Tuesday Night Artisans Guild

I think we had about 15 people total attending the Guild last night. This week was working in clay and Lady Teryll supplied many pounds of the material. There was no class project, so each person worked on whatever struck their fancy. I saw some very nice items being created and will try to get pictures when completed. The projects will have to dry and then Teryll can fire them in the kiln. As she can only do a couple at a time it will take several weeks before they have all been finished. I was anti social last night as I did not join in on the clay making, instead I took the time to finish one of the shields I had promised as Ryan would like to use it in Boffer fighting at the Coronation Saturday. I figure that I am about 2 weeks behind on the projects I had promised people and needed to finish a couple of the 15 shields.

I was in a hurry and used zip ties to hold the edge on the shield. After looking at the completed shield, I should have laced it instead. I will end up doing this on the rest of them and will need to redo this one. Perhaps I can do it at next weeks practice or at a populous meeting.

Near the end of the evening the question came up about what should be done about continuing the Guild through the summer. Several regular attendees have conflicting schedules as other summer activities like baseball practice etc. have begun. No definite conclusion was reached although it sounds like people are leaning towards a general suspension for most of the summer. Teryll is happy to have people come over to work on existing or begin new projects but she is not sure how well a structured meeting will work over the summer with busier schedules and a heavier SCA calendar. If I understand correctly the matter will be discussed again at the next Guild meeting and again at the next Business meeting to reach a conclusion.

Tuesday Guild Night

Well last night was a catch up night, with several people having projects to complete, it was decided to work in some days which had no specific task. I would allow different projects at various stages of completion to be worked on. I think we had 11 people all together, most of the kids worked on Mancala boards or bags to carry their boards in. If I understand correctly some of the bags and napkins had gotten painted before I arrived and they will be competed at a later date.
I cheated and instead of working on my box (which I still need to complete ) I took my gambeson and sewed on the buttons that had fallen off from combat. Using advice from Eron and Teryll, I used four strands (instead of the two used earlier) to ensure that buttons will stay on. The gambeson is so thick that I have to use a pair of pliers to pull the leather needle, that Teryll lent me, through the fabric. Last meeting I managed to only attach two buttons but I have now doubled my speed!!! I was able to get four buttons sewn on Tuesday night. I have four left to put back on and three that are still attached that will need additional thread to strengthen them.
I forgot the camera so no pictures this week. Sorry.

Tuesday Fighting Practice

Fighting this week
This week we had 5 youth fighters in attendance and one heavy weapons fighter. Teryll and I took the opportunity to pair them up and run a series of practices. We picked the youngest two and had one fight “down” to the age group of the younger member. Then the older of the two could fight the next fighter at their normal level etc. until everyone had a chance to fight. After the combat was over Teryll and I gathered everyone together and discussed some of the reasons and rules for fighting. Things like how to behave and show respect for your opponent. When to stop and let them recover a dropped weapon and topics like that. We have enough youth fighters that we even covered some of the ideas and concepts in melee fighting.
As long as we will continue to have this many young fighters, I will need to brush up on the youth rules and become an authorized youth marshal. One more item to add to my list of things to pick up!!!

Last Tuesdays A&S Guild

Guild meeting last week!!
Well I am still behind but starting to catch up on my posting and my projects. Last week, at the A&S guild, Lady Teryll had a class on making Ukrainian eggs. This is a process were the egg is colored and layered with wax in several cycles. When you are done you can have a very detailed and intricately colored Easter Egg. Terryl has produced kits with instructions that can be purchased for anyone who would like to learn this technique but was unable to attend the Guild night. All in all I believe we had 11 gentles attending this meeting and creating egg art. I will try to get some pictures of finished eggs to post.

Shield's Done!!!

Well as I try to update and improve my armor “kit” I find myself finishing projects started long ago. Here is my Coat of Arms (registered) finally painted on my shield. Now I only need to finish my Banner and start a couple tabards.