The day has not even stated properly, and I'm already feeling scatterbrained. That's not good, especially not since I have a stack of reading work to take care of today, and a trip to the library on my to-do list.

So in best scatterbrainy tradition, here's stuff for you to look at:

Mediävist Jaques Le Goff died on April first (not a joke). He was one of the big guys (here's his Wikipedia page).

Medieval Manuscript blog has horses fighting so their owners don't fight alone. (They also have lots of other fun stuff. That blog ought to be on your reading list if you are interested in manuscripts and quirky pictures therefrom.)

There's a tumbler about People of Colour in history (including medieval times), with interesting links.

And here's a collection of pictures for long late-medieval hose.

Finally, in case you have a vacuum cleaner that seems to have lost some of its initial amazing sucking powers over time? Try cleaning the hose that connects the vacuum to the tube and nozzle. Ours turned out to have accumulated much more clogging dirt stubbornly clinging to the inside of the tube than we would have believed possible...

Monday! Spring! My nose itches! There are links for you!

First of all, Doug's Blogging Archaeology Carnival has ended, and here is the final post.

Secondly, the Canadian Conservation Institute has Notes and Publications downloadable on their server. The Notes are all free (some of them are a bit older, but should still prove helpful), and the Technical Bulletins are available as a free pdf version once they are 5 years or older.

Thirdly and finally, in case you are looking for something small to knit for an unusual recipient, there's always penguin sweaters.

First of all, thanks to a hint from Gillian, here's a link to Palgrave McMillan, who are making their journals - all of their journals - free access during the whole of March.

Also online, with free access, is the Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, 1977-2005. (That site might yield other interesting stuff too - I haven't dug around yet.)

Also online: Codex Falkensteiniensis, dated to 1166-1196 (with a few later arms depictions strewn in). It includes a pic of someone fishing out of the window.

For those of you who are still here after that, said Gillian is doing a series of guest blog posts for Women's History Month. I did enjoy today's post - very interesting woman.

And Amalie has tried to trace warp transition in tablet weaving - unsuccessfully (yet).

That's it. If you are still here... I have nothing more for you. Come back tomorrow ; )

Back when I was studying, I hung out a lot with folks in German studies - to be precise, with those studying Middle High German. We did a lot of weird and fun things (such as translate modern songs into MHG), and I learned oodles about the old form of German.

I'd acquired a fancy for that old form of German back in school, when we did the obligatory bit about language history and had to learn a poem by good old Walther von der Vogelweide by heart. For someone interested in clothing, the medieval epics are also interesting as a source, since descriptions of garments are quite frequent and can give glimpses on how things were worn, and what the aesthetic ideals were. So I learned MHG until I was passable at understanding it, and was involved in a few things and events of the German studies folks, and attended a few of their seminars.

This also meant that I heard about stuff like concerts, readings, or plays (performed in MHG, of course) - and that was how I came into contact with Eberhard Kummer, who performs those small works like, oh, the Nibelungenlied. Not just some odd bits and pieces of it, mind you - he's done the whole thing. Twice. (At least twice.)

I was in the happy situation to hear, live, a lot of the second full performance (I missed two evenings, and I'm still sad about that). Ever since, I have longed to have a recording of this - last times I tried to find them, none were available. And yesterday, half by chance, I found out that the first performance is actually available as mp3 files, and at a very, very reasonable price.

My copy is currently downloading (30 hours' worth of musical reading do take their time), and I am looking forward to sitting in the sun, sewing, and having the Song to listen to. For those of you who prefer Middle English or Early Modern English (two languages that I am not very good in), The Chaucer Studio has lots of this as well. If you are interested in sung pieces - a performance that will be as close as possible to the original performing of medieval epics - the stuff done by Eberhard Kummer is the thing.

I have to wait only ten more minutes for my download to finish. Praised be the Internet for (almost) instant gratification!

I spent a good while sewing yesterday, and also poring over the sleeve problem that turned up on the current project dress. I've found, since I have done the attempt at reconstructing the medieval tailoring technique used for dresses such as St. Elisabeth's dress, that my typical method works less well with some body types. I have stumbled across this phenomenon again these days, and now I'm trying to tweak the method so it will accommodate them all. (Insert evil laughter here.) I'm not totally sure on how I will test-run this tweaked method, but cometh the time, cometh the idea.

I also need some coffee now, since there is lots to do but my energy levels this morning are a bit low. (Surely this has nothing to do with my sleeve-tweaking test right after hopping out of bed.)

In other news, also sewing-related, there's a challenge that I have heard about several times now: the "Historical Sew Forthnightly Challenge". Apparently, not only Cathy, but also VixHQ are participating. This led me to go and peek at the challenge list... it looks really nice, it does. If you are looking for a bit of external motivation for your sewing projects, that might be just the thing for you. For now, though, I have stuff to sew that might fit into the challenge, but is work stuff - and that would somehow feel like cheating to me.

Finally for today, here's an article about the use of hemp in Scandinavia, published in nature - you can download the full article for free, and I highly recommend it, as it covers the "linen" terminology problem.

While sitting and sewing, finishing an article, working on a book project and trying to finish knitting a project I want to have on the table, together with a for-sale pattern at LonCon, I have also been doing research about early medieval garments (again). And part of this was done with help of a manuscript with lots and lots of illuminations - the "Stuttgarter Psalter".

It's from the first half of the 9th century, originates from Saint-Germain-des-Près, and currently hangs out in the collection of the library in Stuttgart. Where, praised be digitisation, it has been fully digitised and can now also hang out on your screen, if you follow this link. (Hint: If you should happen to need to download one of the pages at full resolution, zoom in a little bit before you hit "save this image" - that gives you the big one instead of the smaller non-zoomed preview. Smart, smart programmers.)

Should you prefer your manuscripts from the second half of the tenth century in Britain, however, you might want to check out this blog post instead. Or go straight to BL Add MS 49598.

Over on the Stringpage blog (which you should totally check out in case you still don't know it), Sarah posted a link to the new Virtual Library at the Getty Museum of Art. Like the Met before it, the Getty has made out-of-print backlist publications available for download, free of charge.

Hooray for these two wonderful museums and the books they offer us!