Queen's Prize Tourney, 2-2007  My Weaving

I recently entered the Kingdom of Calontir's Queen's Prize Tourney. This is an arts and sciences competition for beginners. It really is more than a competition. It is a way for people to get their feet wet and figure out what the unwritten rules are in judging the arts and sciences in the SCA. I entered 2 lengths of fabric that I had woven with the idea that they would be made eventually into kosodes-medieval Japanese "kimonos." The judges were very complimentary about my work and my research. The first length is intended to be for everyday wear for someone who is not of the samurai class. A merchant's wife or a moderately well to-do craftsman's wife. It is cotton. Sett is 28 ends per inch with 10/2 cotton at 4200 yd./lb. Beat is 11.5 picks per inch. It is 15 inches wide. I wove a little more than 12 yards after shrinkage. This would be a set of garb for late medieval Japan-1550 to 1600, when cotton was widely grown and not expensive.

My second length of fabric for a kosode was a bit more traditional. It was done in cottolin-part cotton and part linen, because the cost of all linen would have been prohibitive. Although it is not intended for someone of the samurai class, they would have liked it because they always loved the look of dark blue indigo. This was Bockens Nialin brand of cottolin. Sett was 20 ends per inch. Beat was 16 picks per inch. It was 16 inches wide after washing. I wove 9.5 yards.