Stockings complete!

#4 is done! I kitchnered the toes this morning and washed them. They are currently lying on my wooden rack and will be ready to pair with the garters Sunday morning.

I found all the parts for the canopy so I am ready for the weekend. I don't need to be at G2's house until 9 or 9:30 so I will have plenty of time to pack up my garb and stuff when I get home from work.

In response to Gunifer's question (as well as others who read this site who are not in the SCA) I will talk a bit about what a vigil is. The word "vigil" comes from the Latin vigilia, which means wakefulness. Traditionally it is a time spent awake and preparing for an important event or ocassion. One would "keep a vigil" or be "vigilant" prior to the arrival of an important visitor, or guarding an important space or object (example: the Queen Mother's Grandsons stood vigilant around her coffin when it was on display after her death), or preparing for an important event/ ocassion/ holiday.

To be "placed on vigil" or "sitting vigil" within the context of the SCA means that it has been announced that you will receive a Peerage (the highest award in the SCA) and that you will be placed in a specific area to contemplate what that means and to receive visitations from people who will advise you on what this step has meant to them, or simply to congratulate you on your accolade. Some people do hold a "traditional vigil" by staying up the night before their elevation and contemplate what is to come. In the Middle Ages when someone was made a knight, they would spend the night before on their knees in the church praying; many times alone, sometimes with friends and comrades who would stay with them through the night. Most people vigilant for the Knighthood do not go to such lengths in the SCA.

I don't know what Niklos will do to prepare for his day, but tomorrow will be the first of his 2 vigils and he will be placed in a specific area to receive visitors who will offer congratulations and advise. On April 14th I will have the honor of speaking of his artistic qualities and scholarship when he accepts inclusion into the Chivalry. I'm very excited and a bit daunted, but so pleased that I can do this since he was the one who spoke of my nobility at my elevation.

I had 2 vigils: one at a Baronial meeting and the other the day of my elevation.




Both vigils were spent speaking to people and listening to advice and trying to keep my oath that I memorized in Italian in my head. ;^) I received my Laurel March 5th in 2005. Sometimes it seems like a milion years ago, other times it is only yesterday.