Brendan

Very useful tutorial! (Love the Good Eats reference as well!) Do you have a source for the taffy-pull method? I do historical re-creation and would like to be able to document everything to the satisfaction of the most anal judges. Pine trees grow around here (Northeast Ohio, USA, near the Lake Erie shore), so I have a ready source of rosin. You mentioned bristles. I've been looking for boar bristle to experiment with ever since I read about the technique in the Stohlman book a few decades ago. Source? Please?

In 1983 (AS 17?) Jarl Sigmund the Wingfooted of Ansteorra had a gilded, wide-brimmed flat-topped hat made by Mistress Branwyn O'Brallaghan that was decorated all over with twisty beasties and knotwork. It was commonly referred to as the "Celtic Cowboy Hat." They claimed that it was authentic for his Norse persona. Brendan