I got word from the Etsy shop AstridReco that my new Viking garb is on the way in a high-priority package from Poland to here in the US.  I hope it arrives in time for the first of two Twelfth Night celebrations that I’ll be attending with the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).

The first celebration will be held one state north of mine. I’ll be sharing a motel room there with two other SCA ladies–Mistress Halla of Mugmort, to whom I earlier introduced you (see the post here), as well as her friend Heodez diTalento, who I haven’t yet met, but look forward to the honor.  This celebration is the Midrealm Kingdom Twelfth Night, and its webpage is Midrealm Kingdom 12th Night.

Then the second Twelfth Night I’ll be going to will be here in my metro area: it is a Baronial celebration. Its page is at Middle Marches 12th Night.

Kingdoms, like the Midrealm Kingdom, are comprised of several Baronies.  My local SCA group, the Marche of Tirnewydd, is in the Barony of Middle Marches. Lots of similar names, which can get a bit confusing to an SCA newbie like me. 🙂 The Middle Marches Twelfth Night will be probably the last big event to be held under the auspices of Baron Marcus Pinarius and Baroness Eilis TheStone, because the populace in our Barony will be voting soon on a new couple to rule over Middle Marches.

But now, back to the important stuff.  The clothes! You have seen already my new sheepskin hat, but here it is again:

img_3697-sheepskin-hat

It was made for me by an American Etsy shop, Vikings at Your Door.  They are definitely wonderful in all ways. I have gotten a number of things from them, including some really unique vintage amber jewelry. I recommend them highly!

So here’s the new stuff, which in the SCA is called ‘garb,’ rather than ‘costume’ or merely ‘clothes.’ I guess every alternate reality must have its own terminology. 🙂

A photo of the completed under-dress in yellow by AstridReco, with hand-woven braid around the neck and sleeves, with the red apron dress, and at the bottom, the hand-woven belt they designed for me:

new-viking-dress

One of the great things about AstridReco is that they do all the sewing by hand. Nothing is by machine! So that increases each piece’s historical authenticity.  Also, the shop owner, Katarzyna Smolen (“Kate”), after having spent years in reenactment groups as an amateur medieval seamstress, is now a professional archaeologist and artifact conservator who researches and designs every item that the shop offers. So I am assured that everything I get from them is as historically accurate as possible, which means a lot to me.

Here is a close-up of the two braids they wove for me, the one to trim the under-dress and the other for the belt. The color register is a bit different, but I wanted to show you the detail of the designs:

new-viking-dress-2

I think I’ve shown you the boots they’ve made me already, but here they are again, just in case you didn’t see them. They are made using a pattern of boot remains found in an archaeological site in what was then Hedeby, Denmark, so they are called ‘Hedeby boots:’

my-hedeby-viking-boots-1

Plus now they have made traditional Nordic socks for me to go under the boots, using a knotting technique called nålebinding.  This technique pre-dates both knitting and crochet for material fabrication:

neew-viking-socks

One of the SCA ladies in our Barony is going to be offering a class on nålebinding at the Baronial Middle Marches Twelfth Night celebration.  That’s one of the cool things about SCA events. Many people think only of the various combat activities when they hear about SCA events, but there are usually also classes on a number of often arcane topics of interest to the medieval re-enactor, as well as displays of arts and crafts, rigorously documented for historical authenticity, that SCA members have made.

Well, I can hardly wait until my package arrives!  You can bet that I will post some photos of me in my new garb! 😉