I went to the middle of nowhere...

and after an excruciantingly long bus ride, I ended up at a medieval festival! It was located about 10 towns away, so how could I resist, being a closet medievalist and all. And, as a bonus, the DH willingly agreed to accompany me, what could be a better way to spend an afternoon? I saw lots of great costumes, so I have lots of ideas for what to create and wear next year. I saw lots of capelet-hoody things, such as the back of this one:
on both guys and girls of all ages. They are made from a felt material, and most of them were dyed in earth-toned colors. I also saw a surprisingly large number of crocheted victorian style fringed triangular shawls, like this one.
Ahem. Nuff said. There were lots of saxons...
check out his teeny tiny skull in the left of the picture! It rained A LOT as you can see from the big dark cloud in the picture, so the DH and I spent a lot of time drinking grog and listening to the very cool minstrels...

These kids were a hybrid medieval heavy metal band. They even played 'Smoke on the Water' by Deep Purple, and I don't think anyone noticed except for my husband and these two very enthusiastic spectators. These guys must have made their own costumes because they were quite unique, and very authentic. Unfortunately I got quite tipsy and developed a huge grog headache. That stuff is not weak!

We did some shopping, and while I did not purchase a single scrap of clothing, the DH bought a medieval style coarsely woven linen peasant-style shirt in black (Black! No honey - earth tones! Egad...) . I can't decide if he looks like a pirate or a rock star. Anyways, I came away with a little
soomething for myself...
A pennanular ring - or medieval safety pin. This sucker is perfect for fastening knitwear, but not much else because the pin is so wide. I got it for a fastener for a post-Christmas project I have pictured in my head, but haven't written down any of the ideas for. For next year, I plan on having completed Annie Modesitt's lacy camisole thingie, and with an appropriate dress I think that will fit the bill well enough for these not-too-exact revivalists, because it'll probably be too warm to wear a wool sweater. The DH will wear the shirt, linen trousers, and I'll probably have the time to knit him up one of those hoody capelet things in an undyed wool, with some celtic knot cables thrown in just for fun.

Ivanova