A Three Days Journey

Master Ingus and I took a long trip to the north, during which I took became ill with the Bardic Madness.
Of the twelve challenges, I took part in five. I was also patroness for Blow Someone Else's Horn. They were:
The Ensemble Tale
The Oakhart Challenge
Brought to You by the Number 3
Quod Libet
Royal Challenge

I do not have anything written down from The Ensemble Tale. That is done on the spot.
For Quod Libet, I argued for snow (I like cross country skiing), and threw in why I'd like to live in Mistig Waetru just for fun.

For the Oakhart Challenge, I covered what England thought of Spain from about 1500-1600 in a few sentences:
We don't want your daughter.
Yes, please give us your daughter.
Now we're going to treat her poorly.
We hate you, and we're going to sink all your ships.

In Brought to You by the Number 3, I wrote a riddle in a sort of rhymed triplet about three objects I use and offered a prize to the winner. Someone solved it in a couple minutes, and I'll let the gentle reader guess what they are:
These three objects I use,
We can be of metal or wood
So here is a riddle, I pray it will amuse

The first is of metal, long and light
Cutting bone and slicing flesh
A new one that is useful in a fight

The second is sharp and small
Fibers go through me which I decorate
Much used and seen, held in hand by all

With the third I strike a solid blow
Metal on metal on metal
While a hot fire burns and glows

Guess what are we three
Think on this and solve the riddle
And a prize yours will be.

For the Royal Challenge, I wrote a lullaby that can be sung in a round. Over the next couple weeks, I will be working on writing this in period notation and will put a copy up here. Special thanks to Ysolt for giving a class on writing period chants, because the tune was written with hints from that class. Another thing I like to do at Bardic Madness is take a class and use what I learn to write a new piece. This is the first song I've ever written:
Griffin's Lullaby
Bid ye rest lay down your head
Far from home or in your bed
Dream of griffins, stars so bright
Dream you of Northshield this night.

All of the above was written on site. I typically do not write anything ahead of time, or even read the challenges until I get there.

Enough Already.

Don't get me wrong. I love winter as much as the next man, woman, child or border collie who likes to dive into the snow while playing frisbee. But enough is enough. I want Spring. I want to ride my bike to work without battling the wind and the rain/snow/slush stuff that looks like it is coming at us horizontally. I want to ride my bike to the grocery store, the bookstore or wherever else I want to go. I want sun. I want 60 degree weather. I want to hang up my winter coat until November. I want to worry about if I'm wearing enough sunscreen.
So, Winter, all I have to say to you is this:
Go Away! Your turn is over for a while. Let someone else have their fun so I can have mine.

Frame 2.0

Frame 2.0 is a failure. So that's where I'm at. Monday night I took the embroidery off the frame because I was so frustrated. Here's what I've gone through so far with frames:
Frame 0.0
No frame. Didn't work. Started over.
Frame 1.o
1 inch square red oak. Nice wood, but far too heavy. My frame stand could not support the weight. The only way I could work on it was to put the stand on a table adn use it to prop up the frame. This made doing the embroidery really slow, and bending over the piece made my back hurt.
Frame 2.o
This is the one you see in the pictures of the project. It worked much better than Frame 1.0, but had its own problems. 1. It was made from Aspen, a really bad choice. I did not choose what type of wood. I will never, never, never make anything from Aspen again. Ever. Did I say never enough? One more time. I will never use Aspen again for ANYTHING. I don't care what the project is. You couldn't PAY ME to use it. The first problem with Frame 2.0 is that the holes were drilled to big for dowel rods. My dowel rods are 1/2" round, and that is the size of the holes in the stretcher bars. And this is where the problems begin. Because aspen is soft and the holes are too big in the stretcher bars, when they are tightened down to hold the dowel rods, there is tension for a while and then I have to tighten it again by turning the dowel rods. I had to tighten the bolts so far that the ends touched. I wrapped some of my embroidery tape around the ends of the dowel rods. My hope was this would add just enough size to the dowel rods so there wouldn't be a problem with the frame losing tension. It didn't work. It only made it so I couldn't tighten up the tension because the dowl rods didn't turn anymore due to the tape on them. Also, the started to crack while I was taking it apart. Aspen is far from the ideal material when it comes to embroidery frames.
Frame 3.0
I already have plans for it. I don't know if I'm building it or TJ is. It will be made from maple. Maple isn't heavy and is hopefully stiff enough to have some spring to it. I've already picked up the maple. If I don't use it for my frame, I will be using to make smaller frames to sell to anyone who wants one. More and more people are asking me about the small frame I have so I'm going to start making them.