagers grow insanely fast, and I have no intention of making another tabard for the kid in 6 months. Plus, Tabards are *very* easy to take in. I'm sure I could teach quackersbob to do it himself if it bothers him.

I'm still not sure if I'm going to be at the event this weekend. Day before yesterday I found out that my Papa is going to be working on an "emergency troubleshooting" out in Kenosha today. If the project goes past the time when he's supposed to catch his flight, he'll be in WI for the weekend, and I'll get to show him around Madison. I really miss my Papa and half wish he'll miss his flight. He should call me around 5:00 and let me know whether or not he's checked in at the airport. Until then, I won't be sure if I should be cleaning the house like mad or tearing apart my room hunting for clean garb...

In a bit, I'm going for lunch with naughtyaelf who is finally working across the street from me again. She worked somewhere else for most of the summer so our bi-weekly schedule of lunching together was interrupted. I haven't had a chance to hang out with her for a while. If I DO end up going to the Rose Tourney, she's been kind enough to agree to stop by the house on Saturday and check on the dogs, and rescue any packages that the mailman may have left languishing on the porch. I'm expecting something like 7 packages of string and tastey books right now, so package languishment would make me insane with worry. I'm very happy that naughtyaelf lives close enough to keep me from worrying all weekend about either Dogs or packages.

Dear Weather Gods:

WTF? Is it really necessary to schedule "death by weather" type conditions every time I go to a camping event? Why can't the apocalypse happen on a weekend when I'm not planning on doing anything but staying in and maybe doing a bit of laundry?

Just a suggestion. Think it over.

Sincerely,

MJ

***

Dear iliafire:

I didn't get your measurements. I'll try to remember to bring a tape measure to fighter practice on Wednesday. A reminder would be helpful. Or, you could fill out the questionnaire in this entry. Then I will have the info I need to get your stockings started and I won't have to remember to bring a tape measure anywhere. I will just magically have all the data I need to knit wherever I go! Yay!

Thugs and Quiches,

MJ

***

Dear naughtyaelf

The package was delivered. I am a retard, though, and failed to take a picture of the completed dice bag. I could have *sworn* I remembered to take a picture, but evidently I totally hallucinated completing that task. Deena seemed pleased with the prize, though, so hooray! I'm glad you had a good weekend at home, but many people were disappointed that they did not get to see you. Just so you know. You were indeed missed.

Lurve,

MJ

PS - RtE did a very good job as a dog-sitter and Zig-the-nervous-dog-daddy feels that she has earned a bonus.

***

Dear Whoever Wrote in for my Balefire:

Thank you. I am honored that you think so. But, just so you know, I TOTALLY had a dream that this would happen at WW. (OK, not so much the award, but the conversation with Lars afterward, wherein he was more than a bit tipsy and shocked, SHOCKED that he was unable to find me in the Aethelmearc OP. ANYWHERE. Not for string or anything else. In fact, I DID live in Aethelmearc for 12 years without receiving a single award. Even my AOA is from the Midrealm, where I have NEVER lived. I am SPECIAL in that "short bus" kinda way.) So. My first arts award! Yay! People think I'm good with string! ARTSY, even! *blush*

YAY!

Lizfried