Kitsufox

Surviving LARP – How Not to Starve

by

Food is something that you should give careful consideration to, but something that I haven’t seen talked about much for LARP in general, you should follow a good diet like the blood sugar ultra diet. Specific advice of great value has also not been frequently offered up where Last Hope has been specifically involved. In accordance I have decided that I am going to speak about it at great length. At the time I’m writing this I’ve been LARPing around 8 months. I’ve been to a variety of events, including multi-day affairs. I think I’ve finally gathered enough data to … Continue Reading…

Event – April 2014 – Ulven Spring Celebration

by

Leading Up Prior to this event, following the previous one, Reyna and Thorvald left Nightriver and headed back to Onsallas Village. From there, they met with various people and proceeded to rejoin Stanrick and Selena in Spiritclaw territory. Once there Stanrick joined the group (through Selena stayed behind to assist with Spiritclaw celebrations of the Spring Rites). They then proceeded back to Nightriver Territory, picked up Echo and joined with a caravan heading to the feasthall for the final leg of the journey. Ulven Spring Celebration 12 April 2014 – The group traveled in the company of a Lorespeaker, a group … Continue Reading…

Event – February 2014 – Political & War Planning Dinner

by

Political & War Planning Dinner 8 February 2014 – Reyna traveled from Spiritclaw to Nightriver Territory to accompany Stanrick and Selena (joined by a Hunter named Torvald Ravenflight) to the meeting of the Clan Delegates and speakers for various Human and Syndar groups to discuss the ongoing conflict. Some headway was made, but the far reaching effects of the talks are yet to be seen.

Reyna’s Sewing Kit

by

As promised, pictures of the contents of Reyna’s sewing kit. I just sort of dumped it out and snapped the first one. Which turned out to be a pretty nice photograph. The bag itself is knitted using the linen stitch, which you can google as you please to learn how to do it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I think this knitting stitch looks much better for medieval applications than regular knit and purl lines, or crochet. The little balls of thread are simply embroidery floss in multiple colors, picked partially at random and partially using … Continue Reading…

Reyna’s Belt Pouch

by

After a great deal of knitting and some patience, I’d like to present the belt pouches I’ve made. They’re both of worsted weight yarn, ordinary red heart stuff. Both use the Linen stitch, though, which I think looks nice and medieval. The small white one has already been equipped with a small sewing kit, which I’ll show off in a later post when I’m less in a hurry (I have pants to make for Paul yet).

Reyna’s Kirtle Dress

by

I’ve officially finished my dress for the Reyna garb. I spent 6 straight hours sewing, ironing and otherwise working on it, but it’s done. The pattern used was from an SCA handout that you can still find online for a viking kirtle. A viking woman would have shorter sleeves without the little gap so that they could be longer and I could still fit my arms in and would wear this under an apron dress (which Reyna will not be doing). Reyna will wear it with an assortment of belts, cinches, scarves and other things at various times depending on … Continue Reading…

Reyna’s Minifigure & Shawl

by

One of my role play buddies, a fellow northwoods Longfang (and player of Reyna’s cousin), has little Lego Minifigures for each of the characters. Based on my descriptions of Reyna and my personal tendencies he designed a figure to be Reyna, before I’d even completed any Garb. Pretty cool, isn’t it? It gave me a pretty good starting point, and I decided that I would based my initial garb (loosely) on it. It’ll have a little bit less of the extreme color variations shown here, but I like what’s there to start with. So, this means that I’ve got yards … Continue Reading…

Trim Test: 14ct Fabric

by

longfangtrimtestSo far, the only definitive things that have been learned is that 14 count fabric works poorly and it would look much nicer using a colored fabric rather than trying to 2 color (though that second one might change with a better fabric count… so maybe that second one isn’t as definitive as I’m pretending).

The testing is at least underway now, and sooner rather than later I’ll be able to figure out the details of what’s up with the projects and what it’ll take to really start creating usable trim. And maybe I’ll be able to find instructions for how to set the cloth up in such a way that the ends can be made more finished without fraying. So far I’m failing at that. But I do have some spare fabric to play with, and should be able to run a few tests to work out how best to flip under and finish the ends. I suspect a nice effect can be had by simply folding the edges and sewing through 2 layers on the turning rows on the outside edges. Hopefully the next section will be a nicer result, with cleaner edges and in the proper fabric count so the gaps go away.

Semi-final Longfang Trim Embroidery Pattern

by

LongfangBorderI think the trim is done, though I can’t finalize the pattern as of yet. I need to get materials and test, of course, before I finalize the template for use and post instructions and finished examples. If you use this pattern on your own (it’s intended for the Pattern darning stitch) I’d love to see your work, and have you tell me how it worked out. I’m not sure I’ll be able to get a test piece underway prior to Christmas…