Sometimes I don’t think – a photoessay

Posted on April 14, 2010 by HappyGoth

Well, actually I think all the time. But not always in ways that are useful. Take this past weekend, for example. I have been looking at images of women from the 1500s in India, and they’ve got lovely henna’d hands. I had a box of it at home, so I brought it along to Coronation. And then decided that sitting on a blanket under a tree was the absolute best place to apply it to my fingers.

Observe:

Making pretty good progress! Notice that it’s in a styrofoam cup and that I am also still in garb. Yes.

Still going. I basically gave up on my feet. I’m glad for that, because

Wait, this takes how long to dry?  Four hours? Dang. I am totally going to miss feast at this rate.

Will someone remind me why I thought this was a good idea? Please? Because I can’t remember.

Getting up and then going to the bathroom was a challenge. I left a little muddy trail behind me. Thankfully Serafina was kind enough to tuck my skirt and patka into my waistband (remember, the patka is white).

But you know what? I think I looked sort of bizarrely authentic, except for the stupidity, the cardboard box, and the styrofoam cup.

It all came off okay, and I had very faint henna marks on my hands for a couple of days afterward.

Anyway. It was nice under that tree.

(Totally a secret ninja)

Fallon’s Heian Japanese garb was completely awesome.

And I did some spinning! I’m almost done with this wool, and can move on to the plying stage soon. I anticipate that MD S&W in May will see its completion.

Coronation was lovely. Their Majesties are lovely (and dance well! and have voluminous garb that requires help to put on!). Their Graces (previously Their Majesties) are lovely (and His Grace, Duke Boru, helped me dispose of some leftover Krispy Kremes). All in all, awesome.

Whew. No more events for me until Lusty Month of May, maybe. Definitely that one I’m event steward for in June. Saltare? Yeah, that one.

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Not such a good idea

Posted on April 12, 2010 by HappyGoth

Actually, it was a great idea. My students are awesome, and I really want them to be awesome. Sometimes you need to see what awesome is.

So I made a tumblr for sharing awesome things (at the moment the class I teach is Type 3, so all entries are type-related).

In Which We Share Things

But then I noticed that I did not blog about other things, so I’ll have to get on that. I’ve got embarrassing photos to post, never you fear.

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I know Rag Bhairav!

Posted on April 12, 2010 by HappyGoth

No, really. I’ve watched Dhoom 2 five times (or more), and so I know what I didn’t know I know.

(More later, but this is so completely awesome that I had to share it now.)

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More busy

Posted on April 7, 2010 by HappyGoth

The theme for me lately seems to be intense bursts of activity, followed by sitting around watching TV for a couple of days, and somewhere remembering to blog about said activity.

Here’s what I’ve been up to lately:

Fool’s War. I have this photo of the CG and she looks really really great, except for the cooler in the background.

But otherwise, really authentic! The yarn she is spinning on that beautiful wheel is likewise beautiful, but in a different sort of way. (I’d have more photos of things, but crappy camera refused to take more than the one).

Then, using my weird, fashion-sized dressform, I came up with a proto-solution to the ghagra mystery:

Basically, it’s a length of fabric draped around the dummy nivi-style, only without the pallu and knotted at the waist. However, it achieves what I want it to, which is the weird pointy silhouette you see in Mewari miniatures from the 16th century. I have no idea how to get the patka to work with this, but I feel it’s a useful exercise. My other solution (which I currently use) is to bunch the fabric in the front of the skirt, along the drawstring, which seems to work in a similar fashion, only not as voluminous and not as neatly.

This is the fun part of costuming, right?

Anyway. So then, yesterday, I got frustrated waiting for 4th Wednesday illumination class to roll around, and I was too lazy to drive anywhere, so I went to Sam Flax, bought myself some gouache, and am now nearly finished with my first “original” illumination:

(Crappy camera is crappy. So are crappy photos. Sorry.)

I can see how real gold leaf will help in the future. My goal with this is to find the language for an OVO scroll, and modify this to match the  initial letter of that, plus incorporate an owl instead of that rockin’ peacock (which I love, but is not as appropriate). Or, I’ll keep the peacock and work on the first letter of a different scroll. I will have to find somebody to do the calligraphy, as I have not done any since 7th grade art class, but it’s a good start!

And then I bought some kumquats to share at Fool’s War, only they’re really an acquired taste, so I went home with lots of kumquats. So I brought them to work and at the end of the day, there were lots of kumquats. I thought a witty and charming illustration would help. I made one:

By 2pm, they were all gone! I don’t know if they got eaten or were thrown away, but I don’t have to worry about them any more.

This weekend is Coronation, which will either be warm or cold, so I’m packing some garb options. I am kind of hoping it’s warm. I forgot how much I love my Hindu garb.

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Oh, blog.

Posted on April 5, 2010 by HappyGoth

I miss you, really I do.

So here’s some stuff for fun. I went to Fool’s War this weekend! It was a last-minute decision, but I’m glad I went. I day-tripped with Lea and her husband (who a friend mistook for my husband, much to my own amusement), and then hung out with the CG and lots of other folks in the sun under a tent all day. I managed to avoid sunburn, although I did acquire a nasty fire ant bite. I suppose it all balances out.

Anyway. I have photographic proof (thanks, Martin!):

It was so warm. I did not realize this until yesterday, when I found myself strangely exhausted.

Also, there was this project I was working on (actually, avoiding working on and then suddenly hammering out in one evening), that I wore:

That white top is a fancy thing Madhavi sent (made possible by rum!), and although she’s revised it since then, it fits really well. Also, I am in love with my super-long fake braid and kunjalam, except when I have to use the bathroom and I get worried that I’m going to forget it’s there and accidentally dip it in the toilet.

And the swanky cup? Purchased from Mistress Kira, who is a wonder with pottery. I have Plans to send her some miniatures that reference the throwaway terra cotta cups used in India even today, and see if she can make some that look like those, but are reusable and glazed only on the inside. In the meantime, my “lotus” cup rocks, and it has a handle so I don’t burn my hands when drinking hot beverages.

I got to hang out with Sarah again, and saw Maya briefly, and helped a teenager I met last week wrap her odhni properly.  Along with my purchase of a Saraswathi idol to wear around my neck, I think I did a good job of representing a portion of South Asia.

And then Lea took an apprentice (who also has no blog, so I won’t put her name here, but she is completely awesome), who gave her a contract of service, and then the other apprentices gave her twins, because theirs is a fertile group (lo, there are babies).

This weekend is Coronation! I believe this year is a test to see how many events I can go to before I explode. So far, so good.

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I promised!

Posted on March 29, 2010 by HappyGoth

And I’m delivering.

I said I’d have photos of the 4-hour garb on me, and here they are (thanks to Lord Yul and Master Lorenzo for their camera skills):

At Crossroads of Jerusalem this past weekend. I needed some garb in which to do “grubby” things, so I whipped up this Mughal court attendant’s outfit the night before. It’s mostly okay, although I need to work on the closure a bit, but that part is hidden under my odhani, so there you go. I am in love with the churidar. They are easy and comfortable and I plan on making many more pairs.

Pants!

And then there’s the fancy stuff.

This is what came of the rockin’ striped fabric and the shiny dupioni silk. I am also pleased to have located kunjalam that look close to what the braid tassels look like in the miniatures.

The only downside to this outfit is that it makes my legs look about six inches long, while the rest makes me look much wider than I actually am. This did bother me, but upon further inspection of the miniatures, I see many women with long versions of this dress, so I’ll probably keep it as-is.

Observe:

But it’s real shiny for court, especially when I add the jewelry, so there you go.

Next up I’ll be sewing some fancier Hindu garb, and another set of un-fancy Hindu garb. I’m on the lookout for pre-embroidered medallions and woven zari trim, so I can put together something sparkly while I am learning how to embroider it myself. Also, many tassels will be made. I have plans to make a tassel belt with a green stripe in the middle, to be worn as my apprentice belt. I’ve got an apprentice bajuband, but it’s on my arm and therefore not as communicative as I’d like.

The rest of the event was great. I taught my bookbinding class to nine folks, seven of whom went home with finished books (and four of whom were Laurels, which was awesome and intimidating all at once). Now that I’ve gotten the class taught, I’m going to focus on my own artsci project, and really tackle the leather tooling for the covers, plus the endband construction, which is a grand puzzle.

But hey, four hour pants.

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4-hour garb

Posted on March 26, 2010 by HappyGoth

I have done something I thought was impossible for me.

I have perfected the art of Quick Garb (TM). Oh, yes. Let me show you it:

(Yeah, I know – it’s basically a big pile of blue fabric with some yellow pants; use your imagination)

That there is a mughal coat/dress (I forget the exact word, but it’s basically a ladies’ jama) and a pair of churidar.

The churidar took an hour, start to finish. The top, two so far (i have some more finishing to do). They’re not fancy, but they’re wearable. This one will be a little weird because I was working out the front closure and didn’t quite get it. But I will. And now I have grubby garb, so I don’t get my silk one all gross when I help people glue books together tomorrow! Win!

Hooray for 1-hour pants.

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Their hands would catch fire and fall off.

Posted on March 24, 2010 by HappyGoth

Since I spent last night watching you-know-what and making a zillion (10) bookbinding kits, here’s an awesome video about Pringle of Scotland sweaters/jumpers instead:

(via Drawn!)

Yesssssss. I need to watch this a zillion (10) more times. (“And they [other companies] should just knit socks because they’re crap.”)

Posted in Cool things, knitting | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Aha, trenchcoat

Posted on March 23, 2010 by HappyGoth

I’m still watching the Highlander, in what is probably my most epic TV series marathon yet. I’m halfway through Season 3. We meet Methos soon. I’m excited about that (I was always fond of that character).

So, anyway, this has brought back a number of nostalgic memories from my youth, specifically my young teenaged self, who had a few quirks (I have lots more now; I’ve been working on them since then). I went to the Highland Games every year. I was interested in Wicca. I had stuff that had Celtic knots on it. I had this obsession with owning a leather trenchcoat.

Before re-watching the Highlander, I was completely mystified by 16-year-old me. Why in the world would I like those things (they’re not really things I’m interested in now)? Especially the trenchcoat. What? A trenchcoat? Seriously? Why would I write a fanfiction spanning two entire notebooks?

Now it’s all coming back to me. I also recall that I looked at Bud K catalogs quite a bit.

So the really great story, the one that gets me laughing at myself every time, is that during this period, a friend of my mom’s had a boyfriend who was totally the closest thing I was ever going to get to Duncan McLeod in small-town Arkansas. He had a motorcycle-painting business. He had a black belt in something (I don’t remember what exactly, but he had fancy moves, nonetheless). He owned several swords, which he would display if you asked. He taught us tai chi. And he had a duster (hey, it’s not a trenchcoat but it’s long and flappy and shut up  I was 16 okay). He was so cool to hang out with, especially that one time when there was a tornado warning and he went all defensive-like and made us hide in the closet while he “secured the house.” His motorcycle was the first (and last) one I ever rode (nobody told me that a. shorts were a bad idea because b. the tailpipe gets very hot and c. if you touch it you will get a really nasty burn).

Man, 16-year-old me was a silly git.

Nowadays, I am still in love with the show, but in a different way. I eventually acquired a trenchcoat (a very nice silk one), which I wore in college a lot and still have in my closet. I was a fencer in the SCA for a while. I’ve moved on to being totally interested in India. And I completely get why I find my husband even more attractive when he wears a henley t-shirt and really light-colored jeans with engineer boots.

I draw the line at a mullet, though.

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Thuh-ree

Posted on March 22, 2010 by HappyGoth

Today is going to be a long day.

See, when I was in school, the grad kind, I got very little sleep. I’d get up around 8, get ready, grab my stuff, go to class, and then I’d do one of three things: more class, my part-time job, or go home and do homework. And then after that I’d go home and do homework until 2 or 3 in the morning, at which point I’d go to sleep.

Rinse, lather, repeat.

Thankfully, I haven’t had to do that in quite some time. I worried while in school that it was going to be a never-ending thing until one day the stress caused my heart (or brain or eyeballs) to explode, but it all ended with graduation and now, unless I’m a giant moron and take on more than I can handle, things are pretty okay.

I was a giant moron this weekend.

On my to-do list was designing some wedding invitations, making bookbinding kits for a class I’m teaching this upcoming weekend and doing laundry. I got the designing done and some of the bookbinding kits, but no laundry. If I’d been a boring, dull, intelligent person, I would have stayed home all weekend and gotten that done on time. But the weather was nice and there was a gigantic party at the Jungle and so I put on my best club gear and went dancing with Jennie and Obby, and it was awesome (I am so sore today). And then yesterday I slept until 1, which I haven’t done since college, and worked on stuff, and then went to Momocon to help Jennie pack up her booth, and went to dinner, and so I didn’t get started on things until 9:30. (As an aside, my max time limit for Momocon is approximately 2 hours. I am not that age any longer.)

And so 3:30 this morning saw me still awake, but headed for bed. 7:30 was a rough hour. I was not at all awake. I still might not be awake.

In closing, I have discovered that two monitors means I can watch the Highlander on Netflix and work on my computer at the same time, and if you can’t get the AT&T voice menu to understand you, speaking in a cheesy southern accent solves the problem neatly. Apparently Georgia Power actually instructs you to do this if the voice recognition software can’t understand you.

“Sahy it lahke theyis.”

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