Melodi
Disaster Cat
Every year, our local SCA (Middle Ages Club) group has an event started years ago by Nightwolf called "The Medieval Dead." It is loosely based on a European period between the late 14th and early 15th centuries. It was just after the Black Death (second wave), and people understandably started to form some rather dark ideas about life and death. Art became gloomy and even downright scary. Skeletons and coffins were everywhere. The "Dance McCabe" or "Dance of Death" was prominent in the day's artwork. Some would feature Death waltzing up to everyone from King to Pauper to take their hand to join in the "Dance," showing no one was exempted from Death. Others had dancing skeletons holding hands, sometimes with inscriptions like "As we are, so shall ye be" and other cheerful news.
So, I found out there would be a contest on Saturday for various hand-made objects on the event's theme. During this same period, knitted "relic" bags were because of all the rage. They were knit to hold the tiny "reflects" that people and churches would keep that were supposed to make them more pious. Relic salesmen delighted in selling the unwary multiple "finger bones of Saint So and So" (often chicken bones) or for the wealth "The Head of John the Baptist" (the poor man either had a lot of heads or most of these were fakes). But people still bought them, and a few were magnificently preserved with gold, jewels, and even clothing (entire skeletons) in various churches and pilgrimage sites. However, the average person would be likelier to have a small token like a bit of "Fabric from Mary's favorite gown" or other small things.
Similar bags were used as purses, though they tend to be more elaborate and seem woven or made of leather. I wore one for a friend a few years ago, and they still wear it.
For this project, however, since I only had about a week to do it, I knit it and then decorated it with trim I had woven some time ago. The skeletons are holding hands and dancing. The original pattern is from Ravelry, but I removed the ghosts and added snowflakes in the background. This project was fun, even if it didn't win the contest. I have nothing to put in it, at least not yet.
So, I found out there would be a contest on Saturday for various hand-made objects on the event's theme. During this same period, knitted "relic" bags were because of all the rage. They were knit to hold the tiny "reflects" that people and churches would keep that were supposed to make them more pious. Relic salesmen delighted in selling the unwary multiple "finger bones of Saint So and So" (often chicken bones) or for the wealth "The Head of John the Baptist" (the poor man either had a lot of heads or most of these were fakes). But people still bought them, and a few were magnificently preserved with gold, jewels, and even clothing (entire skeletons) in various churches and pilgrimage sites. However, the average person would be likelier to have a small token like a bit of "Fabric from Mary's favorite gown" or other small things.
Similar bags were used as purses, though they tend to be more elaborate and seem woven or made of leather. I wore one for a friend a few years ago, and they still wear it.
For this project, however, since I only had about a week to do it, I knit it and then decorated it with trim I had woven some time ago. The skeletons are holding hands and dancing. The original pattern is from Ravelry, but I removed the ghosts and added snowflakes in the background. This project was fun, even if it didn't win the contest. I have nothing to put in it, at least not yet.
