Calontir Clothing Challenge, Layer 4

Layer 4 involved a bunch of accessories.

The simplest was a veil, which was just a length of plain linen that I tried to dye but mostly just gave a hint of walnut color.

I took inspiration from this carnelian and rock crystal necklace from the Swedish History Museum for my necklace.

Historical piece

I used some quartz and carnelian beads from my stash, as well as some bronze beads that I had gotten from Pera Peris in Germany.

After stringing it together, it looked like it needed something more, so I added some bronze Gotland spheres, also from Pera Peris.

The third project was a knife sheath for a small brooch knife. I originally wanted to use a little knife that Adam made for me with a yak bone handle, but it was a little large. Adam gave me a small one from his hoard instead.

I made a pattern for the sheath, using the existing sheath as a template.

I cut the pattern out in leather and stained it to darken it a little.

I then glued the edges together to hold them in place for the metal fittings.

The knife was inserted to shape the sheath as it dried.

The metal work took a little bit of fussing. I had wanted a gold metal and we had gotten a brass door kick from Home Depot. However, it turned out to be a brass veneer over a cheaper white metal and it chipped as it was cut. As it was the eleventh hour and there was no chance to order new supplies, Adam helped me use some sterling silver sheet metal in the stash.

I did the sanding and finish work of the metal but did get help drilling and setting the rivits, as the tools are in our basement which is not wheelchair accessible.

The chain is from Feed the Ravens.

The shawl was the longest accessory project. I had gotten a warping board for Christmas so that I could warp the big loom without taking up the entire living room.

I wound the warp from the warping board onto kite sticks to keep it under tension. There's roughly 6 inches x 4 yards of warp per stick.

The kite sticks did help with the warping, but I found that I still had some inconsistencies with tension.

The warp was a cream and brown Shetland wool and the weft was a gray Shetland wool.

Fabric off the loom. This was a rush to finish at the end. I wove for about 14 hours straight two days before the end of the competition.

Wet blocked and fringe knotted.

The basket was the most interesting project. The most that I could find about viking age baskets was essentially a single line that drilled bases had been found in Jorvik consistant with solid basket bottoms. I had made baskets from reed before, but willow or hazel would have been a more traditional material. I had to order my willow from Canada and then allow it to soak for almost a week once it arrived. It probably could have soaked for another day, but I was worried about the shorter pieces getting slimy. Adam cut my basket base from oak and drilled my holes for me.

The book that I used as reference suggested inserted the tips of the willow (the narrow end) into the base. The next time I will definitely try inserted the thicker blunt end, as I think the thinner tips struggled to maintain shape as I started the weaving. You can definitely see where they warped and twisted a bit. Also, having the thicker ends at the top made finishing the rim a little harder.

The ends were woven into each other under the basket.

The base and top were worked in a 3 rod wale with the rest of the basket was woven in a single slew. The rim is a 5 rod border.

The last minute accessory was a quick Jorvik cap. I had some linen that I had woven on a ground loom many pennsics ago. I cut and sewed up a quick cap to go under my veil.