Below is a really fascinating video about the Lendbreen tunic and its recreation.  Definitely worth taking the time to watch if you are interested in early textiles!

I am so thrilled right now.  Finished my first pair of naalbinding socks (Oslo stitch).  I learned a great deal over the last couple of weeks making these, and look forward to starting another pair this weekend.  I need to do a few things differently with the next pair, but I am more than pleased with the results for my first go-around!

I absolutely recommend this woman's videos for those who want to try this art for themselves!  http://www.en.neulakintaat.fi/

I saw this weekend that there is a new book about the Hedeby textiles coming out.  I am beyond excited about this!  Textilien und Tracht in Haithabu und Schleswig. Die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu 18 can be found here:  http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/3529014184?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00

I usually add upcoming books, as well as legal downloads as they become available, to this blog, but I know that going back to search for them can be difficult so am going to paste a few of my favorite resources for free, legal material below.  When one starts out doing research it can be confusing as to which books are work the expenditure and which are not.  ILL is an amazing way to get a hold of older, rare books, but sometimes the wait is very long so below there are some fantastic things you can use for free!

Pangur Press:  This is the Anglo-Saxon Labratory's downloadable books and papers.  Several of Penelope Walton Rogers most sought-after publications can be found here for free!  http://www.aslab.co.uk/pangur-press/

Academia.edu has several "must read" authors as members:
Marianne Vedeler, who covers Viking silks as well as other textile items: https://uio.academia.edu/MarianneVedeler

Lise Bender Jorgensen has been covering Viking era textiles for decades.  A few of her papers are here (including the excellent one about the pre-Viking era Lendbreen tunic):  https://ntnu-no.academia.edu/LiseBenderJ%C3%B8rgensen

Dagfinn Skre recently added his volumes of work on Kaupang (which are lovely enough that you will likely want to get the hard copies even if you opt to down load them):  https://uio.academia.edu/DagfinnSkre

Eva Andersson Strand has done a good deal of work concerning textile production at Viking sites and many of her papers are on Academia.edu.  (I still recommend that you get her book Textile Tools for Production from Birka and Hedeby which is available at Oxbow Books.)  https://ku-dk.academia.edu/EvaAnderssonStrand

Individual Articles:
Elizabeth Wincott Heckett is the author of the book Viking Age Headcoverings from Dublin (which is available in print again from Oxbow and I highly recommend this title which can be purchased here http://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/viking-age-headcoverings-from-dublin.html ), but you can get her article "Irish Viking Age silks and their place in Hiberno-Norse society" by running a Google search on that title (the direct PDF download does not link well).

The entire series of Viking publications can be downloaded here.  I especially recommend the issue from 2011:  https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/37522

The Archaeology Data Service has a number of publications online as well.  You have to do some searching but there is an amazing amount of material there:  http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/

Jstor is a research site for academic institutions, but they do let you look at many articles online (up to 3 at a time) if you do not have academic access.  http://www.jstor.org/


And as always, I cannot recommend Mendeley enough for storing your documents and taking notes!  https://www.mendeley.com/

In addition to updating some research (and the Resources tab on this page), as well as some of the materials and bibliography for the Viking Wool class that I am teaching this weekend, I think I can say I am grasping naalbinding.  My first sock is done save for finishing the top. Second sock just needs the toe and heel.  Aside from some videos on Oslo stitch, I have pretty much winged it and tried to do what seemed to intuitively work just to figure out the mechanics of this.  It really does make sense now.  I cannot wait to finish the second sock and then start a pair for my boyfriend.  Yarn used is Alafoss Lopi wool from Iceland.

Over the last several years I have gotten many compliments not only on the work that I display at events, but also on the manner in which I present my work.  It has even been suggested that I teach a class on displaying.  Honestly, it is not something I would want to spend time instructing on (wool is much more interesting to me!). Additionally, I think that something like that might cause additional "display anxiety" that many new artisans already feel.  Beyond that, it is easy to get lost in the idea of building an eye-catching display, rather than to utilizing it as a tool to better showcase one's own work.

In my case, most of my larger projects are more research based.  Those need something that is visual enough to catch someone's attention to get them over to the table to take a peek.  For example, a 20 page, corner stapled, research paper would easily get passed over, but there are ways to dress it up that will help attract an audience.  Below are some tips that I have found to be successful over the years for enhancing a display:

Below are some displays that very much worked for me in how they were presented.  They made good use of both the space and visual tactics to showcase their wares.

When we start out into a new area of costuming in the SCA, it is very common (and perfectly acceptable) to base your work on what other reenactors are doing or teaching, or on things you see people wearing at events.  Sometimes we get hooked on a specific time or place and start to dig deeper into academic works and eventually start to reevaluate what we have been doing.  Many things are open to interpretation, or reinterpretation, as time passes and more evidence becomes available.
 
As I start to base my work and my kit more on evidence and less on what other others are choosing to do, I really am seeing the importance of both looking closely at certain details in order to both avoid reenactorisms and to present the best image of what I think a woman of the Viking era would have worn.  During this process, I am finding it very important to look at scale of certain items and equally important to look at scaling back some other things.

Below are things that I am working on or towards in my own upper class Viking kit:
 
Scale

• Trim:  Most trim (when used at all) was in the form of tablet-woven bands or silk strips and most of these were less than a half an inch wide.  Some of the silk I used in the past was far too wide (and glaringly the wrong patterns).
  
• Cording:  When braid or cord was used to trim the edges of garments, it was only a few millimeters wide (typically 2-3mm with the “coarse” braids being labled as 4-5mm). 
• Textiles:  The garments from upper class graves were well woven and of fine threads with high thread counts.  Even many of the garment textiles from reports that were classified as “coarse” were not thick, rough burlap that one would imagine Dark Ages folk wearing. 
• Patterned Fabrics:  In my survey of patterned textiles I discovered that plaids used in garments were typically very, very tiny and stripes were narrow.  I have used large plaids in the past, but will have a more watchful eye when looking for textiles like these in the future.  (Survey can be found here: http://awanderingelf.weebly.com/blog-my-journey/viking-textiles-a-deeper-look-at-plaids-stripes-and-checks )
• Belts:  Historically these were much narrower than those we often seen used in the SCA (very narrow in many cases).  While I do not always wear a belt (as I think that it was less common for a well to do woman to wear a belt), I have already selected a belt that is less than half an inch wide for when I do need or want one.
• Stitches:  In the past I did some very bold rows of running stitches (in contrasting thread) on garments that visibly stood out.  I am now looking to use smaller stitches and often it is in the same color as the garment or in a natural color (ivory or natural linen typically if I am using linen thread).
• Loops/straps:  Most of the extant loops from smokkrs were less than half an inch, and some were much, much narrower than that.  My early dresses were a bit over half an inch, but later garments I made were more narrow and I find them just as comfortable and functional as wider ones and like the look better.
  

 
 
Scaling Back

• Sleeves:  The extant sleeves we do have all taper towards the wrist.  I have a few dresses on which I love the sleeves, and plan to modify that pattern to better match the narrow cuffs on extant pieces.
  
• Hemlines:  I think many of my early dresses are far too full.  The lines that would be created by the Hedeby smokkr fragment would slim.  The gores found at the same site were also much more narrow than those I often cut for myself.  The more recent slim garments I have made still offer room for movement and I much prefer them now.  I plan to work more with these layouts to see how I can further improve the design.  These also use less fabric, which I find to be an important consideration.
• Beads:  Even some of the most extravagant graves have only a few beads or a single strand.  Festoons and giant swags of beads were just not common, even among the wealthy.  Over the years I have amassed quite a collection of handcrafted beads that I adore, but now I typically choose to wear one strand at a time rather than all of them at once. 

 
I love discovering new knowledge and love the process of recreating my presentation based on that.  I look at some of my early works and see that there is little to no evidence to support choices I made, but I still learned a great many things as I crafted each item.  I just as much look forward to new directions (and new garb)!