Medieval Embroidery

Griffin Dyeworks is branching out from dyes and roving to embroidery since we can tap into some amazing talent in that area. We have found some wonderful embroidery designs and are currently preparing kits of historical designs.

Griffin Dyeworks has also self-published a truly informative book on the subject, written by Mary Jenkins, who is Baroness Ealasaid nic Suibhne in the SCA, and an excellent teacher of medieval embroidery techniques. This is a great book for other teachers of medieval embroidery techniques, so students can carry home a reminder of how each stitch is formed, see how stitches were used in a given century, the colors and cloth used, all in a well-illustrated book for only $20.00 plus shipping, so look in our BOOKS section in the Griffin Dyeworks & Fiber Arts online catalog.

NØSTEPINDER

This is the plural of a very old low-tech Scandinavian fiber tool used in as a winder for making a center-pull ball of yarn. Norwegian: "Nest-stick”: nøste = nest; pinde = little stick; literally, ‘making a birds nest’. Also known as nøstie, nøsty, nøstepinne, nørstepinde, nystepinne, depending on which Scandinavian describes it. It’s also called a "dib-ble" or "that ball-winder stick thingie."

Griffin Dyeworks is proud to introduce Mark Lindsay’s turned nøstepinder, hand-crafted from beautiful woods. A plain old broomstick can be a ball-winder, but it’s so much more satisfying to handle a beautiful wooden Quinn nøstepinde, and show it off in your fiber basket!

Mark is retired but keeps busy with his small daughter and working in his home workshop. He is also active in the SCA, where he is known as Master Quinn Phelan, builder of full-sized medieval ballista, catapults and trebuchets used by C.R.A.C. (the Caidan Royal Artillery Corps). He and his hearty band of fellow throwers-of-large-things can be found at major SCA events on the West Coast.

Star Trek & Other Media

If you showed up here expecting only expositions and opinions on media interests, you may be disappointed. You may find more about fiber arts and dyeing (that’s coloring fiber with dyes, not being laid permanently to rest) than science fiction, Star Trek, Stargate SG-1, and Firefly. I'm still a fan, and still read science fiction and fantasy, along with art books, travelogues, humor, crafts books, dye books, lots of mysteries, and even a romance or two.

Fandom has given us Trimbles so much to be thankful for, especially wonderful friends worldwide. I’m on the Fans of Deep Space Nine Yahoo list so you can talk Trek with me on that list. From there you can find loads of other Trek sites. I particularly like the USS Moontype which serves blind and partially sighted science fiction fans. Their newsletter, Lunar Landscapes, is available in large print, Braille, disc and email - contact USS-Moontype at sbcglobal.net. There is a really nice group of gay and lesbian Trekkers and Disney fans at: USSNautilus2001. One of my favorite Trek sites is Curt McAloney’s Star Trek History sites where he restores film clips, explores the reasons why some things are seen but never explained, and shares a lot of behind-the-scenes stories, jokes, and other information. Try film clips: Location scenes, jokes on the set, promotional pictures, FX information and other trivia: http://www.startrekhistory.com/

Rumors

Let’s settle some stories that are circulating throughout various fandoms.

The Trimbles are not destitute. Not wealthy, but not bag people yet. Yes, we could use more money, so can everyone else except Gates, Trump, and Oprah. I am not on my deathbed from a stroke or heart attack.

John is doing fine after his heart attack 2 years ago, and at age 70 is healthier than many of his cardiologist’s 40-year-old patients. Aside from fibromyalgia and arthritis, both of which hurt but won’t kill me, I am doing pretty well for 73-going-on-74, and plan on a 2007 weaving and dyeing trip to the Mayan Highlands.

My 75th birthday goal is a trip to Denmark and Sweden to visit museums, attend Viking re-enactment events, and participate in an archaeological dig with Dan Carlsson, Associate Professor, ArkeoDok Blåeldsvägen 3 S-621 50 Visby, Sweden. Email: info at arkeodok.com for more information. Come join us!

The SCA

You will read a lot about The Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc., a medieval historical re-enactment organization popularly known as the SCA. Many of our fiber activities and in-person sales are within the SCA. Here I’m known as Maestra Flavia Beatrice Carmigniani, Order of the Laurel (arts), Order of the Pelican (service). John is Master John ap Griffin, OP and once one of the best field heralds in the entire SCA. We are also Court Baron and Baroness, which means mainly that someone on the throne liked you a lot.

Griffin Dyeworks sets up merchant booths at several large SCA ‘wars’ or other events through the year, and though our activities are presently in the Kingdom of Caid (Southern California) and the Kingdom of Atenveldt (Arizona), we hope to soon have the wherewithal to travel to other kingdoms in other states with our wares. We’d love to have the money to travel to Pennsic War in Pennsylvania, but that’s a lot of high gas mileage from Southern California just now.

Some people are second and third generation SCAers (or SCAdians) including our own children, who grew up in the SCA and in SF fandom: Lady Kathryn du Griffin (Kathryn Trimble) and Viscountess Lorissa du Griffin (Lora Boehm, see picture above). Lorissa is Seneschal of Altavia. You don’t have to be an SCA member to visit an event or to buy medieval goodies from Griffin Dyeworks. You’ll meet a lot of really nice, as well as fantastically talented, people. Most are very willing to welcome you in, teach you how to sew garb and do as much fiber art as you want to learn. Oh yeah, if you really want to wear hot armor and clonk your fellow man or woman with a rattan sword (see below), you can learn that, too. Find an SCA group in your area by going to the SCA website.

Our Location

We are not zoned to sell from our home in Monrovia, a small foothill town near Pasadena, so don’t try to visit our store. We don’t have one, though it would be great if we at least had a working studio and store – any million-aire investors out there? GDW ships from a mailbox where the nice people will be happy to see you but won’t tell you where we live.

If you plan to visit Southern California, contract us by email about a time when we can meet and talk about dyecraft. We can, however, hold dye and crafts workshops in our backyard. If interested in a workshop at our site or yours, contact us. Summer in Southern California makes us appreciate our big 50-year-old avocado tree in the back yard. Most GDW activities take place under that tree, sometimes with a mister spraying a delicate wetness on hot faces and arms.

Mayan Weaving and Dyeing Trip to Mexico!

I’ve not suddenly become independently wealthy (darn!) to afford this Mayan Highland Backstrap Weaving and Dyeing Tour, Chiapas, Mexico. A fellow fiber artist wants to go but husband would be bored out of his skull. So he’d rather pay my way (yay!) to be her companion.

‘Our group’ currently consists of: Ruth Schooley (she taught sock knitting at our last Dye & Retreat), Margarete Mehrabian who owns the new Stick and Stone fiber store in Van Nuys, CA, and me. I am soooo excited about this trip but we need more people to join us.

This is a genuine hands-on experience, not just a stroll around quaint villages looking at the friendly natives. Tell all your fiber groups, and any fiber individuals you know. For non-fibery folk, Chiapas has genuine insect-filled amber, and the ruins of Toniná (300–800 AD) are nearby. If you teach any fiber art at all, you can take the trip off as a tax deduction! For full information, go to: Traditions Mexico, find ‘Fiber Arts’ in the left sidebar then click on NEW! Highland Maya Backstrack Weaving and Dyeing Workshop.