Huzzah, or words to that effect

This man is happy because his pants are not on fire.

That’s right, we hit the Renaissance Faire this weekend! There can be no other explanation for why I’m posting pictures of long haired guys in floppy hats juggling flaming torches…

Don’t worry, it’s not all juggling pictures…

One of the things I like to check out is what artisans they’ve got doing demonstrations… Glassblowers and blacksmiths are perennial favorites, although the combination of high temperatures and dry summers sometimes means that their demonstrations get cancelled. No worries this Saturday. We had a drenching rain on Friday (tail end of the hurricane) but Saturday was bright and clear.

Kind of like this guy’s work:

I like spun glass, and this guy had some amazing stuff, from little two inch crystal spiders to cat-sized dragons. If I’d thought it would survive the rest of the fair, I might have bought something… I’m pretty certain that fragility has to be the main reason that people didn’t buy more of his wares.

We hit the faire in the early afternoon along with a friend of ours who is a chainmail hobbyist. He’s got a chain shirt made from square patches… Well heck, it’s easiest to just show you:

(He’s the guy on the far left.)

There’s a better picture of him in the fancy shirt on his own Chainmail Page.

It was amazing how often people would come up and start chatting with him, asking about the shirt. From fellow chainmail enthusiasts, he’d get technical questions about what kind of wire he used¹, how he got it to shine², and what he did with the taper for the arms and the body³. Most other people asked if he did it himself⁴, how long it took⁵ and how much it weighed⁶…

For those of you playing at home, if you’ve got the same questions, here’s the answer key:
1. galvanized electric fence wire
2. rolled a bunch of links around together in a sock
3. he didn’t taper them
4. yes
5. about 100 hours
6. about 35 pounds

Seriously though, if you’re looking for an all-purpose icebreaker at a Renaissance Faire, nothing beats chainmail… Be warned though, even if you’re wearing padding, after about four hours wearing a thirty five pound wire overshirt your shoulders start to resemble hamburger.