Middle Earth Ranger Forum

Why yes I am! I'm currently working on a nice pillbox hat to keep my head warm with the same wool I used for caedmon's hat. I'm drafting up a new leather pouch based on the Sutton Hoo purse lid. I'm going to try to do cordwork on the flap which is slightly nerve-wracking. Need to figure out what design I would like to use. And while I'm not making it, I am waiting for my first proper cloak to arrive. Got a good Black Friday deal and picked up a nice handwoven dark grey 2/2 tabby wool cloak. Just a rectangular sagum but it's got a neat fringe! I'm especially looking forward to using Odigan's Dúnedain penannular brooch on it. Hopefully it will get here before all this nice cold weather goes away!

Eofor wrote: ↑Thu Jan 06, 2022 12:59 pm

A copy of St Cuthberts Gospel book and replica Sutton Hoo shoes by Torvalds leather workshop. Both the shoes and the wraps are for Beowulf performances and should stay nice and shiny!

It amuses me that the sediment in Mound 1 was so acidic that the entire corpse was eaten away but there was enough leather left to determine it was a shoe. Funny the quirks of archaeology.

Speaking of cloaks, I've opted for a rectangular one for my "primary" cloak but I have been considering a hooded “secondary” cloak. I've taken the separate cloak and hood of the Dwarves and run with it but an integrated hood would be nice when the forecast calls for more steady rain. I like the look of your paenula. Do you know if that was similar in construction to the birrus brittanicus? I've seen an few carvings and statues wearing what is therorized to be a birrus but I've yet to run across a proper reconstruction. I am intrigued by the British origin of the birrus.

caedmon wrote: ↑Thu Jan 06, 2022 8:43 pm Where'd you get that?!? Is it a facsimile?

That one is an etsy find (and quite cheap considering the quality) It's a blank book I intend to use as a journal. I do know of at least one place you can buy a facsimile at a reasonable price if you are chasing one.

Cimrandir wrote: ↑Fri Jan 07, 2022 6:43 am Do you know if that was similar in construction to the birrus brittanicus? I've seen an few carvings and statues wearing what is therorized to be a birrus but I've yet to run across a proper reconstruction. I am intrigued by the British origin of the birrus.

I'm looking forward to seeing your Sutton hoo inspired pouch!

Personally I think that the Birrus is a paenula design, if for no other reason than the Roman military machine was very efficient and I can't see them continuing with a tried and tested design. Certainly the depictions in iconography that I have seen all look much like my paenula.
Where I think it becomes a unique garment to the Isles is in the wool used to make it. I think it would have been thicker and have used untreated wool which would have increased it's warmth and waterproofing qualities - something akin to the later Varafeldur but with the wool kept short.

Eofor, Awesome Stuff

Elleth wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 6:11 pm You'll note that if the Irish lass on the left drops her arms, the corners of her garment will dip pretty low - maybe even get caught in scraggly groundcover

yep, you can note that on the other photos on the etsy page (https://www.etsy.com/listing/644055231/ ... cape-cloak) she is actually wearing 4'' heels, so if she wasn't I think the corners would be touching the floor

but by making the cloak narrower you can avoid this problem, make the cloak lighter, and make it work with a pack, that's basically how I have made mine

Cimrandir wrote: ↑Fri Jan 07, 2022 6:43 am Why yes I am! I'm currently working on a nice pillbox hat to keep my head warm with the same wool I used for caedmon's hat. I'm drafting up a new leather pouch based on the Sutton Hoo purse lid. I'm going to try to do cordwork on the flap which is slightly nerve-wracking. Need to figure out what design I would like to use. And while I'm not making it, I am waiting for my first proper cloak to arrive. Got a good Black Friday deal and picked up a nice handwoven dark grey 2/2 tabby wool cloak. Just a rectangular sagum but it's got a neat fringe! I'm especially looking forward to using Odigan's Dúnedain penannular brooch on it. Hopefully it will get here before all this nice cold weather goes away!

Sounds good, I think we need to see some photo's

I’ve been busy with a few things, but the others kinda need their own thread and aren’t quite ready for that. Here’s a fun thing, though!

This is my first batch of salt pork made using townsend’s method. It’s open-air, not a sealed jar, and when I’m getting ready to trek with it I’m thinking I’ll smoke what I’m going to take with me. It’s been in here for two months, since I slaughtered and butchered the pig it come from. This is all jowl meat, for perspective.

Wow!

... you're definitely elbows-deep in the homestead experience now. Congratulations / condolences / OMG / nicely done!

Elleth wrote: ↑Fri Jan 07, 2022 10:55 pm Wow!

... you're definitely elbows-deep in the homestead experience now. Congratulations / condolences / OMG / nicely done!

I almost said "You have NO idea..." but of all people...you actually do! Cured 15 lbs of bacon and a whole ham in November-December, and ate the best Maple Syrup-glazed ham ever made on Christmas Day. Goats are breeding as we speak in prep for milking season, I have two pigs slated for slaughter in March, Maple Syrup season is rapidly approaching, and I'm shoveling mulch like crazy trying to keep the compost rolling for spring planting. Always something!

Greg wrote: ↑Sat Jan 08, 2022 12:05 am Always something!

OMG it is.

For us this is as close as it gets to vacation season.
For me next month is pruning, then sugaring, then the great big planting and lambing season and the desperate hurry to stay ahead of weeds and bugs and then harvest and...

Wheeeee!

I just finished up my version 1 cloak and hood - slightly modified bocksten cloak and slightly modified skjoldehamn hood. It runs about knee length ( I was intending to make it mid calf, but oh well) and seems to work pretty well as far as rain and cold weather go. I'm thinking about adding some ties to the hood to close it up more tightly around the face, but I'll test it some more and see from there.

Turgolanas wrote: ↑Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:45 pm I just finished up my version 1 cloak and hood - slightly modified bocksten cloak and slightly modified skjoldehamn hood. It runs about knee length ( I was intending to make it mid calf, but oh well) and seems to work pretty well as far as rain and cold weather go. I'm thinking about adding some ties to the hood to close it up more tightly around the face, but I'll test it some more and see from there.

awesome if it's possible, seeing some photo's of it would be cool

Iodo wrote: ↑Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:49 pm
awesome if it's possible, seeing some photo's of it would be cool

I'll try to get some photos tonight when I get home!

cool

Took me a few days, but here are the cloak photos! I'm not sure why they are huge, so sorry about that lol

Cool! Looks very bocksten-inspired! What fabric did you use?

I used a couple of harbor freight 80/20 wool blankets. They come grey, but I dyed grey over that and then lanolized them. They start out smelly and itchy, but after a few weeks the smell was pretty much gone, and the lanolin made them much softer. I think they have a fairly loose weave as well. If I remember correctly the cloak and hood are six pounds together, at 4.5 for the cloak and 1.5 for the hood. The blankets run about $8 now I think.

Oh well done- they very much look the part!