I really want to get back to making things, but fatigue and pain are severely limiting what I can do and right now I have a really good and clear goal with my research. But it’s the equivalent of at least a Master’s Thesis, probably more like a Phd at this point.

So obviously that is taking time, but I’m trying to merge my digital files and bookmarks to be able to properly cite what I have.

Just as I start editing my “Will the Real Stickelcehn Please Stand Up?” article I find a stash of images, *and* find an archive item has been updated with a scan and I managed to hunt out the section on clothing. A suspicion I had does seem to hold up and it also fits in with what I have noticed about spelling that has also been confirmed by language studies.

It’s great, but what I suspected is also true: transcriptions often modernise the language and that unfortunately strips out what makes the original spelling so important. So while I can include the archives that haven’t be digitised I can’t add them to my list of words. I’ll figure some way around this, even if it means requesting copies of the microfilm they are on.

But that spelling is varied in ways that make it nearly impossible to do either careful or brute searches. So I need to work on both my essay and an introduction to the language.

I’ve found a neat stream of imagery of noble dress of the North Rhine but it is locked away in a dissertation and a limited edition print of a journal. Fortunately I have a solution so *fingers crossed* as it is so very important in adding to the context of Anne of Cleves.

I’ve tried to avoid opinion pieces about Anne, which is a bit difficult, and instead have tried to find what was expected of her in her homeland and how that did or didn’t match expectations. So having as many depictions of dress of nobility of the region really is vital.

But I’ve also finally managed to tidy an OCR of a very important article in terms of written and spoken language- and it has totally validated what I thought was going on. Rising and lowering vowels, diphthongs, hardening of consonants? It’s going to make it easier to read through archives but it unfortunately makes searching more difficult.

I have collected as many articles, as many catalogues as I could and have only found a couple of images not already in my site. Until yesterday. Eight. Eight of them. All noblewomen of the North Rhine making them really important for my purposes. Good timing as I finally got an article transcribed and translated that is really important as it discussing the written and spoken language.

So today I will be editing those images and sorting them. And I’m finally sorting my online citations which is going faster now that apps are playing together.

I’ve been putting off transcribing and translating an article for over a decade as it is 28 (narrowed down to 26) A4 pages of 11pt text on in German with special characters every other word or so. OCR has come a long way since, but this article wasn’t available that way. So I now have apps and tools to do this in one day as it’s vital: it is part of my reasoning behind almost all of my use of NRW clothing terms. So it’s really important to be able to cite where the info is in the page.

It’s just tough as even using a really good spelling and grammar editor it is still not able to offer special characters very easily so even though I am now 6 pages from finishing I will have to go through again to put in special characters. But why would I have to do that? Because the special characters are specific to grammar in many ways. Not sure why a list of potenial words don’t pop up, but that’s where we are.

I’m finding I am able to read it pretty well, which is amazing. The last year of stress and fibro has made even thinking about trying to read another language just.. ugh.. nope. But I set today aside to get a bit of time in and it is helping. Not sure how long this will last, but I’m grabbing on to whatever I can manage today!

So I do have to have a lie down with all sound blocked out, fibro increases sensitivity to light and sound, and as they feel like they make up most of my head, most of my head feels deeply uncomfortable. Wearing glasses adds to the vision but also skin sensation as the weight on my nose feels like it increases.

So, hopefully this time tomorrow I’ll have a new page to share. But yesterday was spent tracking down all the apps I need to edit pdfs and then parse through OCR and to then edit as a text. It was A Lot.

I am genuinely finally on the last stages of the next big update for my Anne of Cleves research. I’ve been collecting and drawing from as many digital sources as possible, images, documents, transcribed documents, and also in all that time paying attention to any improved sources and that has happened a few times now.

So I’m reorganising ALL THE FOLDERs which is quite time consuming, and there are a handful of images that are double ups in my timeline because I got a more appropriate date.

It’s also creeping ever closer to the time I need my Elsa gown made and I’m frustrated by my pain and lack of energy interfering in both. But progress is progress is progress. So I have to remember that.

I had to totally change how I am making my Elsa gown which has meant going back to scratch while at the same time buying vital materials. Finally some powernet that is powernet has arrived! It’s the same as I made my Ice Gown bodysuit from so I do know what I can get it to do.

My problem is and has been down to two things.

1. the neckline- it’s so low that I have to either accept not perfectly illusion net to hold it up from the shoulders, or some sort of very hidden corsetry to push it up. The very deep v in the back here is what makes the choise so hard.
2. my sequin fabric has very definite vertical lines. The deep points of the skirt means I have to use these very carefully

So this power net is great. I can layer the netting where I need support but also can dip dye to match my skin tone so I can use it as it is or get a true illusion net over the top. Probably the latter.

I have a tremendous amount of super sheer tulle that was going to be used on my Bubble gown, so that can be layered up to get that snow effect but over the sequins to get that sparkle. Basically what I did for my Ice Gown (-frozen-elsa) but at least 4 layers.

Those layers of tulle will hopefully help protect the edges of the sequin fabric once I cut it. And will hide seams I have to put in to the sequin fabric.

The sheer layer if fine in terms of cut- I can either top and tail panels or do a kind of 1900s skirt cut, that is also similar to my Mina skirt foundation. I really want to to make the skirt in very narrow panels for each point.

Again though all of this is dependent on solving the neckline/support and sequin fabric direction issues. I really need to prepare for that in terms of fabric glue to tack down threads holding sequins as those points get very narrow and will be very finicky.

I have some nice gently stretched satin to line the sequins, but it’s not as nice as what I have for the ice gown or what I started making of the Frozen Fever gown. I wish I could remember where I got it.

My computer has had a refresh after my ssd had a minor hardware fail. So fast, so easy to use. All to get my research properly sorted and updated. I spent nearly all my monthly allowance on free articles on JSTOR so it’s quite timely.

I did swap some cables, got the vacuum out, so I think I have a few more years out of this pc 🙂

I’ve had two queries about my Anne of Cleves research in the last few days so I’ve been trying to update some of my pages that draw together visual information that individually are relatively low quality but brought together suggests they are at the very least attempts to depict dress specific to the region.

If you have visited my research site in the last few days you’ll find some pages are changing a bit. I’m trying to cite inline and post, and that includes any edits made after initial publication.

My PC is currently inoperable. There seems to be a corrupt update but otherwise the drive is good. So I’ll attempt to reassemble it.

Meanwhile I am making use of my new flipbook, I can access files in my back up drives via an enclosure so yes, I am able to access files. It’s just a little different to what I am used to.

I’ve also taken up tidying as a bit of distraction therapy.

I’m also finding myself retreating from kindness and support. It’s a difficult time for many of us who are reduced to a number and are aware of it. So I’m going to take a breath, take a pause, and find a way to express gratitude.

I’ve been slowly working on my two Poysdorf shirts, I did cut down a regular shirt for that, so my gussets are too deep but it does work. I’ve taken out as much as possible from the back so it sits flat against my back to leave the gathers entirely where it is most needed in Kleve-Juelich-Berg and Koeln. That is my adaptation for a much warmer and humid climate that I live in. I am not comfortable with a lot of fabric gathered and creating pockets of warm air around my torso, so I very much need this!

I’ve spent a bit of time this year trying some rehab of my hands. It’s too expensive to get physio unfortunately but I do still have some resources from my carpal tunnel release surgery.

This is what I did do: Therapeutic Exercise Program for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (pdf.)

So I’m doing these again on top of a few simple RA stretches which have not changed or advanced but are vital: Slide show: Hand exercises for people with arthritis (series of gifs showing how to do each exercise.)

The “finger walk” is especially useful due to the drift of fingers.

My PC seems to have finally stopped working, so I’m tippy tappy typing on a smaller keyboard but my thumbs are curled under so it’s time to find a different posture and get some heat on my hands.