Morwenna's Laurel Hat
In the winter of 2003, my dear friend Morwenna was awarded entrance into the Order of the Laurel. Her speciality is Elizabethan culture. Although I believe her greatest pride is her fabulous needlework, she has a wide variety of skills. She's made her entire Elizabethan wardrobe, sewing parts of it completely by hand, she performs improvisational comedy with iSebastiani, she recites Latin verse and translates it, she makes sumptuous desserts and other foods, and she teaches all things and other wonderful tidbits about her chosen time and place. For all this, she was recognized as a Peer of the East Kingdom.
And, for all this, I got a chance to show affection for my friend by making a neat hat. I have a not-so-secret love of Elizabethan embroidery - the more anal retentive the better. My "entry drug" was reversible blackwork, and it's grown from there to whitework and gold work. So, for this occasion, I saw the perfect opportunity to do one of my favorite things.
The hat pattern is based on Drea Leed's pattern - a circle of approxiamately 13" in diameter, gathered onto a hat band, so that the hat rests on the back of the head. For the project I used 100% linen and black silk thread. All embroidery is done in running stiches, it was almost a shame to line it, but it seemed best. Each stitch is 2 threads of the linen. Don't ask the thread count. I don't want to count it!
Vine Design
The vine border around the cap, and separating each mermaid is inspired by the New Carolingian Modelbook. The original design was a boxed design, for something like cross-stitch. The original design was not diagonal. The diagonal part of the pattern was made by me, with as much simple geometric rotation as possible. The use of leaves is meant to be reminiscent of laurel leaves. Laurel leaves are longer and thinner, but there's only so much you can do with little boxes.
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