Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Just a little update. Life since Cabela's.

It's been 2 days since I hit the sales floor. I've sold around 500 dollars worth of gear. Not too bad. I'm liking it but there is the ever looming stress of trying to get people to sign up for the club card visa. They push that really hard.

On the viking front, I have finally finished up pending orders. Now I can get to the alterations and skull caps I wanted to make to sell at ACF and the Allthing.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Easy ass Wingdings (Winingas or leg wraps)

Winingas are my favorite easy viking kit item to make. They are basically just a long rectangle strip of wool.

My method is not period accurate. However, stitch Nazis can kiss my peachy ass. If I hand wove and blanket stitched my winingas, no one could afford them.

I start with a nice long length of 100% wool or acceptable good looking wool blend fabric. Yes, there are gorgeous blends out there that look authentic enough and tend to launder better than 100% wool. In this case, the fabric I used is 100% at $23 a yard.

I used a dark chocolate brown. I did the unthinkable and washed and dried the entire lot of it when I bought it. Pretty smooth perfect wool is boring and washing and drying it pre shrinks the fiber and tightens the weave. This is also known as felting. It is mildly felted. I washed it in cold and dried it in a medium heat dryer. It's also a lot softer.

This length of fabric was originally intended to make a Birka style coat. It was snipped away for warm tunics, trims, and winingas. Now, there's probably enough left over to make a hood. And damn it, it will be used to make a hood. I'm tired of freezing my na nas off at fall and winter events.   

Back to the Wingdings. (Side note, I called them "Wingdings" when I became tongue tied trying to say the word for the first time.)

I cut 4 1/2 inch X 9 1/2 feet strips of wool.   My client Nate has giant calves. Longer Winingas are appreciated by large girthy mammals. Just ask Zac.

The entire length could not be cut in one continuous length. I joined the ends with a half inch seam. One edge of the two is cut in half and hides under the longer edge when pressed flat and blanket stitched over the edge. See the picture. This is a quickie way to do a french seam.
I used pinking shears to cut the wool. See the picture. This prevents the edge from fraying and when I use the seaming+overlock  stitch to reinforce the edges, it makes the edge look rough hewn but it really isn't. See the picture. Tricky and clever if I do say so myself.

So, to get away with using your machine on this whole process, you have to use a thread that is identically color matched to the fabric. It basically has to dissappear to the eye. You can only see these stitches are there and machine done under very close scrutiny.  If someone is bending over close enough and long enough to inspect the winingas on your legs, do me a favor and smack their ass hard enough to make it sting and lose their balance and say, "Good Game Stitch Nazi. JJ sends her love."

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Back in the saddle

It's been ages since I posted an edition of Becoming a Viking. A lot has happened since then.
*I swore my oath to Jomsborg, the Storm  Commander, the Styrsman, and the Jarl. Yays!

*I graduated Cum Laude with a BA in Anthropology, minoring in Sociology from Texas State University.

*Made lots of new garments, a couple of which made it to the viking markets in Europe. Not all documented I'm afraid. Sad face.

*Made new friends as they come into the fold of Texas Viking Invasion.

*Suffered the pangs of unemployment, poverty belly, and living in a house that is falling down around our ears.

*Took several commissions for Viking kits. This is ongoing. By the way, I'm always taking orders.

*finally landed a job with all Texas Vikings favorite store, Cabelas. I'm hired and all my paperwork is done. Just waiting on the saliva test to come back clean. No worries there. Contact me if you would like to take advantage of my employee discount. AMMO, GUNS, CAMPING, FISHING, AND HUNTING GEAR!!! My high tech, super thin thermals and back pack for the viking markets will certainly be coming from here. I'm talking to you Doomsday Preppers.

So, I just finished Tina Ravenstein's first kit. All fabric came from fabric-store.com.
Natural softened linen, some scrap hunter green rustic linen, and Mecca Orange linen. All pieces are machine constructed with all top stitching by hand with individual strands of white linen yard that I manually separated for use in stitching. The embroidery is floral based on a design found in the Mammen grave. The thread is DMC all natural linen.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Catching Up On the Last Week of Aerobics Class and Summer Session II

     Its been a busy last couple of weeks. Lets start with last Thursday.

     Last Thor's day was pretty terrific exercise wise. Our instructor let us loose on the trails behind Aquarina Springs. My previous post has lot of info on the area. Zac was persuaded to go with me after only a little bit of nudging. We decided to take the intermediate trail. It is shorter but steeper and much more rough in the terrain. I imagine it was probably half a mile to the top. I loved the twists and turns as well as the changes in incline.

     When you get out of that route, it joins up again with the regular path and soon you arrive at a big sun dial. Its kind of fun to stand on the month chiseled into a big block of granite and look for your shadow to see what time of the day it is. It was about 2:30 pm when I got there. Zac took a rest in the shade (it was blazing hot and his sunglasses were nowhere to be found) and worked on his fives with a stick he picked up.

     If you continue along the path, you will go up a ramped section of the trail that takes you up to a lovely high spot where you can see all the way into Kyle. I skipped that part so I could get back to Zac and get back to the starting point in time to sign back in for class credit.

     Next time, instead of water bottles, I'll want to bring my Camelbak. I want my hands free when I hike and I'd feel better about being in the woods, possibly sometimes alone, if I could carry a few things with me. There apparently are frequent reports of wild boar in the area and god knows what else or who else I might run into. A snack would be nice too.

  Monday was a lot more strenuous. The DECK OF DEATH, as it was spelled out in all caps on the syllabus, was on the schedule. So here is the run down.

Supplies: one deck of cards
Rules:
1. Choose one exercise for each suit. Hearts= body squats or, Diamonds=8 count body builders, squat jumps, or mountain climbers, Clubs= crunches, Spades= jumping jacks...or whatever you choose but once you set the exercises, they are law.

2. The number on the card is the number of reps for each exercise. Kings are a 45 second plank, Queens are 12, Jacks are a 30 second break, Jokers are instructor's choice.

3. Hope that you hydrated enough before the workout begins.

     I am still incredibly sore from this workout. The most sore part of me is my inner thigh. With all of the jumping, that area was targeted hard and now I know what I need to do more of to get my thighs lean and strong. It doesn't mean I like it though. This workout was pretty hard on my knees...and boobs.

     Tuesday was intimidating on the syllabus written as DEVIL'S REVENGE.  It was silly. We ran relay races back and forth where we had to do silly challenges at the end.

1. Sprint down the court, hula hoop 5 rotations, sprint back.

2. Sprint down, hula hoop 10 rotations and print back.

3. Frog jump down the court, hula hoop 20 rotations, running grapevine back.

4. Everyone gets in plank position, last person low crawls under the rest of the line. the rest of the line raises their butt into downward facing dog position as the person crawls under you and then lowers back into a plank after they are clear of you. Repeat until you get to the other side of the gym.

5. Everyone get in line, hold hands, and move the hula hoop down the line, without breaking the chain, and move it back.

6. Do the same thing in a circle.

7. The whole class holds hands in a circle, first person lets loose of one hand and starts walking to the inside of the circle making a giant walking spiral. When they get to the center, they change directions and works the spiral back out into a circle. the people on the end of the line end up running for their lives to keep up.

     I have to add that those hula hoops were of the lightweight child variety. The kind you pick up at Walmart to keep a birthday party of kids busy. She had large ones and small ones. Our group was the group with the 25-50 age group, a few of us bigger than the others, and she gave us the small hoop that would be more suitable for a 5 year old. I took it upon myself to switch it out for a bigger hoop.

     When we were given our teacher/course review surveys, I put "get grown up hoops" and suggested the YouTube sites where one can learn to make them DIY style. I also suggested that she look into Hoopnotica exercise routines. The class consists of a variety of different types of aerobic and resistance training. If she can look into alternative exercise like Zumba, Hoopnotica and other hooping exercises would not be out of the realm of the objectives of the course.

     Yesterday was our final exam. It had some nutritional and body chemistry/composition, and kinesiology content on it. All of which could be found on the 4 page review sheet she sent home with us. Easy Peesey.

     I had my German II final yesterday as well. I think I did well. I studied pretty hard for it and I didn't get the test anxiety I usually get. Should turn out good.

     Today, I have my German II oral exam.  I have to do a skit in German with a partner discussing my last holiday activities, what i did last weekend, what i liked to do as a child, and future plans to visit Germany.  Next he will give each of us an individual exam, asking us questions and he will grade us on how well we respond. I would rather slam my nuts in a sliding door than do this.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

SPY Training and Nature Trails

     SPY training. It is not nearly as exciting as it sounds. It means Strength-Power-Yoga. This is a routine that consists of 30 exercises to all be done at 60 seconds each. 10 sets of 3
     You start with a strength exercise. We used dumbbells for all of them. Use your imagination. Bicep curls, lunges, lat raises, calf raises, hip raises, body squats....undsoweiter.

     Immediately after your strength component, jump into your power exercise. Squat jumps, jump rope, quick feet, jumping jacks....and so on.

     Next is the yoga. You go straight into a yoga pose. Tree pose, Warrior 1,2,+3, Happy Baby pose, Downward Dog.... and so on.

     Complete sets of SPY ten times and you just had yourself a 30 minute workout that leaves you sweating your ass off and really sore. Yesterday was tough for me asthma wise. I was able to take breaks for water and I used that time to raise up my arms and get the ole lungs caught up on the air intake and the airways open again.

   Today, we will be going over to the Aquarena area to walk their nature trails. She has a main trail that most of the girls will be taking. It's half a mile up and half a mile back down the other side. There are alternate trails she is allowing us to take but only with a partner or group. They go a little deeper into the woods and she doesn't want us running into any wildlife alone. She said there have been wild boar down there, deer, snakes, feral cats and dogs, vultures, etc.

    Sounds like the trail for me! The most exciting part is that Zac needs to be in San Marcos today anyways so he is going to pick me up after German class, drive us over, and he's going on the trails with us! I'm so stinking excited. Of course he will be bringing the snake hook.

     I have been wearing my vibram toe shoes for the last couple of weeks. My ankles and shins are still sore as hell. I'm hoping that pain will subside in the next few weeks when my stabilizer muscles in my legs get stronger.  I am going to leave them at home today though. If they were the next model up with the beefier sole for rougher terrain, I would probably hit the trail with them. Even though the main trail is crushed granite, I don't want to risk hurting myself. I have no idea if the the alternate trails have this fine gravel or not. They might just have a worn path.

    In that case I will be wearing my North Face Gortex lined hiking shoes. I bought them a few years ago to hike the ancient temple ruins of the Maya. I never went to Central America so, now I only wear them for mowing the lawn...and hiking!

     I probably won't have the money to pay for monthly Zumba classes. When I went to TCC in Fort Worth, I hit the walking trails along the Trinity River almost everyday. It was wonderful. Time to myself, a nice safe path, the homeless were polite, great calorie burn, very little shade until you hit mile 3 but, it was free. Yay for free!  These trails are free and more interesting to walk. They wind up, down, and around the wildlife preserve. I like it already.

     I can't wait to hit these trails when the weather gets cooler too. The woods will be gorgeous in the fall and I won't have to worry about heat stroke so much. As for now, SHADE, glorious sun shielding shade provided by my favorite lady, Mother Nature.
Aerial View

The Viewing Deck

The View from the Viewing Deck

Glass Bottom Boat Tours

New Discovery Hall and Aquarium Exhibit

For more info on Aquarena Springs, click on their Home Page.  This hidden gem of San Marcos is so beautiful and it has a rich history. The water coming into Spring Lake is three times cleaner than the water that comes out of your tap. Check it out. Take the tour. Hike the trails.



Tuesday, July 30, 2013

"Boot Camp" or So We Were Told...

     Today's aerobics class was scheduled to be a "Boot Camp" training class. It turned out to be several foot work drills back and forth on the gym floor and one session of tababa. The tabata consisted of jump rope, lunges, mountain climbers, and squat jumps with ten seconds rest in between each exercise for a total of four minutes.

     As she went to start the next bit of "boot camp" training, she said,"Just kidding, this is the end of boot camp. Now its surprise dance party time!" Ok, why not. She had us start with the chicken dance and the line up went as follows:

1. Chicken Dance
2. Macarena
3. Gangnam Style
4. Tootsie Roll
5. Wobble Baby Wobble (yeah I'm not smooth at this one)
6. Cha-Cha Slide
7. Cupid Shuffle
8. Waka Waka-This Time for Africa (one of my favorites!)
9. Hips Don't Lie (I did surprisingly well with this one)
10. Cotton Eye Joe (Guess who got to be the instructor for this little diddy...this girl. City Slicker amateurs.)
11. Copperhead Road

     So yeah, it was a really fun afternoon. She said it was our reward for running in the heat and doing exercise stations outside yesterday. Tangent, I totally jumped in the river after the running and stations yesterday. Cannonball!!! Back on track now. I'm cool with it.

      I can't dance worth shit but I have a lot of fun trying. Back in my Marine Corps days, my friends and I would go out a few times a week to the honky tonks and dance our asses off. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's how I kept my ass off. Dance is a great workout and its fun. Its a handy way to trick yourself into exercising.

     Enjoy the links to the dance party lineup!

Monday, July 29, 2013

Dietary Analysis and Things to Work On.

     I completed a dietary analysis today as part of the paper I was required to write for my Aerobics class. We were instructed to go to this government sponsored site.
https://www.choosemyplate.gov/supertracker/

     I do have to say that if you shop for generic food products, this site does not help much. It calculates all of your nutrient intake, recommends a diet and exercise plan based on a profile you fill out. Zac and I try our best to not eat so much processed food and stick to the outside perimeter of the store when grocery shopping. However, when the money gets tight we find ourselves wandering into the isles to get the best bang for the buck. 

     Despite the things I do not like about this site, it is a useful tool. For instance, I have way too much salt in my diet. I love salt, i'm addicted to it! All of the sodium in my diet, despite all the good foods I eat too, plus my levels of stress are heading me straight to a myocardial infarction (heart attack...I used to be a smarty pants premed student, don't judge me). I never really had a sweet tooth. I'll take salted pop corn over ice cream.

Things to work on:

1. Find an affordable Zumba class I can go to at least 3-4 times per week. Preferably near the school so I can walk there after classes.

2. Remake my hula hoops. I left my original two at scarbie so we would not have to shove them in the over packed car.

3. Make a better effort to buy the good foods, despite the barren wallet. 

4. Stop putting salt on every thing I eat.  

5. Check food labels for sodium and carbohydrate content.

6. Wash laundry.

7.Vac the carpet again.

7. Finish the damn sewing queue. Even the freebie small stuff so I won't have to look at it on the list anymore.

8. Take more orders. I'm not turning down any work right now. You like it, I make it! There is another month break in between semesters again and mama needs to pay the bills.

9. Clean the rat cages, move Zap into a bigger cage.

10. Jump in the river with my kick ass boyfriend! Its in the triple digits this week. 

      So, yeah. These are my immediate priorities. I'm actually having a pretty good day so far. I may say differently after today's "fun run." The teacher told us we are allowed to jump in the river after we complete our running/calisthenics circuits.  I may have to take her up on that. I did wear my usual river clothes for class today.