Wire Weaving – Not as Simple an Issue as it Seems – Part 1

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Knit Chain has been a form that I’ve loved for 16 years. A recent class unexpectedly expanded my understanding of this technique and changed my view of some other skills, too.

Sometimes when I go to an event I wind up taking a class on a lark. Something I hadn’t planned to take. Something that just sparked a moment of curiosity. And sometimes that class can turn out to be an entirely new thing for me – a new area of study and experimentation.

Well, that happened this year for me at Gulf Wars. I was reading through the class list, and there it was – a class on Anglo Saxon Style Knit Chain.

OK.

I have been making and teaching Knit Chains, often incorrectly called Viking Wire Weaving, for about 16 years. I took a class at the Pennsic War and took my skills home with me to the West Kingdom. Many dozens of people now do this craft as a direct result of my classes – and some of my original students have gone on to perfect and teach this skill. I’ve helped dozens of others figure out how to finish or improve their pieces, so I am VERY familiar with the technique.

Since “Viking wire weaving” fascinates me, I’ve also done a considerable amount of research on the technique. I’m always looking for evidence of how these early skills were actually performed – tools, and artifacts.

Some researchers and academic papers told me that the technical name for the technique was Trichinopoly – an unfortunate term that was applied by a British Gentleman back in the late 1800’s – but more about that later. I wondered how long the technique had been used. So I started looking for other artifacts that could be credited to specific cultures and dated. Real artifacts pushed the use of the technique back to 400 BC in Turkey – waaay before the Vikings. It was surprised to find knit chains there. Wasn’t this supposed to be a Scandinavian thing? But I kept watching for more pieces, and one day I randomly happened upon a traveling exhibit of the female Pharaoh Hapshepsut ( 1479-1458 BC) from Egypt. I was wandering through, and there was a gold necklace made with this technique.

It was now very clear to me that this technique had nothing to do with the Vikings. They may have used it, but they did not appear to have invented it. In fact when I initially went to look for Viking pieces that used the technique, I couldn’t find any. I eventually did start to find them, first in Ireland and Scotland, and then in other areas, but it was really NOT that common. In the long run I discovered that the lack of consistent terminology that was used for the technique was one of the things that made it so hard to locate true knit chains. Most museums just lump the technique in with all of the other “chains”. The only way to actually tell if a piece is wire weaving is to find a good up close picture and actually figure out the pattern of the wire in the chain. Not an easy task.

Now to the individual who is used to standard chains made from links, it may seem silly that identifying something that was woven from something that was just “joined together” would be difficult, but if you understand the actual structural forms of wire weaving, and chain making, it will become obvious.

Next time: Viking Wire Weaving, Linked Chains, and Loop in Loop

Don’t Let Them Spoil Your Fun: How to find or create kindred spirits – Part 2 – Long Distance Assistance

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Last time I talked about setting a good example and keeping up your own standards.

When my husband and I moved to Atenveldt, I believed that most people, given the opportunity, would want to learn. It might be the smallest thing, but I believed that there was a spark inside everyone in the SCA that if only fanned with the right stuff, would blossom into a bright light. They would want to make their brews more accurate, their clothing more accurate. I understood budgetary restraints – I had them as well, I understood time constraints – building our new house was a time consuming task, I even understood limitations on people’s ability to fully understand the esthetics of previous periods.

What I didn’t understand was an apparent lack of devotion to the historically based game that we play. Now, I’m not demanding that SCA members spend all of their free time or their free cash exclusively on the SCA experience. But I do look for a spark in every one of us. A good friend explained it to me this way, “For you the SCA is a lifestyle choice, for many other people it is just a hobby – an excuse to get together with friends on the weekend and have a party.” (Smart person!)

But I have found some people who are kindred spirits. Not as many as I have out of kingdom, but there are a few here who really understand my devotion to the game. And I have helped to “corrupt” a few people by encouraging them to take classes that gave them their own passion for some part of the game. We joke that “Resistance is futile “. If you will honestly try a bunch of different things, you will eventually find something that you love.

I prefer the carrot to the stick whenever I deal with people – but I have to admit there are people who I would sometimes like to hit with a stick. Who are those people? The people who just don’t care about trying anything historically accurate AND make fun of those who do. Mostly it’s about their lack of respect for the parts of the SCA that are important to others. It’s your right to play your own game, but don’t rain on my parade. Don’t make fun of people who want to learn, who want to improve their game.

I make a point of ignoring the blatantly bad clothing, the glaringly modern brews, so they should be able to ignore my authenticity. If people want my opinion on an item that I have hard knowledge about, I try to give it as gently as possible. The jokes about authenticity Nazis are not funny. So I counter in my classes that I can’t possibly be an authenticity Nazi, because Nazi’s aren’t period for us. That always at least garners smiles and chuckles.

Extending Your Search for Kindred Spirits

There will be times, no matter how good your collection of local kindred spirits, that you just need more. And that is where internet groups can come in. I belong to several select yahoo groups and several closed Facebook special interest groups. I personally look for groups where quality research and information is shared on a daily basis. Most of the groups that I am on are also totally unforgiving of bad behavior. Snarky comments are just not acceptable, and I like that. These people become your long distance research family. They share a passion for a topic that you simply may not be able to find locally, no matter where you live.

One of my great delights is when I finally actually get to meet one of them at an event. I have had people come to my classes, or into my booth, and be totally delighted to meet me because we have shared information long distance. Is it as good as sitting around a table and chatting while you work on a project? No. But it sure beats feeling totally isolated and on your own. And don’t forget this approach for side-projects, too. The resources that you can access this way, can be totally amazing.

We travel to several large out-of-kingdom events. With a little pre-planning this can be can a great opportunity to expand your circle of kindred spirits. If you’re shy it can be a challenge to get out and meet people, but it’s worthwhile. Look for an event where a special interest group gathers to meet, discuss, and trade information. Go to a class. Meet the people in the class. Trade contact information.

If you are concerned about making information too freely available, consider establishing an SCA-only email account, web page, Facebook page and the like to allow like-minded people to contact you. In short, do research to find kindred spirits. Don’t have the skills to do that type of research? Find a friend who has the skills and will share them with you! Research on!

Don’t let THEM spoil your game!

Society for Creative Anachronism participant i...

Society for Creative Anachronism participant in period garb prepared for feast (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Don’t Let Them Spoil Your Fun: How to find or create kindred spirits.

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So last time I gave a bit of my background in the SCA. Now let me tell you what the lady customer at Gulf Wars said. The kingdoms have been changed to protect the guilty. She said, “I currently live in Kingdom B, but I moved there from Kingdom A. They do a lot more late period in Kingdom B, but it is mostly badly done, with a lot of very unfortunate fabric choices.” She was obviously sad and we chatted for a little while. I assured her that she would find kindred spirits and her place in Kingdom B. Just being able to commiserate with someone who has dealt with inter-kingdom issues before made her feel better. But what else would I say to her if we really had the time and the privacy to speak frankly? I would tell her that there are probably kindred spirits already in her new kingdom, they may not be obvious, but they are probably there.

But, just in case they aren’t, what do you do then? Well, you keep up your own standards. You set a good example, and if anyone comments, you cheerfully inform them why you made the choices that you did. It will not help instantly, but over time it will affect some people. Some people will see the wisdom in your choices and want to improve their own presentations.

When we moved to the West Kingdom the Brewer’s Guild was not requiring documentation for their competitions. We thought that was wrong. We are supposed to be a historically based organization, and promote the learning of historical things. Part of that learning experience in Brewing is learning what they actually made and then making it. The Guild was concerned that if we required documentation no one would enter the competitions. So instead of requiring it, we gave extra points if you had it. When people would come to drop off their brews, I would ask “Do you have documentation?” If they said no I would offer to help them write a page of documentation on the spot. I would pull out a sheet of paper and we would run through a basic list of questions: Where did the idea for the brew come from? What were the ingredients? What was the process? Would you do anything differently next time? The points for documentation could easily make the difference between first and second place. We had a competition at least four or five times a year. It didn’t take long for most people to come with that page already written out, and over time the documentation became progressively better.

I would tell the lady at Gulf Wars to wear clothing from whatever period she wanted to, but to do it impeccably. Make sure that the fabrics, the embellishments, the accessories, were all spot on. And if necessary, carry the documentation with her. Teach classes on how to do it right. When I teach my Viking Women’s class I encourage everyone to improve their outfits over time. Every time that you buy something, every time that you make something, try to make it better.

Next Time: Long Distance Assistance