Check this out!
Out of this world cool.
Monday, March 30
Friday, March 27
It's Another Week. Already?
Whoa! Where did the time go?! I've been busy and forgetting to update about what I've been busy with.
There were Microsoft TechDays last week. They were not in Stockholm, but in Västerås and we stayed at a hotel over night. I learned some new things, well, new to me, and some deeper stuff about the things I already knew. I had a good time despite of some misgivings I had before we left, and worrying about leaving cats alone for two days. The cats didn't run out of food or water, nor destroy anything. They seemed to have missed me more than be concerned about food when I came home.
I've made a new WoW toon to play with friends on another server and have devoted lots of time to her. I've also spent non-WoW time with them because they are fantastic people and I like to hang out with them. They have an adorable kitten and don't mind me coming over to play with him. Or spend the evening playing together, or just chatting, or... Lovely!
I've played with my regular group on Wednesdays and some other nights. Most of them only have raids to check off the list of dungeons to clear for Champion of the Frozen Wastes achievement, I have one last heroic dungeon and two raids (out of three) to complete. We are trying to form a regular raid group so that we can start on those raid dungeons, but we don't have all 10 quite yet.
I've been also role playing and am getting more and more comfortable with it. It helps that my friends are patient and explain things to me. Slowly and several times, if necessary.
I've spun my first yarn on my wheel, but it's really uneven and the colours didn't blend well. It looks like a bunch of berries barfed on the wool. Ick. It wouldn't be so bad if it was evenly uneven, but it's unevenly uneven and I doubt it would make a pleasant fabric. I'll use the rest of the roving to practice and see later if it's worth to try to knit anything with it. Sigh. And it was such a pretty roving! I need to learn how to preserve colour sequences better.
Today I'll leave for the Spring Crown Tourney in UK. I haven't been to an event since Summer Coronation last year and I've missed it. My finances didn't allow me to travel as much as I'd would have liked this winter, but things are looking up. Time is becoming a problem, though. Oh well. I'll just have to start scheduling things more carefully.
The most important question at this moment is: what should I wear? A 13th Century tunic? Estonian peasant stuffs? Do I fit into my 15th Century Flemish gowns again? Sadly, the Landsknecht outfit I spent so much time on, is right out — it's way too big. I'll try on the Flemish gowns and if they don't fit, I'm going with the tunic. That's guaranteed to fit.
Wednesday, March 25
5-year Anniversary Feature, March
This is the last Wednesday of the month and I am posting what I was up to that month for the past five years. I hope you enjoy the trip down the memory lane with me.
2004, Stockholm
Attending a SCA event in Tallinn and beginning the SFI course.
2005, Stockholm
Knitting, WoW and a new kitten.
2006, Dublin
We had a SCA event in our back yard.
2007, Dublin
Working on SCA stuff.
2008, Stockholm
Asking advice about my SCA wardrobe options.
Friday, March 13
Wednesday, March 11
A Beauty
After playing with my friend's spinning wheel, I wanted to have one even more than usual. I do have one, in fact. My grandmother's wheel, but it's in Estonia and not something that I can shove into a suitcase and bring over on a plane.
So I went to look for a store in Sweden that sells Kromski wheels and found that there isn't one. I'd have to order from a store in Germany and that adds shipping costs on top of the 3500 krona price tag. Then I looked at Ashford wheels, but although Traditional is a lovely wheel and I like the style, I can't afford the 4000 krona price plus shipping now.
Then, out of curiosity, I checked Blocket for antique spinning wheels. I didn't expect to find any, but there were a few. Some were missing vital bits, some were painted and some looked like they'd still work, none of them cost more than 500 krona. Then there was one, a beautiful one, with two distaffs and extra bobbins. That beauty is now mine for 300 krona.
The wheel had been listed in January and I didn't really expect it to be available when I called. It was and the owner confirmed that it should work. It looked like all bits were present from the picture, so I arranged to pick up the wheel. Luckily my friend J can drive, has a car and was available to pick it up on Monday after work.
Isn't it beautiful? I used the seller's pic because my camera is dead (I'm saving money to buy a new one).
What the picture doesn't show is that there was no bobbin in the flyer, but there were three that came with the wheel. Unfortunately two of them are broken, but one was not. I sanded the rust off the shaft of the flyer to make the bobbin spin on it freely and I need to add the missing feet to the legs to lengthen them so that the treadle doesn't hit the floor. Oh, and of course it didn't come with a drive band, but there's no lack of string in my household.
One of the reasons I chose this one was that it had two distaffs. I need to figure out how to dress the distaff with spokes, I've never seen one like that before. The other one can be dressed with wool in medieval style. A distaff is a vital part of medieval spinning and I needed one to practice. I could have just bought a stick for a distaff, but I've been wanting a wheel for years and now I have both!
Monday, March 9
Pelmeni!
One of my friends who was over for the Russian themed dinner noticed a Russian delicacies store where he lives and told me about it. He showed me where the store was on Saturday and they had everything I'd not been able to buy over here before.
Pelmeni! Quark! Pryaniki! And lots of other stuff that one can't buy in an ordinary Swedish grocery store. They had one freezer filled with several different kinds of pelmeni, shelves upon shelves of pryaniki and baranki. I bought vareniki, three kinds of pelmeni, two kinds or quark and honey pryaniki. I had to restrain myself not to buy one of each kinds of pelmeni they had. I can go back once I've tried the ones I bought.
I was also invited to dinner at my friends' place. The dinner was excellent and I had a very good time. She spins on a drop spindle and had recently bought an antique spinning wheel. I mostly spin on drop spindles too, but I have a little experience with spinning wheels too. We set up the wheel and I showed her how to spin on it.
The wheel was in a very good condition, it needed just a new drive band, a new tie for the treadle, a little grease on the axle and new plugs to keep the wheel in place.
Working with her wheel made me want to have my own spinning wheel. I've dreamt of Kromski Mazurka for years, but I've never had the space or money to buy one. Maybe now is the right time?
Wednesday, March 4
Good Food
One thing I did (do) that helps me lose weight is cooking from scratch. There are a few food blogs that I read for inspiration and Anne's is one of them.
She often has some recipe that inspires me to try something new, but I had to try her cabbage and beef stew as is. Well, nearly as is. I'm not fond of leek, so I used more onion instead and I didn't have brown sugar so I used white.
I've had it with parboiled and wild rice, spaghetti, red and black rice with lentils. I'm certain it will be excellent with potatoes as well, whichever way rocks your boat: mashed, boiled, baked, roasted or fried.
It was good. Yummy. Try it, you won't regret it.
Nom nom nom!