There's actually not so much to update - the trial piece is about finished, with one of the feet done and the other half-done. As usual, the small bits are taking longer than they should. There's a try-on planned for this evening when we will see if the foot makes everything just so, or if there's... deeper issues underlying.

The fabric for the Real Thing is on its way here, and I am very, very much looking forward to fondling it! Since I got a lot of updates, and we had some discussions during the process on how to solve the (many smaller and larger) problems, it feels a little bit like I was there, but I could never touch. Soon, that will be remedied.

Also, I need to get some stuff here sorted better, and some other things finally photographed and placed into the shop. Somehow there was too much of this and that and whatnot the last weeks, and unfortunately I've never been one for night shifts done extra. (Well, I can do it to an extent if there's something burning, but it's usually not such a good idea and tends to take its toll.)

This time, it's German, and it's about tablet weaving, and it is - you might have guessed it - the next one in the row of Kaptorga podcasts. It was lovely to veer off topic again with Johnny and Adam (though I still think we did do better this time!). 

So if you understand German, and don't mind trying to imagine tablet weaving actions in your mind, here you go:

Occasionally, I get to read a story. This has happened a while ago, and now it's up.

You can listen to it here at Cast of Wonders, it's titled "The Marrow Gatherer and the Rotten One", by Nichole Lightner.

The test hose is almost done - one foot piece is under construction, the second one still has to be done, otherwise about everything is finished. It does fit very well - only the legs have the tendency to twist around the wearer's legs when worn. This should be much better (read: gone, hopefully) once the feet are on.

The upside of the twist: There's some extra room, due to folds in the fabric, at the knee region. It might also be an effect of the fabric (which is, in fact, rather thick and stiff). Or it might be an error in my reconstruction. Or it might be an error in the pattern drawing in the publication. 

Once the feet are both on, and fit properly, we will see how it works, and looks. 

The fabric, meanwhile, is being finished and made ready at some place up in beautiful Sweden, and soon it will be all finished and washed and dried and on its way down south to me... which is when the real fun will begin.

The sprang piece is also progressing, though I don't know if I want to call it "nicely" - it does look very much like I will not be able to do the full amount of rows, as I am quickly running out of free thread space now. I have already progressed to using a knitting needle for the picking hand, while the holding hand can still squeeze in. Because I have been running a little longer per row than the original, though, it should be fine and large enough for a cap.

Pictures will come once it's really done. I'm also hoping that washing and blocking it might even out some of the irregularities that occur mainly in the bottom part. Here, too, we will see.

Things I did on the weekend: Relaxed, hung out with friends, pottered a little in the garden, did some sewing on test hose, and dabbled in some website troubleshooting (a friend's page is down, and we're trying to resurrect it).

I've also managed to order the threads for the sprang workshop I will give in June, and am now pondering on whether to do the setup of the sprang threads together with the participants first, or whether to do the setup prep here so they can get started straight away, and learn how to set up the frame towards the end of the workshop. I am currently leaning toward setting up here, but I'm not fully sure yet. Also there's only about 68 or so more rows to go on my Lengberg cap sprang piece, so it does look like I can have it finished soon enough to free up the frame for the workshop. Yay! It also looks like the lower piece will not be as nice and smooth as the upper one, and they will both run longer than the original fairly crazy tight one.

Up next: Finish the test hose, finish the sprang piece, test the new threads for the workshop. Also finish the updates of my webpages (the cms running them does need updating once in a while). 

And I have still not found out whether there will be a possibility to send internationally without registering in every country once the new EU regulations go into place. I will also probably not be the only one wondering, and not knowing for sure. If there is no de minimus threshold (as in "you are so small we won't even bother looking at you"), a lot of vendors will probably stop sending things internationally.

Which means that in case you are in the EU, and you were planning to buy something from a small fry outside your own country but inside the EU - maybe do it now, or at least soon, and do not wait until August, when this new regulation will take hold. 

The little cat has been helping me type this afternoon, softly purring on my desk (and my arm). Sadly I now have an appointment, so I have to pull out my arm once this blog post is done, and leave her all without her support cushion. Poor little kitty.

She is very helpful in general with my work. On this photo you can see her encouraging me to take a little break while cutting the first leg for the test piece in actual size, just to make sure I stay hydrated and have ample time to overthink      *------------++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (these are courtesy of the little cat leaving the desk via the keyboard) my pattern-construction decisions.

In other words, I strongly believe that a lot of textile reconstructions contain a certain percentage of cat hair!

There's currently a lecture series going on at the Uni Bamberg about wood, and they are so very nice to also stream it online - which means that I got to listen in yesterday. It was very interesting, and it showed again how blind one can be regarding things that were really well researched in a different discipline - just because there is no awareness of that research. Case in point: Dendrochronology has its origins in the natural sciences. Looking at the wood pieces also means looking at their shape, though, and at the pegs that can be found in some of them. The pegs are what remains of the method to secure several logs together into a raft, which was very well researched in historical books and works - but it took a good long while for the dendro folks to realise that. Because... well, because they were not aware of that work, and had not yet stumbled across it by chance, or by research.

This phenomenon of missing something entirely that has been a research topic in a different discipline is not that rare, and while it might not always happen so obviously on such a high (basically the system) level, I have seen it again and again happen with individual research things (my own personal ones included). It's a weird feeling and an eye-opener when you find out that there's a whole cosmos already existing.

The lecture fell in wonderfully with a video discussion I had right afterwards where I had the pleasure to discuss a fabric reconstruction in the works. As usual, it's not really easy to get the appropriate yarns, and it makes a difference on whether they are twisted hard or soft, and which loom is used, and which reed, and so on. This also is a fascinating universe on its own, and I always feel like while I am not able to step across the threshold, I do know just enough to stand in the open door and look inside this other world, and stand in awe and wonder.

It is such a privilege to work with colleagues who step out of their way to open that door for me, and share their insights and their process. 

There also is a plan to do a little bit of a write-up and a publication after the project, about some of the aspects - the tool influence (which was nicely visible already), but also the process of getting to such a reconstruction. I'm mostly involved with sourcing the information (including images) about the fabric, sometimes also with the wool threads, but then most of the pondering and evaluation goes to the weaver, and I can happily stand by and enjoy the ride.

(Until the thing is finished and in my hands. Then it's time for chocolate, tea, and some more chocolate to gather enough courage for the cutting... but that is a story for another day.)