The 21st Roman Military Equipment Conference will take place in Brno next year, June 2-6. Conference topic is "Body armour and defensive equipment" which, of course, will include some textile elements. 

If you're interested in the conference, you can find out more about it on their webpage.  

EuroWeb has something more coming up: A webinar on traditional wax batik printing! It will take place on September 6, 10 am CET start.  

I'm already looking forward to this - it's always interesting to see traditional textile techniques!

The thing about a medieval-style Great Wheel? It's really Great, as in Large. Looking at images, the wheel appears to be really huge, compared to the spinners. And when one thinks about it, that is sort of understandable - after all, the aim is to get a lot of twist quickly, and there are no gears involved. So the size difference between the wheel and the disc on the spindle (often called whorl, but I find that confusing) has to be as large as possible.

When I built my reconstruction, I was thus looking for a size that would compare to the illustrations we have, and of course with a look at its intended use - demonstrations. Which meant it also had to come apart easily, and the single pieces had to fit into the car. 

Which they do. The wheel itself has its own special spot right under the roof, where it's built to fit perfectly:

The board end in the foreground belongs to the bottom (main) board. The rest is one box with the small pieces (like the wedges, drive band, and spindles) and one pack with legs and the holders for spindle and wheel. 

So now I just have to add the rest of the equipment, and we're ready to roll!

(Ingelheim. Sunday. See me there if you can, and say hello!)

Sometimes, info turns up at unexpected times and unexpected places - just like this info about a conference with Stone Age clothing as the focus topic. There's not so much evidence (because of not so much in organic finds from back then), but the programme also includes body ornamentation.

The conference is in Halle/Saale, taking place September 25-28, and conference language is English. You can find out more about it, and register, on this webpage. Registration is open until September 15.

 It's back from summer break and straight into action here - on the weekend, I will be going to Syke to show how a bronze age corded skirt was (probably) woven. I'll be demonstrating all day on Saturday and Sunday, and I'm looking forward to many questions!

I'm not sure where in the museum I will be, or whether I'll be sitting on a table or on the floor, but I will definitely wear no shoes for the weaving - I need my foot to hold the measuring stick and my little toe on one foot to keep hold of one of the loops for starting the next bunch of strings...

The event is running in the Kreismuseum Syke on Saturday from 10 -18 o'clock and on Sunday to 17 o'clock. There's going to be a bunch of demonstrators there, plus the museum itself is a very nice place to visit, so if you're up north and free for the weekend, don't miss it! 

You can find out more about the event on the homepage here: 

https://www.kreismuseum-syke.de/veranstaltungen/bronzezeittage/

One of the things I really love about conferences is getting to meet and to connect with new people as well as catching up with folks that I already know. 

When I was going to my first conferences, I was still quite shy in approaching people - and I do remember that it felt so nice when, as you're approaching one of the small tables in a coffee break that people stand around, someone shifts to make space for you to join. (That, back then, was an easy way to join a random group of people, because you obviously need some place to put your coffee cup to be able to wrangle your coffee break snack... so it didn't feel so much like I was sneaking up and trying to impose myself on other people.)

Since then, I've gotten less shy regarding the approach of new people - but I still remember how nice it was to be welcomed by someone shifting to tacitly invite me into their circle. So, since then, I have always tried to shift and make space when someone comes close to the table I'm at. And today, by random chance, I found out that there's a name for this: The Pac-Man Rule. The short version is: When you're part of a circle in a conference (whether around a table or not), always leave an open space in the circle for someone else to join. (But do go and read the full post behind the link, it's worth it.)

Leeds International Medieval Congress is having its CfPs running, and one of the sessions will be "Threads of Knowledge": 

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