peteyfrogboy

Flannait posted her excellent pictures from MGT here. I grabbed the pictures of my elevation and put them over here. There are also some pictures with proof that I own armor!

I managed to get sufficient portions of the house clean on Friday to not feel too bad having company over. I helped a friend start her first dress (based on this Botticelli portrait) on Saturday. We discovered that pulling up the painting on the 40" TV was a very nice way to study details. I draped a pattern and showed her a few techniques, then set her to work cutting and sewing. The bodice was pretty far along by the time she headed home in the evening.

This morning I started on a dress for my mother, based on the same portrait. I don't know if I'll have much of an opportunity to do a fitting, so I'll just eyeball the width of the front opening and hope for the best. :)

After putting the boy down for his nap I took D with me to fighter practice so adelavanbrugge could have some quiet time to play with quills. Practice went well, and was much less injurious now that I've rebuilt my elbows and re-laced my mask attachment points. For my last fight I borrowed a heater to see how I liked using a shield. Verdict: shields suck. I wasn't nearly as winded when I was done as I am when fighting two-stick, but my arms got very tired very quickly and I couldn't get a shot in edgewise. Oh well, maybe practice will help.

I want to put together a new fighting kit, aiming for a 15th century citizen soldier (as opposed to a mercenary), to fit with my persona. I suspect that there will be many compromises required to make it affordable, effective, and legal, but I want to at least start out with good intentions.

First, a quick survey of images:

( Armor Images )

So, it looks like I may have to consider the whole enchilada if I want proper protection. The less armored soldiers are a lot less armored, and it would just be silly to try to fake that. I may be able to get away with an inexpensive and lightweight breastplate solution (still metal, though) and hide it under a giornea.

So it looks like:

metal arms and legs with multi-lame articulation
open faced (aka bargrill) bascinet
simple breast and back under a giornea

I've already got a perfectly good pair of stainless mitten gauntlets, so I'm covered there. Now that I think about it, maybe I can build a gorget that will look like a farsetto collar. It's already the right shape...

So this weekend was extremely complicated and required two cars to manage.

Friday evening: adelavanbrugge took the girl to play Pokemon at the local gaming store and then went to the local project night in Newnan. I took the boy up to my parents' house in Marietta, got him settled and then went out for sushi with an old friend. The girls caught up later in the evening.

Saturday: We all woke up early (well, not that early for us) and went to the big kids' clothing consignment sale at the Cobb Civic Center. We got there early and were near the front of the line when they opened the doors, so we split up and got the first crack at the racks. We scored 62 total items (many of them entire outfits) for $110. Winter clothes check! I took the boy back to Camp Grandma while the girls did some more shopping.

I roasted up a bunch of the potatoes grinnellian2001 sent home with me from her CSA cornucopia. With some melty cheese that became lunch for me, followed by nap time.

In the evening we got together with TIM folks for a fun evening of chatting and screaming children. Good times.

Today (Sunday): I finally got around to draping patterns for my parents, so they can have some new clothes for my elevation. I don't think I've ever draped a pattern for men's clothes before, and it was naturally easier than wrapping the more complex topography of the female form. I'm of a mind to find someone to drape me a doublet pattern to see how it differs from the venerable drafted-and-tweaked one I've been using for years untold.

I ran off to South Downs fighter practice and got reacquainted with the giving and receiving of violence. I got to fight three people before the cord holding my mask to my helm failed, but I was about ready to pack it in by that point anyway. I could have fought more, but I would have regretted it later. As it is I'm only somewhat weary and bruised. The helm needs to be improved and repaired, and my elbows re-padded, but otherwise all went well.

We handed the kids off so adelavanbrugge could go out to a scribal workshop for Talmere. She was running a bit late since the boy decided today was the day for a five hour nap, but eventually everyone was headed in the correct directions. I'm home with the kids now, looking forward to bedtime.