Beginning the AS 50 Challenge

I just decided to join in on the preparation for the Society's Fifty Year celebration by joining the A&S challenge.

For the next 7 years I have decided to participate in the "Persona" category of the challenge. I will be concentrating on everything 10th century and will concentrate on learning the skills and abilitiies that might come naturaly to Signy.


Signy was born and raised in Iceland the daughter of an Irish slave and a Norse father. She was acknowledged by her father at her birth and was raised on a modest Karl landholding not far from where her father kept his ships. This is how she met her husband, Lars Knarrarsmidr, a skilled craftsman and boatbuilder. With a small diary, she left Iceland with her husband and moved to the newly established settlement of Dublin. The port of Dublin was an excellent base of operations for her husband and his crew to move inland along the Irish waterway and even south to the mainland on raids and merchand endeavors. Often the line between these two activities were fuzzy.

To keep a small house at the port town, it had to be supported by a plot of farm inland with animals and crops. This ment slaves were needed to keep the farm going and freemen (Harls) were needed for skilled crafts and to watch the slaves (Thrals). The Harls were often free men who might sail with her husband or stay on the homestead with their own families.

Signy would need many skills to manage her household while her husband was away and that is the basis of my challenge. In the next 7 years, my goal is to learn domestic skills as well as advanced technical crafts. Some of my plans include but are not limited to:

• Processing Icelandic wool. (cleaning and combing selected fleeces for various grades and usage.


• Spinning wool utilizing a drop spindle


• Weaving on a warp weighted loom


• Advanced clothing design and construction


• glass bead making


• jewelry and adornment crafts


• bronze casting


• bone carving


• wire weaving


• shoe making


• advanced naalbinding


• use of adaptive head wear


• hearth and open fire cookery


• bakery


• pottery


• embroidery and embellishment


• basketry


• joinery and basic woodworking

I hope you will join with me on this unique and wonderful journey.

Signy

I'm almost packed for war.

I have been sewing like crazy trying to get ready for war. I made two new cotehardies, two new "viking" outfits complete with an awesome 'Trimarian blue' wool apron, and finaly the piece de resistance.....a brand new wool Kampfrau in deep brick red with gold guards and some cutwork that reveals some lovely blue fabric. Molly is making me a new headgear and cap as well as an apron to go with it. We plan to wear it Thursday night for "Midnight Madness. It's "Shopping for 'war point' don'cha know!

I even found shoes that will pass the 10 foot rule. Not exactly perfect, but close enough that they will do without killing my feet.

So, I'm off to war in two days. I will spend most of my time retaining and cooking and doing Troll duty. Like I said.., I'm ready for war!

Signyjo