I'm back from two weeks full of exciting things to do and new things to learn and wonderful people to meet, and accordingly I spent most of yesterday asleep, catching up on the hours lost to discussions and work.

We had a small, but very intense and very successful Textile Forum in Mayen, with a dyeing experiment that surprised us all with the outcome. After the Forum, I got to spend some more time with friends that had come to the Forum from Netherlands, Germany, England and Sweden, visiting Maria Laach in lovely weather.

After this, I went to see the new abode of my friends from the Wollschmiede and helped them a little bit with their renovation. It's a lovely old house that now has a new roof and will soon be their home and workplace, with much better opportunities for both dyer and blacksmith than the old apartment could offer.

And to top off all of this, I then was part of the programme for the opening of LEA in Mayen this last weekend, demonstrating wool preparation and spinning techniques to a very interested public. We had immense luck with the weather - it rained on Friday evening and night, and it was a little cool on Saturday morning, but then the sun came out and we had a wonderful time both Saturday and Sunday.

And now I'm looking forward to a few days here to reorganise myself and catch my breath before going to the traditional season's end market - Tannenberg. This year, however, I'll have to go without the most patient of all husbands, who ruptured his Achilles tendon last Saturday and now moves around on crutches... and those are not very compatible to the uneven and possibly muddy Tannenberg grounds.

I'm at the Textile Forum this week, and thus there will be no blogging. Since I will be away from home for a few more days after that, blog as normal will resume on September 25.

Meanwhile:

The Textile Forum is from today to Sunday, September 16; the programme is here. Day passes are available, so please drop by to meet other textile persons!

On the weekend after that, there's the official opening of LEA, where I will be showing wool preparation and spinning techniques.

There are still some places left for the embroidery workshop in Erlangen on the 27th of October and the 28th of October 2012. Here's the link for more information and booking.

And finally, Maney Publishing offers free access to its Journal of the Month, the European Journal of Archaeology, until October 15. All articles from the last three years are available.

Enjoy!

It's getting cooler and slightly autumny outside; the sunlight has a different, more golden colour in the afternoons, and it is actually nice again to stand in the sun and having it warm oneself. It's still quite dry here, and during the day it gets warm enough (or even hot), but summer is definitely coming to an end.

The Forum, on the other hand, is about to start. We are looking forward to an interesting week with lots of discussion and practical stuff about historical textile techniques, and if you can and want to come to Mayen for a day or more, day passes are available and you will be very welcome!

As for me, I will finish the last preparations and start packing for the event today. Hooray! It's almost starting!

In case you are interested in trying medieval embroidery, I will be giving a course in Erlangen on the 27th of October and the 28th of October 2012. The first day will be dedicated to counted-work techniques (canevas), while the second day covers the techniques with free pattern design. The two days are bookable separately in case only one of the two variations is of interest for you, and the course fee includes materials (a piece of linen fabric suitable for the work and the silk (and partly gold) threads). Course language will be German (of course).

You can book both workshops, counted work and pattern embroidery via my new online shop. Workshop places are limited, of course, so that the group does not get too large.

Embroidery workshops are great fun, and I'm already looking forward to this!

If you are somewhere in the western bit of Germany (or can get there for the weekend) and don't have something to do yet, you can go to a tourney. A proper one, not one of the stuntmen and cascadeur thingies, but a honest-to-goodness sporting event tourney, including a melée with several knights on horseback.

During this weekend (starting tomorrow), there will be a reprise of the Grand Tourney of Sankt Wendel. The original tourney was held in honour of the emperor's visit, and the modern one is held for the 500 year anniversary of the tourney. There is a bunch of hardcore jousters and it's promised they will have the proper gear: reconstructed armour, reconstructed saddles, specially trained horses, all the works. I'm no jousting person which explains why I have not heard about it, but it seems to be all over the jousting blogosphere and internets.

I'd love to go there, but I have learned about it a little late, and it's on the other end of the country (which yes, for US citizens, would seem to be like next door, but here, it isn't). Should you be able to get there... well... how about a few pics or a youtube video for those of us less lucky?

Since a lot of you readers are involved in Living History or Archaeology in some way, this might be interesting for you: Roeland Paardekooper is looking for a discussion about food. Here's his request for submissions:
 

For a BBC program in 1954, Sir Mortimer Wheeler tasted a reconstruction of the Tollund Man’s last supper, which turned out to be a tasteless mush. This led him to announce: "I believe that the poor chap of Tollund committed suicide because he could stand his wife's cooking no longer!"

While archaeology inspired cookery is an important and attractive way of involving the public, it also has some drawbacks. How authentic can we be? What about health and safety? Should we only cook what the public will like? Please discuss the questions and issues with ancient cookery that often arise, either when cooking as demonstration or experiment. Send your reply, between 100 and 400 words to: Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein..

And if you like, post your reply in the comments to this post as well - then we can have a second discussion here as well!

In case you are in or around London in September (and not at the Textile Forum instead), there's a conference coming up called "Fashioning the Early Modern". It takes place on 14-15 September 2012 in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

'Fashioning the Early Modern: Creativity and Innovation in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1800' is a HERA funded project, and this conference will be the final one of the project.

The two-day "Fashioning the Early Modern: Creativity and Innovation in 1500-1800 Europe" conference will be organised around three themes: Innovation, Dissemination and Reputation. The following key profile speakers have been invited to speak: Lesley Miller (Victoria and Albert Museum), John Styles (University of Hertfordshire) and Evelyn Welch (University of Queen Mary, University of London).


It's still possible to register for participation. For a conference programme and for online registration (per day, regular fee £25.00, concessions available), go to:
http://www.vam.ac.uk/whatson/event/1818/fashioning-the-early-modern-creativity-and-innovation-in-europe-2990/