Thanks to Justin for answering the Murphy’s oil soap question; he washed the warping board before he started using it, to get rid of the “50 years of barn dust.” And more apologies for the poor photo of him; I was stealth snapping trying not to get any visitors in the background. I surprised him more than once, as you can see. Sorry.

Last Sunday I went to Plimoth Plantation’s annual volunteer recognition event. Plimoth, like so many other museums and historical societies and historic houses simply could not function without our many dedicated volunteers. Denise Nichols organized a lovely tea and social for this year’s event, with music and a talk and reading by Peter Arenstam from his book about Nicholas the mouse.

Denise also organized a raffle of items donated by many of the different Plimoth departments. Penny donated on Colonial Wardrobe’s behalf - a lovely hand spun, naturally dyed, hand knit cap, which was won by Karin Goldstein’s intern Sarah. The first photo is Plimoth’s Chief Executive Officer John McDonagh announcing a winner.

The second picture is three of our child volunteers. They and the other children did a magnificent job delighting thousands of Plimoth’s visitors this year, and they had a great old fun time doing it. The program, revamped and reintroduced after a few years’ hiatus, was a smashing success by all measures; the adult interpreters enjoyed the energy and enthusiasm of the children as well as the increase in historical accuracy they brought to the site. Not to mention how cute they are. The visitors also appreciated the family atmosphere, and our child visitors really enjoyed having other children to talk and play with. I’m sure we’ll see them again next summer. (Before you and your kids start making plans, though, please note that all the child volunteers are children of Plimoth employees.)

Here Justin is making his new warp - I believe he said it is 20 yards. For most people this would be pretty ambitious, considering he is working in the Crafts Center only two days a week (at the most) and that there are only a few weeks left to Plimoth’s open season, and that those weeks will be filled with many, many visitors, all of whom want to see him work but also want him to explain what he’s doing, which means stopping working for a moment or longer.

Ambitious for most people, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he finishes it.

I got some good news late yesterday - Dennis came in with the computer’s brains under one arm. “You’re fine,” he said. “CD drive burned out and fried the power source.” Which I roughly translate as “the stars were misaligned for computer work.” or something. Anyway, I lost nothing and it’s all better now.

And, Carolyn, I don’t know what the Murphy’s oil soap is used for in the Crafts Center, but I’ll find out. We have some in the wardrobe office that we use to clean the sewing baskets. We fill the utility sink with warm water and a good squirt of Murphy’s, then immerse an empty basket. We use fingernail brushes to loosen a season’s worth of grime. They dry in a big heap on some rags spread out on the floor. “We” is usually two or three volunteers who work with us on Plimoth’s annual Spring Clean Day. This happens in March, the Saturday two weeks before the museum is set to open to the public. Most of the work is outdoors, where all the sites are ship-shaped by a couple of hundred volunteers and staff working together. Whole families come together and rake the paths, or pick up winter debris (sticks, leaves) or turn garden beds. Some who are unable to work outdoors or need a break from that kind of work spend some time with us, washing the baskets, saddle-soaping the belts and leather pouches, sorting and labeling the contents of the wool closet, or doing regular mending. It is a busy, tiring and fun day, and it is wonderful to see how much can get accomplished and how beautiful the sites look at the end of the day. If you’re in the area or will be in March, you and your family can come play in the dirt, too. Check the website for the date and/or email Denise Nichols, Plimoth’s volunteer and intern coordinator. She keeps a head count (so we have enough lunch) and coordinates teams and team leaders and work orders. She won’t get going with this till next February, though, so don’t worry, there’s plenty of time.

Justin has been weaving in the Crafts Center a day or two a week. Last week he was making the warp for a second weaving project; the first one is already off the loom. In the second photo you can see the giant-sized warping board he was using. I’ll get you some pictures of Justin making the warp over the next few days.

Today I have pictures of Justin and Marilyn, the Crafts Center Gift Shop Manager, holding up the first piece of yardage, a striped worsted. He made about 5 yards in what seemed like no time at all.

I’m sorry this is not a great picture of Justin; ironic since he is such an excellent photographer. However, he couldn’t be taking this one and in it at the same time.

I posted Tricia’s note about slate frames here in July, 2008.

Check out the comments to that post for several ideas on where to get one.

Colleen asked, if she buys the Patterns of Fashion 4 book through the Plimoth mail order shop, will the proceeds go to the jacket? The answer is, not exactly. If you buy a lace or embroidery kit, $20 goes directly (do not pass “GO” . . . ) to the jacket project; same if you send a donation marked “jacket project”. All profits from the Retail division at Plimoth go into the general operating fund, which directly supports ALL Plimoth’s projects, the electric bill and interpreters’ shoes as well as the jacket project and the vet bill for the rare breeds, and . . .

Sorry about that bad link - I’ve fixed it in the last post and here’s the link Tricia suggested, straight to the book in the mail order shop.

I had an exciting day Friday. I turned on the office computer and it, well, it didn’t exactly swear, but it definitely thumbed its circuits at me. Dennis the IT guy didn’t have good news. “Hmmm,” he said. “That means it can’t find the hard drive.” “Can’t or WON’T?” was my response, not that it helped any.

The bottom line is that my documents are on the server (since last year, when the previous computer was gathered to its reward) but my email may not be. I may very well have lost my emails, including the address updates of Sharon G, Ann B, and two others whom, sadly, my feeble brain cannot recall. As well as anything anyone has asked me to do from before last Wednesday. BUT WAIT, don’t re-send me anything yet. Dennis promised to let me know by the end of next week what he could save, and THEN you can send me updates. And I promise to figure out a better computer filing system. Grrrr.

As this happened on a Friday morning, I took it as a sign to jettison all efforts at correspondence and Just Sew. Sometimes that’s a nice thing. I’m working hard to finish up a few things for the interpreters before they’re done for the season.

Here are a few pictures of what we’ve been up to sewing-wise. The first picture up at the top is Penny and the Stays From Hades. These are hand-sewn, but the real problem was that they were cut out for someone other than Elise, the person she finished them for. She thought they were close enough, and it would be good to finish them and get them in use, but she had to alteration after alteration so that by the end, she could have made three pairs of stays. She says she’ll never do that again. The good news is that, after all that, Elise is happy with them. They look great on her.

I finished Beth L’s sandy-pink gown a while ago and here are the pictures to prove it. In the closer picture you can see just a little gap; Beth and I decided to see if it relaxes in the wearing. If not I can put a hook & eye closure there. I finished the gown in the morning and brought it to her on her lunch break. She went right away and changed into it and I took these, so it hadn’t been worn more than a couple of minutes.

I think she likes it.

Now I’m working on a pink waistcoat for Whitney. Arianna’s already made her a brown petticoat to go with. The weekend after Thanksgiving there’ll be a wedding in the Village - not a real wedding, a pretend 1627 wedding. Whitney’s going to be the bride and I’ve promised her this outfit for early next week. Arianna’s making a canvas suit for Austin. Penny just finished a gold wool waistcoat for Kelley, which I need to photograph. At this point in the season she probably won’t start something else new, but move on to a little housecleaning to get us ready for the Big Piles of Dirty Stuff which will arrive the Monday after Thanksgiving.

I owe you all a mess of pictures from the show & tell portions of the last several embroidery sessions. I’m thinking to save them for the last half of December. It seems appropriate viewing for the season of celebrating treasures.