Elizabethan Mafia

Goals and Plans for 2012

I never know whether to set goals or resolutions. It always seems to me like the verdict is split down the middle on the two with half saying you should always make resolutions because you will stick the them better and the other half saying goals are the better way to go. With the exception of 2011 goals seem to have worked better for me in the past so that’s what I’m planning on sticking with.

I did my 2011 retrospective a little over a week ago and I’ve been spending the first week of the new year really thinking hard about what I would like to pursue over the next year (while I feverishly worked on finishing projects due by next weekend! ).

Goals for 2012

1) Work on my physical fitness and fighting.

I started this one early. As of this week have been working out regularly for 3 weeks. I’m in the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays doing 20 min of cardio (usually on the elliptical b/c it’s my favorite) and 20-30 min of circuit training. I can now do 15 assisted pull ups, 20 assisted dips, and leg press 200 lbs. I also try to take the dogs on nice long walks (at least 45 min) 2 other days a week. Rather than focusing on weight, which always seems to make me crazy, I am focusing instead on how I feel and how my clothes fit. And honestly I feel great. I’m even starting to sleep better. My clothes are also starting to fit better. My black silk suit fits again (it hasn’t fit in at least a year and a half or more) and today I tried on my beloved black wool doublet and it fit beautifully. I’m very excited and I’m looking forward to continuing to focus on improveing my health.

As for fighting, weather, the holidays, and projects due by 12th Night has meant that I haven’t been able to make it out to a practice since Thanksgiving but I’m looking forward to attend practice on Sunday after 12th Night and regular weekly practices after that. And I think my workouts will also be very beneficial to fighting. This year I want to pick up my sword and shield authorization and I am setting a goal of fighting in all the heavy and rapier warpoints at Pennsic this summer (minus the champions battles of course…unless I’m asked).

For the first time in months I’m really feeling great and I’m very excited about the upcoming tourney season.

2) Complete the projects I start

I started a lot of projects last year that I didn’t really finish. This year I really want to focus on my follow through. So far I’ve managed to finish 3 of the projects that I had started last year which is awesome. I’ve also picked my blackwork jacket back up and I’m making headway on it once again. I’ve set myself a schedule of two motifs a day and laid out a road map of mini goals so that I can accomplish my goal of wearing for 12th Night 2013. I’ve also set a goal of finishing the surcoat project and pluderhosen project by Gulf Wars (along with quite a bit of other personal sewing-apparently I have no fencing shirts anymore. I don’t know where they went but there you are). I’d also really like to make good progress on the Wardrobe Project (good progress=at least 60% completion) by the end of the year.

3) Work on some sewing projects for myself

This is wear my goal of making good progress on the Wardrobe Project (good progress=at least 60% completion) fits in. I’m really getting the bug to sew for myself again so I want to make sure that I’m definitely setting aside time for my own projects and not always prioritizing them below projects for others.

4) Write some new articles and start teaching at University again

Like a lot of other things my research took a back burner in 2011. The last University class I taught was June 2010. In retrospect this has been pretty disappointing to me. Currently I’m scheduled to teach several marshal classes at March University but I’m starting to work on ideas for a class and article for Summer University. I definitely want to make a priority of teaching a new HMA class at at least every other University.

2012 Planned Projects

Each year I keep a list of projects I have planned for that year. The 2012 Project Plans list went up just before the new year. I’m pretty sure that I accomplished less last year than I have any other year since I started keeping this list. So this year I’m trying to start things out with a bang. Now I just need to keep up the momentum.

2012

01. January 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized

Happy New Year, everyone! Here’s to a happy, healthy, inspirational 2012!

2011 Retrospective

30. December 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Goals · Tags: 2011 Goals, 2011 Project Plans, 2012 Goals, 2012 Project Plans

My happy, healthy Fozzy Bear

If I was going to describe 2011 in three words those words would have to be: unfinished, unfocused, but hopeful.

2011 was a very odd year. Our dog Fozzy was very sick with a massive antibiotic resistant staph infection (think doggie MRSA) for nearly the entire year. He came down with it at the end of 2010 and he didn’t really start to mend until this fall. It was very bad and at points we were afraid we would loose him. To be honest if it weren’t for the amazing vets at the NCSU Vet School, and Dr. Murphy in particular, we probably would have lost him.

And to be honest, that’s where most of my year went. I didn’t go to Pennsic or Gulf Wars, we didn’t go diving, I didn’t accomplish much in the way of projects, and I really stopped blogging for all intents and purposes. There just wasn’t much good stuff to talk about.

Thankfully though Fozzy is now fully mended and chasing the cat to his little heart’s content so 2012 is looking much more promising…

….provided those crazy Mayan’s are wrong.

I went back to review my 2011 goals and planned projects.

2011 Goals

1) Continue to improve fitness and fencing
2) Have one sewing project a month
3) Publish a new ebook every 1-2 months
4) Be able to play 1 Elizabethan popular song by December

2011 Planned Projects

Get my fencing in top notch shape In progress
Embroidered Jacket In progress (Started August 2009)
Flander’s Gown In progress
Silver Training Manual In progress
Swetnam Training Manual In progress
14th Century Cloth Hosen ebook
New Rapier Armor
Shirt, Brais, Hosen
Charles de Blois Pourpoint
Edwardian Lingerie Gown
Arming Garments Class

What did I actually accomplish? Well, I wrote an article on Monochromatic 16th Century Embroidery, two articles on the 1903 Savoye Corset, and finished hosen ebook, one commission, a pair of ventians, and a pair of trunk hose. I also migrated my entire site to WordPress and I accomplished some cool real life things like starting an awesome new job, picking up two freelance web design jobs, getting my puppy well, and paying off debt. I did start a 12th Night project, a pluderhosen project, a surcoat project, and a 3rd corset article…all of which need to be finished…very soon.

Highlights of the year though were Gaston’s Pelican, Wistric’s White Scarf, being approached about taking apprentices, and Christmas.

Looking over the past year has given me a lot of food for thought with regards to what I want to do in the new year. I taking some time to really consider where I want to focus my time and energy but one thing is for sure…I have a lot of projects that need finishing.

State of the Mafia

23. December 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Website

The Great Migration is finally complete and WordPress has been fully updated. I’ve also backed up the old Joomla site and I will be deleting that to clear up server space. You guys won’t see any of that but it will happen and will make things a little more tidy on the back end.

Now that I have finished the migration I can hopefully get back to blogging regularly. I know I’ve done a really poor job of blogging regularly since the summer and getting back to regular posts is actually one of my goals for the next year (see upcoming obligatory New Year’s Resolutions post). Since I’ve been rather bad about posting recently I’d like to do a “State of the Mafia” post to cover what I’ve been up to over the past couple of months. This will not replace the equally obligatory Year in Review post but will hopefully get us all back up to speed.

I made a pair of trunkhose for my husband for muster
I finished a commission and it will be picked up after the new year
I’m working on finishing the pluderhose project
I started a project for 12th Night (details will have to wait until after the event)
I am working on a third installment in the 1903 Savoy Corset series for Foundations Revealed
Two websites I did will be going live in the new year
I start back to fighter practices on Wednesday nights.
I joined a new gym and I’ve been working out on Tuesday and Thursday nights to get ready for Gulf Wars. Thinking seriously about hiring a personal trainer.
I want to get back to regularly attending Thursday practices too but I’m having trouble figuring out how to fit everything into a week.
My black silk suit fits again and I plan on wearing it for 12th Night. Need to make sure I get some good pictures.

So that’s where things stand right now.

The Great Migration is Complete!

27. November 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Website · Tags: Website

In October I decided to take the plunge and begin migrating everything on my site over to WordPress. Maintaining what was effectively two sites on the same topic was taking too much time and since most of my updates were to the blog I just felt like moving everything to WordPress just made the most sense. Yesterday I finished the migration. I never did find a pdf plugin but since I was already using drop box I just decided to store my articles and tutorials there.

I hope all of you had a very happy Thanksgiving. We spent the holiday with my husband’s family and had a lovely day.

Fall Muster

15. November 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Events, Pictures, Sewing · Tags: Events, Gardiner's Company, Project

This past weekend was Gardiner’s Company Fall Muster and I had a fabulous time.

Projects Started and Completed:

I started one new sewing project for Fall Muster: a new pair of linen trunk hose for my husband. I also wanted to finish a linen fencing doublet that I had started for myself several months ago.

Coty wearing his new blue trunkhose.

I finished the trunk hose without any issue. I have made at least 10 pairs of pants based off of this pattern at this point so putting them together went really quickly. Something I did do differently this time though was to include a pocket! He loved them and they looked great. The only issue was that he has lost some weight since I took the measurement for the waistband and they were a little loose. I’m going to have to find a temporary solution to take them in until he’s lost another inch or so since I don’t want to have to redo the waist band until he has lost at least 2-3 inches. Eventually though I will take the waist band off, recut it, and pleat the pants back into the new waist band.

I made a noble effort on the doublet but I didn’t quite get it done. I still need to tack down the lining at the armscyes and the waist, make buttons and buttonholes, and put in eyelets for pointing my armor for C&T.

Burgundy wool Venetians.

I did wear my burgundy wool Venetians though.

Non-clothing related projects I managed to complete were cleaning and rebluing my helm, gorget, and shoulders. I’m not really happy with how my shoulders turned out though so I’m thinking about redoing them. I also cleaned up my shoes, which were desperately in need of it.

Trip Up:

Our trip up was blissfully uneventful. We stopped for a lovely dinner in Clarksville at Gino’s, a little local pizza place. It was really tasty!

Drill:

We started the morning off with pike drill. Thankfully at this point I do remember most of it although I do always appreciate the run through. I was also very gratified that this muster’s drill proved to my husband that “jaunty hand” was indeed an integral part of the drill. We went through all the positions, commands, and charges and then Master Hamilton proceeded to march us around the field. I would say it was quite successful…we only hit a couple trees.

Goff:

Goff in the afternoon was by far my favorite part of muster. Many of you may know it better as cambok. Robert and Isobel had picked up some excellent leather balls for the game and Coty had made several new goff sticks out of red oak and ash as proof of concepts so he could see what he needed to change about his design. I had a fabulous time playing goff. Our games did get a bit rowdy but thanks to the 5 year old who was also playing things didn’t get too out of hand.

Target Practice:

This muster marked the first time I participated in black powder target practice. I fired one of the calivers. It was very cool but I think I’ll stick with pike.

Trip Back:

Sunday we helped with take down and stayed for the meeting. Our trip home was as blissfully uneventful as our trip up. We did stop for lunch again in Clarksville and this time we ate at The Lamppost Restaurant and Lounge. It was really tasty!

To Do List for Next Event:

Things I need to do before the next event (although some of this probably won’t be done ‘til at least Pennsic):

1. Purchase a breast and back

2. Replace all my stockings-Ugh! I hate them all and they MUST go!

3. Make new silk garters

4. Make an actual arming doublet

5. Purchase new boots

6. Make a new falling band

*Special thanks to Drea for taking the pictures!

Winning!

31. October 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Sewing · Tags: Sewing, Steampunk

Today was our office Halloween party. It was a potluck lunch with games and a costume contest. I had a fabulous time and my silver silk steampunk gown even won first place in the costume contest.

The Great Migration

19. October 2011 · 4 comments · Categories: Website · Tags: Website

I’ve finally decided to take the plunge and move my entire site over to WordPress. I started it last week and I’m only able to work on it a little bit at a time but I am really looking forward to having everything in one place rather than having half my stuff on the website and half my stuff on the blog. Now to find a pdf plugin that I like.

My September

03. October 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Events · Tags: Events

I know that I have been MIA since the middle of August. There has been A LOT going on. Part of the reason I haven’t written is because I wasn’t sure if I could keep all the pieces under wraps that I needed to keep under wraps if I was blogging so I just decided to take the safest road and not post about anything. Plus, between work and planning there was not really any time to write anyway.

At Atlantian 30 Year my cadet Wistric Oftun was made a White Scarf. Having broken his foot at Pennsic he inadvertently added a bit of a wrinkle to the plans but nothing that couldn’t be planned around and he did play his prize at 30 Year. It was very awesome and I am rather proud of him. His ceremony is available on YouTube for anyone who would like to watch it.

Last weekend at Coronation my husband was set on vigil and elevated to the Order of the Pelican. The vigil was perfect, the ceremony was beautiful (we planned a virtues ceremony for him), and it was truly a wonderful event. We did get video of his elevation ceremony as well but it’s not up on YouTube yet.

As you might imagine though there are a lot of stories from these past several weeks and you would be right. I plan on spending the next few posts telling many of them but I thought I would start with one of my favorites: The Great 30 Year Debacle.

Since Wistric was going to be made a White Scarf in the morning at 30 Year before the fencing started we needed to be there early. And as I’m currently conducting a rather extensive experiment regarding camping at events (which I will go into later) Coty and I decided to camp. Well, maybe it went more like this:

Me: “I don’t really want to stay at the hotel for 30 Year. Plus it’s pretty pricey. Why don’t we camp? We can get some people together and it will be fun!”

Coty: “Whatever you want to do, Princess.”

So we proceed to plan to camp. It turned out though that pretty much everyone we talked to about camping had already made plans to either stay at a hotel or with friends. So we we decided to try throwing in with the WH Baronial Camp.

And that brings us to Friday afternoon before 30 Year. We’ve packed the truck and the trailer. We have double checked that we have everything we need and we manage to leave the house on time at 3pm as planned. Everything goes pretty smoothly until we get about 40 min from site. That’s the point when, after driving 3o min down narrow switchbacks to get to site (which is supposed to be across the street from James Madison’s Montepellier), our Garmin decides to bring us to what we can only guess is the back door to the Montepellier estate because when our Garmin says “You have arrived at your destination” it’s a goat path leading to a cattle gate.

There is no place to turn around. We’re on a narrow back country Virginia road with a trailer and an Expedition. So we drive another 15 min down the road before we could find an abandoned store where we could turn around. We drove back into town to ask directions at a gas station only to find out that we were going the right way but we didn’t go far enough. (BTW, when the very nice person giving you directions tells you to “turn at the cross roads where the old ___ store used to be” make sure to clarify whether or not you will be able to recognize “the cross roads” or “where the old ___ store used to be” before you start.

So it’s back down the switch backs for us.

After another 40-45min down the winding switch backs, through “the cross roads” and past “where the old ___ store used to be” we make it to site and check in. We are two hours late, it’s pitch black, and it takes us another 20 min to find the Windmasters’ Hill camp. We finally find camp and some of our camp mates but it’s 9:00pm, we haven’t had dinner, and our camp steward has also been delayed so we don’t know where our tent should go.

So we do what the most sensible thing we can think of….

We drop the trailer off in parking so it’s not blocking camp and go find a hotel. We spent the night at a very nice Best Western about 20 min from site. They had a great restaurant where we had a fabulous dinner and a lovely breakfast. The next morning we were back on site and set up our tent and dayshade with plenty of time to spare before things got started.

After the initial hiccups and the early morning rain on Saturday (which thankfully happened after we had set up) the event was fabulous. My only regret was that after Wistric’s White Scarf Ceremony I could not get my head back together to go fight. But it was still a lovely event. I got to hang out with friends I don’t see often enough, watched the jousting, and enjoyed a lovely evening at the Elephant Stomp.

To Do List Progress

14. August 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Sewing · Tags: Project, Sewing

I made some progress on the To Do list:

Finish commission up to hem
Clean sewing room
Clean bedroom
Finish Mending
1. Red trunkhose
2. Blue fencing doublet
3. Day shade
4. Green doublet sleeves
Make Shirt
Make Brais
Pattern Pourpoint
Cut out pink doublet
Cut out Wool jerkin
Embroider on Jacket
Cut out Coty’s suit
Cut out Pluderhosen

I was going to finish the mending before moving onto anything else but once I had finished the day shade I needed to work on something else before finishing the blue doublet. So I cut out and started assembling my pink fencing doublet. I’ll finish the blue doublet sometime during the week.