Gwen S.

I have to ask if anyone else here has been playing this game. As an avid gamer and fan of the Assassin's Creed series, I've of course been madly in love with Black Flag, but I've also been very impressed with a lot of the historical detail that's gone into it, even alongside all of the fantasy elements and twists that are inevitable in a major production like this. Not long ago I overheard two guards discussing actual historical facts about Woodes Rogers, who's a major character in the game, and was pleased not only that they got these facts right, but that the developers had bothered to record dialogue about it that was only going to be used in an optional sidequest and could be easily missed. There are a LOT of little things in this game that make my inner history nerd very happy. I also love their representation of Ed Thatch/Blackbeard, and all the cameos by other historical figures from the era... as silly as a lot of the creative changes can be, there's enough "real" stuff to make me smile, especially when I realize how much of it is going to fly right over the heads of the average gamer!

For tutorials on leather tricorns, here's one of the better ones I've stumbled across, though there are other good ones as well: http://jacksparrowcostuming.wikispaces.com/file/view/Captain%2520Jack%2520Sparrow%2520Hat.pdf/152746111/Captain%2520Jack%2520Sparrow%2520Hat.pdf As for sources of pre-made ones, I've heard Excalibur Leather mentioned a few times, and there are independent artisans on Etsy and other pirate-centric forums who also sell leather tricorns. I can't vouch for any myself, but these are the results of my looking and asking around =) I'm also coming into this thread with a couple questions of my own! I made a tricorn about a year and a half ago from a Jas. Townsend blank, and it seems about ready to die. I'm a performer at several renaissance faires in the region, so it's gotten PLENTY of use, and I may be able to squeeze one more faire's worth of wear out of it... but only barely. My biggest issue is that I do a lot of stage combat, and my dear hat is frequently thrown dramatically to the side... often in the very dusty vicinity of our joust field. Turns out, wool felt really likes to hang on to dust and dirt, and is kind of annoying to clean! The other pirates at faire who wear tricorns all wear leather ones, and I'd much rather be at least a little different from them in that respect (plus, I'm one of the only ones who has any notable fondness for actual history -- what a conflict that can be with our costuming director sometimes... haha). But I have to admit -- the leather just dusts right off without issue, and seeing how my hat's performing under the same conditions, I'm finding myself leaning more and more toward a leather tricorn! (I DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS AAAHHH) My question to you fine folks is this: Is there a treatment I could to do a wool felt hat (most likely a fresh new blank, I'll be content to retire my old one haha) that would make it a little easier to clean dust and dirt off of it? Like, if I could just brush off or maybe wipe down the surface of my hat, I would be the happiest nerd at the faire. My concerns are that any such treatment might stiffen my hat to the point of making me uncomfortable, or that it might melt in the sun (since I've seen at least a few wax-based treatments mentioned). Thanks for any advice or pointers!

I don't know if this would suit the style (or price range!) you're looking for, but I and pretty much everyone I work with at ren faires swear by Son of Sandlar boots. They can be pricey, but they are AMAZING quality, come with a lifetime guarantee (and they'll happily help you with any repairs or upkeep you may need, even resoling), and are designed to be worn with whatever inserts you may need -- they're very roomy. The styles I most commonly see on pirates are the "Teach" boots, which are square-toed and come with removable bucket tops (they're somewhere around $500, I think), and the "Low Buckle" style, which comes with a series of buckled straps up each leg, but those are removable, and if you take most of them out, you're left with what basically looks like a round-toe version of the Teach boots, without the bucket top (though the bucket tops can be purchased separately for about $50). I paid $325 for my Low Buckle boots. (Plus if you take all the straps off the buckle boots, they look like nice, normal boots that can be worn in your everyday life, too! I lived in mine this past winter hehe) I'm a performer at several faires, so I really needed some high-quality boots to survive the hell I put my footwear through. My first season working at a faire, I destroyed THREE PAIRS OF BOOTS over the course of two months. So for me, the cost was MORE than worth it. I don't know if it would be reasonable for you, as far as how often you'd be wearing them and/or what kind of beating you'd put them through. But I tend to recommend them especially to people who need special inserts, because they're so roomy, and are such good quality that they'll last a good many years. I know someone who wore his for eight years before he sent them in for repairs! Their website is http://sonofsandlar.com/ but I think their Facebook page is kept more up-to-date: https://www.facebook.com/SonofSandlar Best of luck in your search!

Oops, sorry! The number in those cases represents the number of times you "knit" -- a short way of saying "knit four stitches", "knit three stitches", etc.

Alrighty, in your example, "Rows 21-45: Knit" means to just knit every row from beginning to end (that is, all knit stitches, no purling, nothing fancy, just knit knit knit). You're basically correct on your guesses about the other instructions: For row 46, for example, you would keep doing "knit 4, k2tog" over and over all the way across the row (knit 4, k2tog, knit 4, k2tog, knit 4, k2tog...). There's no skipping involved, at least not in the pattern in your example; since k2tog combines two stitches into one, you're reducing the number of stitches overall by a certain interval, and so to keep things even that interval decreases as the total number of stitches decreases. A lot of patterns I've seen will note the number of stitches left at the end of each row that involves decreases or increases, to help the knitter keep track of where they are and make sure they haven't missed anything important. When I learned to knit a few years ago, I learned most of the basics (and a lot of beyond-the-basics) from http://www.knittinghelp.com and the forums there and on http://www.ravelry.com (which also has a massive searchable listing of free and not-as-free patterns, if you're interested) when I had questions. I hope I've managed to help a little!

Hehe, I believe there's at least one thread over in Twill already discussing a lot of this; while I certainly appreciate all of this information, I posted this thread more because I was hoping to hear about some modern experiences with different fabrics for flags, and/or thoughts on what specific modern fabrics might make for reasonable substitutes. =) You guys are so delightfully geeky, I love it! My kind of people

I wasn't entirely sure where to put this thread, so please relocate it if necessary. =) It's my captain's birthday soon, and I've been trying to figure out what to get/do/make for him for a while now. It occurred to me today that, while he has designed a flag for himself and has a few items with that design on them... he doesn't have an actual FLAG! This will not do! I looked around these boards and the internet in general, and found that the most common material for the body of the flag was wool bunting, right? Well, wool bunting is wicked expensive these days, which makes me sad. I'd really like to use SOME form of wool, but having never purchased or worked with that fiber before, I'm not sure what else to look for. I've got several "light weight" black wools bookmarked, and I can certainly order swatches of them, but what should I look for in a flag-appropriate wool? Admittedly this flag is not likely to be very exposed to wind and weather -- if it's not just hung up on a wall, it'll probably be carried by a member of the crew. So while I'm not too concerned with it "flying" nicely, it does need to be lightweight, and I want it to look a little more "period-ish" than the nylon flags I'm used to seeing. Would linen be an acceptable alternative in this case? It sounds to me like linen was more used for the appliques on the flags and not so much for the main body of them, but I'm not aiming for period accuracy, just "something better than nylon", hah! Basically, I'm seeking advice in these areas: 1. What wool (or wool-like) fabric would work for a flag, and do you have any advice on where I might find it for... not hideous prices? 2. If a suitable wool isn't to be found, would linen work well enough? 3. ...Any other suggestions based on your own experiences? =) Thank you!

Thanks for the welcomes! =) Mission, I have a very love-hate relationship with challenges. Right now I love them. Most of the time I love them. Sometimes, we battle and they win, and then I HATE them! Hahaha.

(Warning: I sometimes write a lot. I apologize. If you don't like walls-o'-text, it's alright, I totally understand! Hello all the same. I'm happy to be here!) Hello all! I'm a 23-year-old amateur seamstress with a love of costuming ("normal" clothes are so boring!). I learned the basics of sewing from my mother when I was a child, and through high school taught myself everything else that I now know about garment patterning and construction. Classes? Books? Pfft, I've got the Internet! (That said, someday I may go to school for fashion design. But that's the boring part...) It was probably about six years ago that I first fell in love with historical fashion. I started in the middle of the Elizabethan era and worked my way backwards, absorbing any and all information I came across. Last year... I joined the cast of my local Renaissance faire, playing a (very, very, almost annoyingly) fantasy character. Amusingly, as much as I love dressing all girly, it turns out I'm not as fond of playing girly characters. So when I was recruited to the pirate crew for this upcoming season, I jumped at the chance. Now, here's the funny thing about me... I love information. I love learning. I love fact. I will pick a subject and absolutely OBSESS over it for hours, days, weeks, etc... so you can perhaps imagine my absolute joy upon finding such an academic community such as this. I have lurked here for a while poring over every thread that catches my eye. As I find things elsewhere on the Internet, I come back here to see what you fine people have to say on subject. And yet, when it comes to what I DO with all this information that I so adore... I will willingly label myself as historically-inspired at best. I'll mix and match history with fantasy, fun with practicality, as I see fit. A large part of this is because I am, at this point, an entertainer. The patrons of the faire expect PotC, and they'll get something that they can easily identify as PIRATE. In that setting, it's more fun for me and for them. So, yes. From bucket boots to bodices, I'm far from an accurate pirate. But it's so FUN! So... yeah. The discussions on this board have been making me SO happy. With my earlier historical loves, I pretty much just focused on the fashion and little else. If it didn't have to do with textiles, fibers, and clothing, I didn't know much about it and I didn't care to learn. This whole pirate thing, though... suddenly, I'm looking at EVERYTHING. Bit by bit my interest is expanding. I started on here poking around the sewing forum. This past week I started haunting Captain Twill, learning about women in piracy, food, flags, daily life... I am absolutely in love with it all. This is the first time I've been interested in not just the clothing but the LIFE of historical people, and it's amazing. I can see why so many seek to reenact the truth of it, not just the pop culture image of it. For the most part, I am here to lurk and learn, ask the occasional question, and perhaps share pictures of the results of all this research. I have a long way to go, but I'm looking forward to it all! Thank you all for all the hard work you've put into making this site such a valuable source of information. I'm really excited to be here! Perhaps someday I'll find something useful to contribute. =)