Monmouth Hat

So...the Bird asked me to look into historical headware as a project while she's gone. Fun times. Eventually she plans on figuring out how to make a good share of them, as hatmaking has always been something she's been interested in. She told me to stay away from knitted things...but, I'm the one doing the research. So there. I'll post different hats as I get them done, and will post the whole long shabang at the end in a format you can download for your viewing pleasure. The final version will also likely have longer blurbs as I find more info.

Hat #1

Monmouth Cap
This cap is first mentioned by name in 1576 in a letter from Lord Gilbert Talbot of Goodrich Castle to his father the Earl of Shrewsbury. Monmouth itself is a Welsh town on the on the River Wye, just upriver of the international port of Bristol. A great part of the Welsh economy starting in the early fourteenth century centered around the raising of Ryeland Sheep and the exportation of their wool. Monmouth soon became a center of knitting, and their style of hat was extremely popular for over a hundred years.[1] Originally, they were worn by all classes, but later fell out of fashion, and became increasingly associated with seamen and soldiers.
The hat above is an extant garment from the Monmouth Museum dating from the sixteenth century. It is knit in a coarse two ply wool, that has then been felted, thickened and shorn. It is done in a seamless (in the round) stockinet stitch, has a ‘button’ on top for casting off, and has a double brim that is knitted together at the edge.[2] Another example can be seen at http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/item1/7998. The brim on the hat can either be turned up or down, depending on weather.

[1] Carlson, Jennifer L. “A Short History of the Monmouth Cap” http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~Marc-Carlson/jennifer/Monmouth.html%20June%2026, 2008
[2] “Isca Morrismen Tradition Monmouth Caps” http://www.isca-morrismen.com/monmouth.htm June 26, 2008

Bird's Wanderlust

Shortly, I Bird will be heading to points abroad (a.k.a. London), along with a few weeks in Seattle. So I have started a blog to chronicle the journey called Bird's Wanderlust, which you can find via the link (click the title of the post) or searching by for it by name, here on Blogger.
The blog with have posts on the daily events, but also will be a site for my on-going research into design, history, reenactment and theatre (and anything else that I have fun with). I will be posting pictures there as well. I am researching Art Nouveau embroidery and design while I am there so there will be a healthy dose of that, along with Vikings and other assorted characters. Studies on particular items may also appear here on Lacings and More.
So please, come along for the journey, because the journey is the fun part.

Photos of Dyeland Part 1

The Joys of Modern Technology: With the Flash.
Mers with the yarn in my bathroom, after the whole process. We are waiting for the yarn to dry.

















The Joys of Losing Technology: Without the Flash
Yes we were working by candle light... Same shot, just without the flash...yeah it was dark.

















The photos of this by candle light didn't turn out so well, but it is still really pretty.












I swear the yarn is hanging right above our heads...so this is us with the end result and a candle after the work is done.

And thus our first joint adventure into Dyeland.

Resources and Links

Like some of the things we do? Would you like to try them out? Well, here's a list of websites we know where you can supplies and information.

Constantly being updated. Please note that many of these sites have many interesting links, not all of which are included here for space and time reasons.

http://www.dharmatrading.com/ Selling dyes for just about any fiber. They carry Cushings, Jaquard, and Procion just to name a few, as well as natural dyes. Also has a list of techniques for you to try.

http://www.jelldragon.com/ Selling costumes, jewelry, games, weapons, accessories and craft items. Europe based.

http://www.rosieandglenn.co.uk/ Selling costumes, also does Living History displays. Based in the UK.

http://www.viking-resources.co.uk/ Supplies everything from supplies to finished goods as well as books, also does school and museum visits. Based in the UK.

http://www.vikingsonline.org.uk/ Based in the UK, but also has members in mainland Europe, Canada and the US.

http://www.fortmeigs.org/ Ohio Fort, primarily representing the War of 1812, but has Viking re-enactors on site several times a year, as well as re-enactors from other eras.

http://www.thorhild.org/ School visits and costumes. UK based. Victorian and Viking.

http://www.ousekjarr.org/ Dark Ages Re-enactment society based in Cambridge, UK.

http://www.asgardcrafts.co.uk/ Pretty metalwork. UK based.

http://www.gelfling.dds.nl/ A network of several sites of information and goods for sale. Dutch based. Warning! Viking area not in Enlish!

Adventures in Dye-land

Much to our happiness, embroidery is a very period embellishment for Vikings. What's more, embroidery does not appear to have changed greatly in the last thousand years. Unfortunately, Vikings used wool crewel thread, as cotton floss was unavailable. Since needlework isn't in vogue right now in the textile arts scene, crewel thread is extremely hard to come by except by ordering online.

Happily, two-ply yarn (essentially the exact same thing) is VERY easy to come by, as knitting is experiencing an incredible boom right now. So I went 'a-Viking' in my mothers insane yarn stash, (unless you are an ardent follower of the Yarn-Harlot, in which case she wont' have anything to worry about for quite some time) and came out with a cone of white wool. Yes, if you know where to look, yarn comes on cones. What do you do with white yarn to make a crewel thread? You dye it of course!

Happily, my partner is crime is all prepared with a stash of Procion Dyes. Fabulous! We're in business!

Or...so we thought.

On Saturday, we get all the goods together, travel to our friends' apartment where we will spend the evening, measure out the powder, and let the wool soak during dinner. Unlike other fibers, wool needs to soak in order to open its surface scales to accept dye. After dinner: storm that spawned a few baby tornadoes. So...no dyeing on the patio for us. Sunday morning we get up and mix everything together, and leave our small dye samples to sit in the sun, absorb some heat from the sun. I leave for work, and my partner in crime returns to her home.

When we have...ANOTHER STORM! Complete with tornado sirens, again. And during which the house with the wool in it looses power. So when I stop over that night, we're simmering water on the gas powered grill side burner, and rinsing by candle-light.

Now, we had chosen to do modern dyes not only because we already had them, but because natural dyes are...well...a bitch to work with, and much more dangerous. Ancient chemistry, anyone? There is a reason that dyers guilds never reached the prominence weavers guilds did: your body can only take so many mistakes when mixing hard metals and strange things like powdered snails and beetles. But I suppose the laugh's on us...'modern' dyeing by candlelight...uh-huh...

Happily, the colors turned out beautifully! I'm really exited to start using them. Pictures soon to come!

Hello World

We're still just getting started, so hang in there was we get our bearings and figure everything out. Currently, we are only taking orders in person, as we're still developing our product line and patterns.

As you can see, we'll be putting this blog together over the next few days. Expect to see an RSS feeder, e-mail subscription options, as well as posts we'll update every once in a while with lists of online resources and merchants that we like.

Over the next few weeks, we hope to have some things done, which will hopefully mean pictures!