In case you are interested in trying medieval embroidery, I will be giving a course in Erlangen on the 27th of October and the 28th of October 2012. The first day will be dedicated to counted-work techniques (canevas), while the second day covers the techniques with free pattern design. The two days are bookable separately in case only one of the two variations is of interest for you, and the course fee includes materials (a piece of linen fabric suitable for the work and the silk (and partly gold) threads). Course language will be German (of course).

You can book both workshops, counted work and pattern embroidery via my new online shop. Workshop places are limited, of course, so that the group does not get too large.

Embroidery workshops are great fun, and I'm already looking forward to this!

I am using the time until the Copenhagen conference starts to do my pre-season-start inventory work, which also includes cleaning out and re-filling the many boxes I use to protect and store the wares that I lug along, and other work like dunking my baskets in water to clean and revitalise them.

And I'm very happy to announce that I can do this while sitting in a room with the newly finished Flowery Newness!

This was quite pleasant to work and did not take overly long, thanks to the appliqué technique. The motif is taken from a 15th century manuscript margin decoration; the manuscript is probably from South Germany and is a Book of Hours. You can see the inspiration page in the British Library online thingie, here.

For those interested in the technique: It's wool on wool, plant dyes (with exception of the stems, which are fake onion-dyed chemical dye), edges caught with beeswax and sewn on with plant-dyed silk thread. I had to use a substitute for the gilt leather strip that would usually have surrounded the edges; the substitute is a gilt thread (which should really be called a rope, compared to proper historical gold thread).

This flowery banner will adorn my sales table in Freienfels - and I think it's quite the eye-catcher!

I was properly busy yesterday and added more pictures to the shop as well as a few new items. Among them, brand-spanking-new: six-holed weaving tablets (made of parchment) and very variable slate frames.

You can check out the new goodies here - and I hope you like them!

Really. They are. I mean I totally love my diamonds - they are always plane, they never need trueing, they do not need to be soaked before use, they don't even need lubricant, and they come with their non-slip feet or non-slip mat. Plus they are quite abrasive, even with small grain... so what's not to love?

For those of you who are confused: I am talking about diamond whetstones. And for those of you who ponder buying a whetstone for sharpening kitchen knives or other tools: I can totally recommend a diamond stone. They are a bit pricier than normal stone stones, but they last forever, they never develop a ditch, and they are easy to clean.

This post was brought to you by the person who finally finished sharpening a new tool (that came very, very unsharpened) and can now start to work on those 6-hole weaving tablets  that are supposed to go into the shop soon...

Every year, Christmas (or Yule, or however you like to call it) creeps up and then, suddenly, jumps into the face of unsuspecting people.

Should you be one of the many persons who have no idea what to give to your loved one who is into historical textiles, I have just added the possibility to buy a gift voucher to my shop - you can find it here (the German version) or here (the English version).

And if you are interested in the embroidery workshops on January 28 or 29, don't forget to book your place before it's too late!

Somehow, time in these last weeks has been rushing by in one giant whooshing sound - I cannot believe we have the middle of October already!

The English version of the shop is officially up and running now, with all items sporting an English text as well. A few pictures are all that is still lacking, and they, at least, are lacking for both German and English visitors. Have fun in and with the shop!

And if you are planning to participate in one of the embroidery courses, please do register for them now - I will only be able to take "orders" on this until Sunday, October 16, otherwise it gets quite impossible to plan.

I have almost finished getting the English webshop up and running - almost all of the items have an English translation now, and I have also figured out shipping and handling prices for outside of Germany and outside of Europe.

There's a few last translation thingies to be made and a little fine-tuning to be done most probably, but if you are curious, you can drop over already and have a first look. Switching languages should be easy now - just click on the German or English flag.


I'm also planning to add hand-spun wool sewing/embroidery thread to the shop, though that will take at least a few days more (or to be more exact, until I have managed to spin and ply a sample batch and then figure out pricing for it). Plus there's another item in the waiting line, soon to be delivered to me and ready to go into the shop.

Good thing it's winter now