One of the goals we have for Medieval Living is to create a living village for students to visit and learn about crafts and trades common to the Medieval era. Well just yesterday I came upon an interesting website – while not a physical Medieval living village, it still has some very interesting eduational applications! Referred to as the “Yalding Project“, it is a large scale lesson on life in Medieval England during the 14th century. Yalding sounds like the typical Medieval village, with church, a bridge, manor houses and courts, hop farms and more. Some 29 lessons are available, along with supporting documents, lesson guides and reference works. I hope to spend more time reading through this very interesting set of lessons – anyone interested in teaching Medieval history, whether high school, college, home school or otherwise, should find this site interesting and beneficial!!!
Archives for October, 2009
I found a very interesting website that describes how to use an inkle loom. It also includes a variety of patterns, some simple and some more complicated. For anyone interested in learning how to use an inkle loom, it should be a very useful resource! Mary M. Atwater produced these instructions back in 1941 – as part of a weaving guild in Basin, Montana. “How to Weave on the Inkle Loom” is a well written PDF file that gives step-by-step instructions, including a Scandinavian method and a Native American method. I am personally familiar with the Scandinavian method as it is essentially what is taught as basic SCA inkle weaving. The Native American method, which also has similarities to weaving patterns found in South America as well as the Philippines, produces more complicated and intricate designs. I hope you find Mary’s instructions helpful!
Well, the “shingles” still have me down – my apologies again for not posting.
In my previous post, I mentioned that I was in the process of making a small inkle loom which I hope to auction off here on my blog. Well not much has happened, but I do want to mention that I am still intending on completing the loom and getting it on the auction site. However, I also thought I should clarify a few things about “Inkle” looms.
Firstly, inkle looms are NOT in anyway Medieval – at least not the inkle looms you will find on websites. From MaraRiley.net, it is quite obvious the the contemporary inkle loom was first made in the early 1900s by Artcraft.
Secondly, the term “inkle” might possibly come from the Dutch enckel which means “single”. The Oxford English Dictionary also refers to “ynchulls” and Shakespeare refers at least three times to “inkles”
“Now will I look to his remuneration. Remuneration! O, that’s the latin word for three farthings: three farthings — remuneration — ‘What’s the price of this inkle?’ — ‘One penny.’ — ‘No, I’ll give you a remuneration:’ why, it carries it. Remuneration! Why, it is a fairer name than French Crown. I will never buy and sell out of a word.” –Love’s Labours Lost (Act III, Scene I).
Finally, Lady Cibella Monmouth, of the Meridies Kingdom of the SCA, notes that “For many centuries, this type of weaving was done on looms such as the bow loom, the forked-branch loom, or the back-strap loom”, refering to the weaving of “inkles”.
So . . . while the loom itself is not Medieval, the weave which is produced with it is identical in outcome as the “ynchull” of the 1500s.
I’ve seen these modern-day inkle looms selling for $80 USD and upwards, depending on the size and “brand” of loom. The little loom that I intend to auction off here will make a 2 inch wide band of about 5 feet in length. Auction price will start at $10 plus whatever is necessary to ship it to the auction winner.
Just a reminder, the proceeds of the auction go to Medieval Living, Inc, which is a non-profit educational organization emphasizing instruction of Medieval era crafts and trades for home schooled children (and anyone else interested in learning).
First off, I want to apologize for not having made any new posts over the past week or so . . . came down with a very unpleasant case of “shingles”. I thought at first I’d been bitten by a spider or something . . . but after a quick trip (5 hours) to the emergency room, I was easily diagnosed and on my way with various medications to relieve the pain and assail the virus. I still feel like #&*!@@$#& but I hope by the end of this week I will be in better condition.
OH OK so . . . I said something in the title about online Medieval auctions. I came upon a new site a few days ago – a group who has put together an online auction for those of us who are interested in things Medieval – whether we be SCAdians, Rennies, LARPers or any other similar group. Called “The Merchants’ Guild“, this nicely done auction site, which was started just last month, has auction categories for clothing, weapons, armor, camping supplies, craft items and more. Unlike some of the “other” auction sites on the web, The Merchants’ Guild is free of cost to both buyers and sellers.
I myself plan to place an item for auction this coming week (as soon as I feel better and can function safely in my wood shop). I will auction off an inkle loom (exact dimensions/capacities will be given as soon as it is actually completed). My goal for the auctioned item is to earn some additional monies for Medieval Living, Inc., the non-profit organization of which I am president. So if you know of someone who is interested in purchasing an inkle loom, let them know that I will have one for auction very soon.
My apologies to all who have been reading my blog on a regular basis. I was busy last weekend with a local SCA event – al-Barrn Champions! A wonderful event – not too demanding but with enough activity to make it worth while. I spent most of my time on the archery field. I haven’t done much archery lately, so I felt it prudent to practice so as to improve my skills.
Since the weekend, I have found my self “whelmed” by the responsibilities of public education. Notice, I didn’t say “overwhelmed” . . . just “whelmed”. Grades are due, meetings after school, teacher night at the local museums, educators’ banquet with the Army National Guard. All good stuff, but enough to keep me from doing much blogging. Hope that will change a little this weekend.
My goal for this weekend is to make the “hub” of Medieval spoked wheel. I’ve had several people tell me that they would be interested in having a source of such wheels . . . so there’s some motivation to get busy on the lathe.
