I'm very much looking forward to Sunday - which is when I will do the first online version of my workshop about medieval seams and stitches. It is an intro workshop resulting in a nice little sampler cloth, showing the most usual stitches and some seam and hem variations. It can serve, later, as a help to decide which seam to use, or which kind of hem or neatening will work best.

In the previous courses, I always brought along a few write-on-cloth pens and some extra linen fabric or bands for labels with the stitch names. But since that is not an option for an online class, there's been an upgrade:



Properly woven, nice neat labels for the stitch types.

These were done in a German manufacture on band looms, and they are in organic cotton. If you are looking for labels for something - maybe "handmade by ..." or with your name woven in, or with whatever other text, I can absolutely recommend Bandetikettenweberei Max Windrath, with their absolutely fabulous customer service. (Some of my labels got lost in the post, and the replacement arrived here lightning-fast.)

Today was prep for the online workshop on medieval seams and stitches - cutting pieces of cloth for the material kits. Of course I was supervised by Madam the Cat while doing this, before she hopped up onto the sofa, there to nap, followed by some light snoozing and some dozing. Ah, the life of a cat...

I have tweaked the place where the individual bits will go in comparison to my first sampler, which was made just to show the different stitches to people, and got some additions over time.



So it's more orderly now, and a bit better structured, and covers the usual suspects regarding stitches and seams and hems.

The kit will also include labels with the stitch names, which are currently being woven - to my great delight, I was able to find a small bandweaving company who does offer bands in organic cotton in addition to the regular ones. Since I vowed years ago to not support the conventional cotton industry, with its enormous use of water and pesticides, with the accompanying harm to the environment and the workers, that made me very happy.

As soon as the labels arrive, the kits will be finished, packed up and sent off to the workshop participants. And then I'm really looking forward to teaching the seams and stitches again, it's been way too long!

So... here's the solution to the camera question:

One is, yes, above the screen on my laptop, as would be expected - marked with a yellow circle. One is outside the shot, on a tripod and looking over the upper edge of the extra monitor. The third one is also marked with a yellow circle, and it's fixed to a cap.

Which I wear. Well, not in that picture, there it's just hanging out on the table. When I do wear it, it looks slightly odd:



However... it means I can show my workshop participants exactly what I am seeing when I am doing things. Which is exactly what they should be seeing when they are doing the same things. And I am really amazed at the difference it makes to explain stuff! Well worth looking a little daft, with a cap with a long USB cable dangling from it...

You can tell that I've had a full day if the blog post comes up after 8 in the evening... like today, which included doing some of the usual daily emailing and shop work, then attending the CTR anniversary conference, then going to donate blood, and then...



...then my computer moved into the other room, and some spindles did too, and there were three screens in total and three cameras, and a mouse, and a hot drink, and some water.

And there were people joining me on Zoom, and soon they were all spinning medieval style with spindle and distaff. I'm still amazed on how well this online teaching works - not least, actually, due to the three cameras (and the third screen, which is essential for the use of one of the cameras).

So - here's a challenge for you.

I'm using three cameras in total, one of which I could do without. Two of the three cameras are on this photo, including the one that I'm most happy with, and that makes the course work so well. Can you spot it?

If you're interested in learning more about purple mollusc dye but missed the webinar a while ago - the recording of the session is available in the video archive of the American School of Classical Studies, and you can find it here.

There's a lot more things in the archive as well, sorted by category, so if you're into Classical studies, it's probably worth a look and a browse.

In not-so-classical news, I've been very busy sending out distaffs and spindles in preparation for the next online classes, and I'm already looking forward to the next one. If you'd like to join in for the English language one on June 30, there's still a few days left to book: I've set the deadline to June 10 to make sure that the parcel with the kit will definitely arrive in time within Europe. So don't miss it!

It's been a wonderful long weekend - and we were really lucky a few times, when we did outdoor activities that were just ended before the rain came.

Rain, mind you, that is still sorely needed by the ground here. It's still too dry overall here, or has been, so it is very welcome water from above.

In other news - I've fixed a date for the online spinning workshop. It will take place on June 2, at 18:00 - and I'm planning to put details into the shop tomorrow, and booking will be possible then as well. The workshop will include a dressed distaff and a spindle, and I'll put in an option for participants who have already bought a distaff and spindle from me, as it makes no sense to have them twice.

This is all very exciting, and I'm already looking forward to it. (And pondering if I can fix the webcam in a way that it's possible to see what I see...)