hangin' with the Redcoats

Since we've been loving Old Sturbridge Village's Redcoats and Rebels weekend for years now, you've seen plenty of pics of it before, but here are some highlights from yesterday's event.

Reenactor using a lucet to make a square cord. I've known about lucets, but never tried it and never seen one in action, so this was a fun thing to come upon.

My favorite independent reenactor, proudly wearing the dress she sewed specifically for this event. She started with this Simplicity pattern as a guideline, but modified the heck out of this thing because she had way less fabric, time, and experience than it called for. The pattern talks of boning, lining, bias tape -- all sorts of things Leah had no intention of fussing with, so she just skipped those parts of the instructions and made modifications where necessary. When it became clear that there wouldn't be enough time to finish her crocheted lace collar, she subbed in a fabric one. Cotton fabric and buttons from our stash, "petticoats" from my wedding dress storage box. :-) There's lots of room for improvement, of course, but she is ecstatic with the results and her mind is spinning with more sewing ideas. Given how many times she was stopped along the way at Sturbridge yesterday by people asking if they could take her picture (and given how many people in costume were there, the fact that she was picked out of the crowd so often is truly astounding), she certainly had a lot of encouragement as a result of her efforts!

Reenactors enjoying some shade near the blacksmith's shop while troops and spectators gather in the distance for the big battle.

Jesse with some tired reenactors after the battle, chatting it up about the weapons collections. This guy made his big gun from a kit and, like all enthusiasts, was happy to discuss its finer points as long as there was an interested audience. Jesse spent the early part of the way with the historic miniature gaming group from Boston. He discovered this group at Redcoats and Rebels last year and has since become involved with a group locally, some of whom are also members of the Boston group, so he enjoyed being welcomed back this year as an experienced historic gamer who could help other new folks learn the game.

A new experience for us this year was the comfortable feeling of being a part of it, not just visitors. We know some of the reenactors through the Nathan Hale Homestead and the fiber community, knew the gaming guys from last year and the local group, are recognized by some of the OSV staff because we've been going there forever, and just generally bumped into people we knew all over the place and found ourselves in pleasant conversation with other people everywhere we went. No doubt about it: this is one of our favorite events of the year.

Then we came home and I worked on my secret project, which hit a huge roadblock. I can't bring myself to look at it yet, but will re-evaluate later today and determine course of action. Let's just say that everybody 'round here wisely gave me lots of space by bedtime last night.

the annual report from the battlefield

Again it's time for the Redcoats to Rebels military history weekend at Old Sturbridge Village. As you may remember from blog posts about this event in 2006 and 2007, this one of our favorite events of the summer because there are aspects of it that appeal to the interests of every member of my family.

I'm always smitten by the hues attained through the combination of natural dyestuffs and wool, especially in a setting that includes a campfire, beautiful location, and fascinating people.

We roamed the encampment areas, stopping to chat with various craftspeople, some of whom were practicing skills we're interested in and/or practicing on a regular basis ourselves, including buttonmaking (pewter, not glass), spinning, weaving, embroidery, knitting, carving, and the gentleman above, making soap. Here he's telling us about the lye he's making in the pots to the right. He was especially fun to talk to because he couldn't seem to wrap his head around the fact that we make soap now, for the fun of it, and that it's gentle enough to actually use on human skin, and even beneficial to skin, and smells good too! I think he had more questions for us than we had for him. :-)

New to the Redcoats to Rebels experience this year was a historical miniature gaming group from Boston. Jesse spent most of the day with these guys and, in the picture above, is contemplating a move during a game with about eight players. We previously knew nothing about this type of gaming, but it seems to be a perfect next step in Jesse's passion for military history and he says it was the best day he's ever had at Old Sturbridge Village. If you know even a teensy bit about our history with OSV, you'll realize that this speaks volumes. Luckily, there's a gaming group that meets closer to home, so he'll be exploring that soon.

The majority of the time was spent meandering the encampment sites, stopping for visits, demos, answers to questions, big laughs, old-time entertainment. Leah was in full costume, so she joined in with groups/people enjoying fiber arts and especially enjoyed the tavern puzzles and wooden games. She also got a verbal pattern for a knitted shawl that she cast on while relaxing at home yesterday evening.

During the big battle, there were rumbles from the sky as well as from the cannons. We all got caught (by choice!) in a rainstorm and ended the day somewhat soggy, but the passing storm sure didn't appear to put a damper on anyone's enthusiasm for this great event.

R2R + (MND x 2) = 4:-)

Ahhh...Rebels to Redcoats weekend at Old Sturbridge Village has become one of our favorite annual events. This year there were over 600 reenactors in period costume participating in formal events and also staying in encampments throughout the village for informal interaction throughout the days. As has been the case for at least three years now, Scott, Jesse, and Leah spent all day Saturday and all day Sunday there and came home thoroughly jazzed.

Because the reenactors are passionate about history and especially the time period they've chosen to recreate, they are thrilled to interact with kids and adults who are honestly engaged and inquisitive, and will often become increasingly open and sharing as they realize the extent of interest. Jesse was, as always, entranced by the historic weaponry. This year he focused on the Gatling gun and became an assistant for the reenactor you see to his right in the picture above, eventually earning the opportunity to clean the gun and help carry the ammunition box. He was greeted like a member of the reenactor group when he returned for the second day. As usual, he fell into his spontaneous docent role in the blacksmith's shop too, with the blessing of the blacksmith himself. :-) Leah found her niche on Saturday when she took her turn at the spinning wheel of someone doing a demo and was recognized by the demo'er as a fellow member of Nutmeg Spinners Guild. They arrived home Saturday afternoon just long enough for us all to head out with my mom to the New England Shakespeare Festival's performance of Midsummer Night's Dream. Yes, we just saw one version of Midsummer Night's Dream a couple of weeks ago, but we've seen about five versions all together now and each one has a completely different flavor from the others. This particular version was rollicking, informal, and often downright hilarious. Like when the whole shebang paused for the "flying machine" to pass, while the Elizabethan players looked quite perplexed by this contraption and the audience joined in on a quick round of singing "I'm leaving on a jet plane. I don't know when I'll be back again." Good raucous Shakespeare for the common folk!Back to Old Sturbridge Village for day 2 of Rebels to Redcoats today. Met up with friends, as planned, and more friends, unplanned! Above is Jesse enjoying a walk in the company of General Grant, with whom they had a picnic lunch last year. And here you see Leah (in blue) and her militia friends parading around the common. That's Molly Pitcher behind her, in the bonnet, and crisp militia-woman Emma in red, marching in step with the commanding officers. They came home thoroughly wiped out, treasuring the small mementos gifted to them by reenactors, with many stories to share and the glee that comes from a weekend with family and friends, and boundless enthusiasm for history brought to life. 

gauntlet girl

Leah's knitting of late is all gauntlets, all the time.

After making her first pair, she understands the basics of fingerless glove design, so now she's making up her own patterns and choosing stitch patterns as she goes along. She's trying a variety of styles, varying the length, thumb construction (with gusset or without), ribbing, etc.

These are great little projects, giving her the opportunity to try new things without it being too much of an undertaking. She's especially enjoying cables, which is why she chose the Stitchionary, Volume 2, as a design reference source, and why she bought two skeins of everything in her basket at Webs last weekend.

In general, her mind is filled with thoughts of the winter to come, but on this hot, humid day, we're stepping back in time to the 1840s and a Rebels to Redcoats weekend at Old Sturbridge Village. If you're going too, you'll recognize Leah as the girl in a calico dress and bonnet, knitting gauntlets as she enjoys the military history and re-enactment activities in one of our favorite places in the world. Jesse will likely be hanging with the blacksmiths or helping the re-enactors, just like last year.

Shakespeare, shots, and shrooms

The weekend in pictures:

Friday, Shakespeare's The Tempest, performed on the pier in New London, shown with my current sock-in-progress, which I think is just about ready for casting off.

Saturday, Rebels to Redcoats at Old Sturbridge Village. One of my kids was there for the military history and one for the textiles/fashion history. Leah was in full costume and fit right in with the many, many reenactors who contribute to the weekend. She had just finished sewing a bag on commission for a reenactor friend, so she gave it a test run on Saturday and it worked out well.

It was also the biggest number of attendees I think I've ever seen at Old Sturbridge Village. This is a portion of the enormous crowd gathered for the battle (you can see gunsmoke to the left) on this spectacular day. It's like old home day for us too, running into people we know from high school, from being longtime members at OSV, from hanging out with reenactors, from participating in military history miniature gaming groups, from here, there, and everywhere. Interesting conversation about whitework embroidery and spent a good while chatting with the man who was the leader of the British troops x 16 years.

Sunday, Fungus Festival at the Coventry Farmers' Market, including all sorts of mushroomy foods, a surprisingly large group of mycologists offering and participating in lots of mushroom-related activities, and a steady stream of happy customers.

Today, back to work. So I can rest. ;-)

a stitcher's view

We spent yesterday at Old Sturbridge Village's Redcoats to Rebels weekend. For my guys, it was all about the mock battles, the weaponry, the loud bang-bangs, the supercool (but super hot) uniforms and accoutrements. However, here's a taste of military history for those of us who are more interested in the gentle arts.

Dyeing, knitting...

quilting...

bobbin lacemaking, spinning...

weaving, rugmaking.

Going back today for more!