Two in a Row, Wow - Of course, being the only person in charge of me, do I really need to express surprise at myself? *grin*

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I had to laugh at the good-timing of everything when I decided yesterday to (a) update my journal, and (b) read some of the updates on my friends' journals. I mentioned yesterday that a dear friend and I were talking about the possibilities of an artistic partnership. So, yes, I was being vague, but then again I have a very mixed audience here on my journal, so sometimes I explain "normal SCA things" in very non-SCA, vague, non-jargon ways. Hopefully the people in the know and the people who are only loosely aware of my biggest hobby all get a good idea of what I'm talking about.

And then sometimes I realize I've been *so* vague and non-jargon filled that I've obscured things that don't need to be cryptic. I always get a big laugh at myself in these times.

You see, this dear friend had also emailed me to say, "So am I allowed to mention your name publically?" and I answered, "Sure, it's nice to talk to friends about these things" thinking she was really talking about conversational use of names. Then to my great laughter, I read her journal posting in which she announced that she was inviting me to be her apprentice. What a good laugh I had at myself! Silly me!

So, there. In the non-generic, completely specific SCA jargon kind of way, yes I'm happy to say that I've been invited to be apprenticed. To whom you might ask? Those of you in the know, that would be Tonwen (or more accurately "Mistress Tonwen ferch Gruffudd Aur," made a Laurel for Research, in the Kingdom of Caid). In modern life, that would be my very good friend, Rae.

When I mentioned we're talking about details, it's about what she sees in an apprenticeship, what she sees as our working relationship, what she sees as goals for me, and all these things as I see them too, and the joy of sorting through these ideas together. My head is spinning with project ideas, concepts, goals, etc. and I'm surprised (and somewhat honored and humbled) to find out that her brain is a-whirring too. As more concrete decisions are settled between us, you'll hear plenty more about the arrangement, when and how about any ceremony we design, etc.

But there you go, the non-vague scoop. *hee hee*
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In my day-to-day life, sorry Wilhelm, what I had for lunch wasn't really note-worthy. In fact meals are almost never that noteworthy in my week. I'm still struggling with the day-to-day desire to "eat less, exercise more" and on that route, today was definitely an "eat less" kind of day. And since I could not go walking with Meala on Monday, we re-scheduled for today. I also had my hair appt today around lunch-time, so I have neatly colored and trimmed hair, a nice walk under my belt, and a lovely evening spent with Scott (Lorccan).

Scott's new armoring "man-dress" (as he jokingly calls it) is the article of clothing he wears over his armor, when he's sword-fighting. Crown Tournament is rapidly approaching on Saturday, September 8, and he really wants to wear a new fighter tunic. So last week we had dinner on Thursday, then evaluated his fabric stash and all the projects he has planned. We flipped through costuming notes, measurements, and patterns, and determined he could easily cut out all the panels this week and come back and I could start edging and piecing together. So all I sewed last week were the ragged cut ends of his unwashing fabric (so he could wash it and the sewn edges would reduce the unraveling). He got all the pieces cut out this past week, and today I edged (with a zig-zag stitch, to lock all the cut edges and keep them from unravelling) all the pattern pieces. Then I got all of the false-under-dress pieces sewn together, and most of the body panels and gores (those are the triangles that make the bottom hem wider). I still need to piece together the under-arm gussets and attach the sleeves. Then when he comes back next week, I can fit the false under-dress to the correct length, attach it, hem the entire outfit, then finish the neckline. And poof, new outfit in three Thursday evenings. Not bad! I'm quite pleased with the venture.

After my two spinning samples yesterday morning, which I mentioned in my journal entry, I have to admit I spun up two more samples. The alpaca was dreamy to spin, and the bamboo annoyed the bajeebees out of me but made a gorgeous finished yarn. So I had to do a comparison with the black wool I picked up from Bjo, as well as the "unknown silk" roving. I was fairly certain it couldn't be silk, because it didn't catch on my skin. But I wasn't sure if it was bamboo, soy silk, or some other cellulose fiber. I'm now pretty sure it's soy silk, and it was a *dream* to handle, after the annoying bamboo. It's not quite as glossy and glowing a finished yarn as the bamboo, but it's a pleasure to spin. And the black wool was a sweet surprise too. It's carded up in rolled batts, so it makes a lucious woolen (as opposed to worsted) finished yarn.

I also finally solved the problem of tangled singles from a center-pull ball, especially when I want to ply the singles directly into a 2-ply yarn. Rather than wrap them into a "ball" with an approximately 2" hollow center, I wrapped the yarn around the extended fingers of one hand, then slid the whole thing over my hand onto my wrist. So the wrapped circle was about 6-7" in diameter, and only loosely condensed around my wrist. It was exceptionally easy to pull the yarn from both ends, to ply it on my drop spindle, and with my entire arm "in the center of the ball of yarn" (basically), it never could get tangled back on itself. I cannot believe I've never tried that before, and I'm not sure you'll ever get me to do it any other way now.

My kumihimo cord-weaving projects this week have been to finish a kit for photo-graphing for the internet store, and I'm almost done with the 2nd cord... Not that the entire cord is completed for either set, but they're almost both far enough along to make a nice photo of the kit being woven. Then this weekend I want to finish some viking-whip-cord I promised to my friend Signy, and that wraps up all my "I could be done in 1-2 days" projects on the shelf. Then I can get back to my new list-of-lists and start evaluating priorities for all my works-in-progress. I know that I definitely want my painted-fabric project done by Coronation, since that might be the perfect day to have a new outfit.

I'm sad that I cannot be at Festival of the Rose this Saturday, since the household has been planning to go camping together for months now, but I'm grateful that Meala and Lorccan will be my fill-in calligraphers one more time. After this weekend, I'll be able to make it to all the rest of the entire Royal Progress, and spend some quality time with Their Majesties. This *also* means that I have no weekends open until the middle of November, when you count some other intervening activities on my calendar (like the holidays in September, a wedding, and a birthday or two). Would you believe that next month I turn 39? (For the first time, silly goose. Really!) There's a reason my silver hair is cultivated neatly into one attractive streak at my temples. *grin*

Well, I really ought to get some sleep. I know that the Baron thinks I never sleep, but I do, really Thomas, I do!

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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Scott, because you're such a wonderful conversationalist, and an equally good listener.