Merry Christmas to All!

and many blessings for the new year.

This Book of Hours, by Simon Bening, 1530-35 (at the Cloisters), is so tiny it would fit in the palm of your hand. 

This year we were blessed with a white Christmas. Some people don't like that, but I still love waking up to snow.

I finished my Christmas knitting and nalbinding just in time. Once again, I forgot to take pictures. But everyone seemed to like what I made for them, and that is what really counts.

A comparison of chess piece design

We made our annual trip to New York City for the Christmas holiday. While there we made a quick visit to the Cloisters, where they had an exhibit of chess pieces. It reminded me of visiting the Lewis chessmen at the British Museum earlier this year. Here is a comparison of rooks. Both are Scandinavian, but I believe the one from the Cloisters is slightly later.

 
12th century, at the Cloisters
                                                                                        mid 12th century, at the British Museum 

Here are queens, both Scandinavian:

from the 13th century, surrounded by her entourage. She does not look worried, like the Lewis queen.

And here are the knights:

 England, c. 1350

Next time I'll tell you about the weaving exhibit we saw at the Met.                                                       

Beginning Nalbinding

Earlier this month I taught a beginner nalbinding class at a local library. I taught the easiest stitch I know - York - so that students would be able to leave class being confident enough in their new skills to make a holiday gift. In two weeks I'm teaching the second class - nalbinding mittens. Students will learn increasing and decreasing, and tricks for making the thumb without leaving little holes. There are several ways to do this. I arrived at my favorite after examining many artifact mittens. That's the version I will teach. I'll also show students alternate methods, because just because it is my favorite, doesn't mean it will be yours. If you don't think you would like mittens, never fear - the same techniques work for making gloves.

So, if you know a nalbinding stitch and would like help with mittens or gloves, stop by the East Greenbush Library at 1:00 on December 9. Directions for the classes are posted here in the class handouts.

merry England

We were in England (mostly London) for a week. Just enough to whet the appetite, barely time to scratch the surface of the things to see and do. Our first day we stretched our legs after the long and lovely train ride from Glasgow. We enjoyed St. James's Park,

 
walked around Westminster, across the bridge, along the river to the next bridge, up to Trafalger Square,

and eventually back to the hotel.

The next day it was off to the British Museum, where I fell in love with the Lewis Chessmen. Yes, I've seen photos and reproductions. That is nothing compared to standing in front of the real thing.

  

 What I didn't appreciate until I saw them in person is that every one of them is completely unique, and they all have personality.

Shears (50BC-50AD) from Hertford Heath

Another highlight of the trip was seeing a play at the Globe. We saw Twelfth Night. 

And equally wonderful was the view that greeted us as we left the theater. 

Friday we were off to Westminster Abbey and the V & A. I would have liked to spend all day in the V & A, but I am happy with the time we got. I spent quite a long time with "my" beloved Coptic socks (Egypt 300-500). We practically had the gallery to ourselves.

This is nalbinding, not knitting.

I also drooled over the Tristan and Isolde quilt (Florence c. 1360-1400). I love the fish and faces.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg of wonderful things to discover:

 

The next day we climbed to the top of St. Paul's Cathedral (520+ steps), and were rewarded with spectacular views and a serenade by the bells.

You can see the Tower of London and Tower Bridge in this photo. The trip was certainly over long before we ran out of things to explore.

travel adventures

We are back from a lovely vacation in Scotland and England. What beautiful countries, and friendly people! Of course I made a point of visiting as many museums as possible. In Glasgow we were lucky enough to take a behind the scenes tour of the Burrell stained glass collection. The museum is currently closed for renovation, so they are using the opportunity to conserve and photograph their medieval glass. We got up close to see the lead came, the silver staining, how "jewels" were added, and 19th century repairs. Fascinating! Here are a few pictures:

Examining windows with and without light. The red leaf is from the 19th century. The red and blue "jewels" are 15th century originals. They added them by cutting holes in the center of the receiving piece of glass. I wonder how many pieces were broken in the process?

 German, late 15th century

Don't you love the faces?                                                                                                                                                                                             German, 1443

 French, circa 1280

some details 

 This 16th c. English piece includes chased glass.

French, c. 1520 
Don't forget to take your shoes off when you are going in the river to be baptized!

 

The oldest pieces in the collection, from St. Denis, France

We were in town for an architectural history conference, so we visited quite a few buildings from many different times. Here are a few highlights:

  Macintosh's Willow Tea Rooms (a reproduction, but beautiful none the less)

 19th century City Hall

  13th century Bothwell Castle

And just so you don't think it was all work and no play, the food was delicious.

 

 Babbity Bowster, a very old pub.


Then, it was on to England...