I can't tell - it's possible, but from my understanding it's not that hard to make a lot of different furs (esp. small mammal ones) to look like other ones Edit: looking at pictures and closely at the garment, yeah, my best guess is rabbit, and I think making rabbit look like mink or sable is a lot ...

I found this fur coat for literally $12 and obviously couldn't pass that up. It actually fits in the body (this is rare for vintage first for me), though not in the arms. Tempted just to cut the arms off and wear it like that, but I know fur coats of this style aren't very 'period.' so I wanted to p...

That does sound quite painful! I've seen leather with regular needles before (and still sew beaver furs and the like with them), so if you end up having to do that again for whatever reason, the trick (as with all heavier materials unless they're v loosely woven) is to use a very thin needle - I use...

Getting yourself under the nail with one is a truly heinous experience

Sort of, I guess. My suspicion is that - as is common in the military and other professions sleep may be hard to come by - they gain the ability to sleep whenever the chance presents itself. I do not think it was common for people to set watches with the same watch schedule every night, but rather t...

It's not the only source material I've looked to in making these, but this thesis is the most comprehensive and archaeologically grounded, for those interested: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1444309/6/L ... dacted.pdf

It does actually have a plug [EDIT: rereading your comment, I think the shadows in the original picture just make the windway look larger than it is][EDIT 2: it's actually because the sides of the... Tube? Are filled with wax up to the sides of the window in an attempt to help direct/concentrate air...

This is a bone flute, which is a fairly common find in early medieval England. Both sheep and deer are found (this is from a white-tailed deer), though deer bones are associated with higher-status locations than sheep. It's made from a metatarsal and both the metatarsal and tibia were used historica...

I have always personally imagined the scene in my head as 'galadriel and her handmaids spinning and weaving beneath the trees during the fellowship's stay' but agree the text could be seen as ambiguous

I think it's worth noting as a corrolary of a smaller party having a harder time setting a watch that a smaller party has less need of a watch - it's camp takes up a smaller footprint, they can hide the camp in denser areas (and a smaller camp can simply fit in more places than a larger one, expandi...

Something I started doing this year which has been *very* useful is hitting up a local game processing centre - initially for hides, but I've been getting all sorts of bones (whole legs, which give hock skins and sinew as well) and even a couple heads (mostly for the jawbones), chunks of deer fat to...

Yeah, the only wool clothing I have ever had get stinky is a merino base layer or the like (and even then, nothing like poly or cotton do). I've also found 'fuzzier' wools more susceptible to staining (especially if pale) - my arán jumper is a lot more susceptible than my check wool shirt, for insta...

I recently picked up a large, thick, wool blanket for my kit. I was considering dying it - probably with walnuts, as my first natural dyeing project, since I managed to get guitar a few this year, but I do love that báinín (that undyed cream-wool sort of tone) colour. But *how on earth* would you ke...

If we appeal to the frame narrative, Bilbo also doesn't have the intimate knowledge of elven social structure he does in say, imladris. He sees people he interprets as jailors and butlers when they act as jail guards or serve the king, but we don't actually know if they performed those roles in a 'f...

I don't really have any solid plans, save that I'm hoping to attach it to something existing rather than building a frame for the pole if possible I decided last night to reduce the weight of the whorl a bit - it was tiring to spin with in the hand (which I'm just learning now, before this it was al...