I went to Centurion's College last week and it was awesome! The first part of the day was classes and the second half was group fighting. The teachers were very patient and well prepared. I also got some good aside time with various folks as I had questions. I particularly like that the classes were mostly "hats-off" (not full armor) which left me with enough endurance to fight most of the afternoon. I took some photos and have posted them here.I fought in the field maneuvers and the bridge battles in the afternoon and had a great time! The bridge battles were crazy :) After the fighting there was a short court and then lots of social time. It was an very entertaining night to end a really fun day :)
The armor improvements have worked well, but I still have some tweaks to do. Rachel is working on making some pells for us to practice on and I'm hoping to finish up her torso armor some time soon. Here is a picture of my armor kit so far; it's now more mine than loaner. I've still got a good list of armor projects though, along with the need to make more garb before Gulf Wars. All of that depends on how much free time life grants me.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Nalbinding
I've been doing some knitting lately and it got me thinking about nalbinding. After a bit of research on the internet, I found some good instructions. I made a nalbinding needle using my Dremel tool and a small piece of spruce wood from the hobby shop. I then did a couple of test swatches and started on this pouch. Its very different from knitting and I think that I'm beginning to like it.
I used these two videos to get started:
I used these two videos to get started:
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Armor progress
I've posted some pictures of my armor progress at http://www.flickr.com/photos/helene83/sets/72157623078074633/. You can see the coat of plates in its finished form.
I'm pretty happy with the coat of plates. Its light, comfortable, and provides good protection. I need to add some straps to the back to hold in place. I'm currently just belting it, which has to be adjusted periodically.
The legs were some I got at a steep "I'm quitting fighting" discount from a very nice lady. They needed some love and had to be re-strapped, but they work quite well. I added little plastic wrap flaps for the backs of my thighs, but they were a quick hack, so I need to pretty them up and rivet them in. They are currently held together with leather strap and duct tape :)
I got some elbows from a friends "random stuff" bin and finally finished the leather work on them this week. I hardened the leather with water and then lightly waxed it and I am very pleased with the results. They are lightweight, hard, and very durable. I test drove them last night and they worked fairly well. They are slipping some towards the wrist. I got some great feedback from folks on how to fix them, and I think that I will add some shoulders and strapping to hold them up.
I'm pretty happy with the coat of plates. Its light, comfortable, and provides good protection. I need to add some straps to the back to hold in place. I'm currently just belting it, which has to be adjusted periodically.
The legs were some I got at a steep "I'm quitting fighting" discount from a very nice lady. They needed some love and had to be re-strapped, but they work quite well. I added little plastic wrap flaps for the backs of my thighs, but they were a quick hack, so I need to pretty them up and rivet them in. They are currently held together with leather strap and duct tape :)
I got some elbows from a friends "random stuff" bin and finally finished the leather work on them this week. I hardened the leather with water and then lightly waxed it and I am very pleased with the results. They are lightweight, hard, and very durable. I test drove them last night and they worked fairly well. They are slipping some towards the wrist. I got some great feedback from folks on how to fix them, and I think that I will add some shoulders and strapping to hold them up.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Cool pictures
I don't have any finished crafts to post, but I saw these pictures of the Ansteorra crown tournament today and I thought that I would pass them on. They are beautiful and some of the best combat pictures I've seen.
http://www.jmtimeless.com/SCA-Events/January-2010-Crown-Tournament
I've been sick a lot lately, so I haven't made a lot of progress on my projects. I generally set up my projects so that I can work on them in very small time increments (5-15 minutes) and make progress. My life is such that I often only have small time chunks, but I've found with a little organization I can do quite well with projects this way.
One of my great challenges has been how to get my armoring projects done. I do quite well if I have an afternoon or a day, but organizing armoring into small time chunks has been a daunting task.
I am finally starting to get the hang of it and am making some good progress. Now the challenge is finding non-baby-nap times to do the loud riveting, but the spouse is helpful on that front. I'm almost finished with my arms, so there will be pictures soon :)
http://www.jmtimeless.com/SCA-Events/January-2010-Crown-Tournament
I've been sick a lot lately, so I haven't made a lot of progress on my projects. I generally set up my projects so that I can work on them in very small time increments (5-15 minutes) and make progress. My life is such that I often only have small time chunks, but I've found with a little organization I can do quite well with projects this way.
One of my great challenges has been how to get my armoring projects done. I do quite well if I have an afternoon or a day, but organizing armoring into small time chunks has been a daunting task.
I am finally starting to get the hang of it and am making some good progress. Now the challenge is finding non-baby-nap times to do the loud riveting, but the spouse is helpful on that front. I'm almost finished with my arms, so there will be pictures soon :)
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