Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to you too!

Happy Easter right back to you!! :)

Sharon

Well, I SUPPOSE I enjoyed it... being up to my ankles in freezing mud in a field full of wet tents in a Big Frock and a floor-length wool cloak in the rain... Did I mention the mud?

But there was cake. Lots of cake! At one point my camp owned all the cake in the world! When you are cold, wet, muddy, it's dark, and the Undead are roaming the camp, knowing you own all the cake in the world gives you a warm glow.

Well, what do you expect? Fair weather for re-enactment or LARP? Hahaha! A decent re-enactor/re-enactress is known by the mud splashes in her hair and the dark rims under her fingernails. There are two castles here in our region who hold mediaeval faires in spring/early summer: Satzvey (

) and Freienfels ( ), know to the initiated as Matschvey (Mudvey) and Breienfels (Pulprock). I'm almost certain you know what I'm talking about.

And cake - you know what they say about it? A life without cake is possible but entirely futile. I see that you had a splendid time, then; after all you were wearing a woollen frock, weren't you? But weekends like that make you appreciate civilisation more, and, moreover, explains why humanity didn't remain in this pastoral state of innocence but strove with all might for progress (whatever that means). ;->

U.

Polycotton frock, but a heavy jaquard, not summer frock weight. With ankle length shirt, and thermals under! Oh, and 6m of woolen cloak over it! And a shawl...

Think more 18th C or Elizabethan frockery rather than earlier. With HATS and cake... And tea. In teapots!

The best thing about wool is that it's still warm when wet. A wool dress might have been a good idea. You can also get very thin, very light-weight woolen undershirts, made for skiing, etc., in Scandinavian climes. I made one for a Tahoe horse-breeder once. I used a fine Merino wool, non-scratchy. I knitted jersey weight because she wanted it to go under her flannel shirts to keep her warm (without weight) when tending horses when the temps went below freezing.

That would be lovely if I wasn't allergic to wool. I need a good barrier between me and it. And a wool dress would be lovely up to the point where I had to wash and dry it after, and taking into account that this is the first event of the year, and from here in it'll only get hotter. There are only three more weekends of this game left, so it's not really worth the expense.

Next game I'll be a totally different character in a different world, and while these frocks will do fine for one of the nations, it probably won't do for the one we want to play. They'll probably end up being sold on to other people.

Yes, I was surprised how nice the Viking stuff felt in cool and wet weather; I had planned to make myself an undergarment from some lightweight wool, but we have given up re-enactment in the meantime. (No suitable folks near enough etc...) But as for Merino undies: Uh, I hate to put you out of business, but there is this:

machine washable and with everything an outdoor person might wish for. OK, they haven't been on the market for long, and perhaps your customer wanted to be warm before they even existed. U. ;-)

It was 15 or 20 years ago, and I don't do custom knitting anymore. But thanks for the link! I'm passing it on to my son, the rugged outdoorsman, who is a big Patagonia and REI fan, mostly Patagonia.

In knitting, I did find some changes in wools, including washable (no shrinkage), and no-itch in which they have removed the miniscule scales from the fibres. So more people can enjoy the special qualities of wool now.