2nd Annual A&S War Point at Pennsic XLV

 

 

About 1 year ago I returned to the work force (huzzah!!!). Unfortunately I spend 100% of my workday sitting in front of a computer which makes me not want to do that while I am home. Add to that the fact that 7 months ago I went and became the Princess of Acre and that means that while I have been doing lots and lots of crafting, I haven't been blogging about it.

 

I am finally starting to feel like my life is getting into a sort of routine, so I hope to be able to get in the habit of writing again. One of my biggest motivations for this is all of the A&S displays and competitions I have been to over the past year. I really enjoy seeing how others create and enjoy reading about it on their blogs.

 

I have been home from Pennsic XLV a little more than a week and I am still trying to wrap my brain around the wonderful A&S experience I had. Sunday of war week was the Knowne World A&S display. I remember 2 year ago being so frightened of showing my work. I had such a wonderful time that I couldn't wait to do it again. I had originally planned to display my medieval fiber study that I showed for the first time at the Quest A&S champions competition and St Elegius A&S competition. Much to my surprise I was selected by their Majesties f the East to compete on their team for the A&S warpoint!!!They decided this year to choose from the people who had won at A&S competitions and my win at St. Elegius in Dragonship Haven made me eligible. I decided if I was going to be showing the fiber study at the warpoint competition on Thursday, I shouldn't also show it on Sunday. I was left with the dilemma about what I should show on Sunday. I didn't really want to miss out on the display since it is such a great way to interact with other artisans and I have come to feel that it is our responsibility to share our knowledge with the populace just as the cooks share their craft by cooking feasts and the calligraphers share by making scrolls. I never really finished my fleece to frock project. I had become really disheartened after I had realized I didn't have enough fabric to make the dress. Also I had made so many mistakes in the making of the fabric that I felt it was better to just go forward than trying to fix what had already been done. Still I wanted to at least bring closure to the project by making a pair of 14th century hoods out of the fabric I had made. I had 2 weeks, surely I could full the fabric, brush and cut the nap, cut out and hand-sew hoods in that time. No problem!

 

So there I was at the A&S display on Sunday trying to finish sewing the lining to the ONE hood I had cut out. I gave up trying to sew and discuss the project and just talked with the people who visited my display and all the surrounding artisans. I am so happy that this year they put all the East Kingdom fiber people together!! We had a great time swapping info and drooling all over each others projects. As much fun as I was having I was a bit nervous about displaying on Thursday and having to stand there and answer questions. I was nervous about having to deal with some people who might be jealous about having not been asked and might be a bit unkind about my work. I was happy when Mistress Amy came by to ask if I had any questions about Thursday and I told her my concerns. She let me know that the competition was anonymous and they didn't want us to stick around. I was so relieved!!!! So now all I had to worry about was waking up in time to get there at 8am, especially since the Acre party was Wednesday night.

 

It turns out the hard part was not getting up, but going to sleep! I was so excited about the warpoint and we had fantastic bardic going on in camp until 1:45am, even though I had gone to bed at 12:30am I couldn't fall asleep. My loyal husband, Frederick woke up with me at 6:30am and helped me set up my display. We were there at 8am sharp and helped to set up the hall. Since it was going to be anonymous, we each were given a number. I chose 24 (my favorite) and had my choice of tables to set up at. We also were able to pick a hand made cup that was going to be used for the judging beads to be placed in and we got to keep it as a souvenir and thank you for being in the competition.

 

 

 

After I set up I was able to talk briefly with an amazing artisan I had met on Sunday who was telling me all about her research on Teasels and she had actually made a teasel cross that she has used for raising the nap on fiber. She has also made a great wheel and wool combs and she was just amazing!!! I looked around at some of the other displays and tried not to get in anyone's way while they set up. There was some seriously amazing displays there, I could hardly believe that I had been chosen to display alongside these magnificent artists. I had decided not to come back to the hall until the voting was over so that I would not see how many beads I had (or had not) received. To me the biggest honor was to be there in the first place. After everyone had set up we were able to vote. Everyone got 3 beads for which they could vote for their 3 favorite. It was impossible to pick 3 out of all of that, so I went with my 3 favorite research projects and even that was a hard choice.

 

I stuck to my promise to myself and did not return to the hall until 3pm when they wanted us to return and stand by our displays for an hour so that we could talk to anyone who wished to asked questions. By then all the judging had ended and I have many wonderful conversations. I was happy to see that I had also received some really awesome tokens too! The East wound up wining the day by less than 100 points. The King of Aethelmearc and the Queen of the East gave an excellent speech to all of the artisans and it was an excellent way to end such a fabulous experience.

 

I hope you all someday get a chance to participate in it, or at least go and see it when it happens next year. You will be blown away, I guarantee it!