Hello lovelies, 

this will be another 2 language post as it's about my experience with the middle-earth festival in Austria. And it's easier to find for fellow Austrians on google because it is an event in German. 

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Hallo ihr Lieben, 

das ist wieder ein 2-sprachen Eintrag da ich gerne das Österreichische Mittelerde Publikum auch ansprechen wollte. 

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It all began with the forging of the rings...eh. Wrong story. It all began in 2024 at Austria ComicCon. Hias returned totally exhited after a quick chat around the hall  and said he'd had a long conversation with the Middle-earth exhibitors and asked if we'd like to go next year. The event takes place in August at the Reichenau Castle Ruins and is the largest Middle-earth event in Austria. I let myself be swept along by the wave of enthusiasm and we decided to buy a ticket when it went on sale. The three-day ticket wasn't cheap at €158, but we treated ourselves to it anyway. It was a good decision because the event sold out shortly afterward.

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Alles begann mit dem schmieden der Ringe...eh. Falsche Geschichte. Alles begann 2024 auf der Austria ComicCon. Hias kam total aufgeregt nach einer kleinen Runde im Saal wieder und meinte, er hätte sich lange mit dem Mittelerdestand unterhalten und ob wir nicht nächstes Jahr Lust hätten, hin zu fahren? Das Event findet im August in der Burgruine Reichenau statt und ist das größte Mittelerdeevent in Österreich. Ich habe mich von der Welle der begeisterung mitziehen lassen und wir beschlossen uns zum Ticketstart ein Ticket zu kaufen. Das Drei-Tages ticket war nicht günstig mit 158€ aber wir haben es uns trotzdem gegönnt. Es war auch eine gute Entscheidung, denn das Event war kurz danach komplett ausverkauft. 

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We had to wait ages for the announcement of the classes but then in later June the registration was open. We snagged the last places for the lotr ttrpg and then I also booked classes for hand spinning and costume design while Hias took grass basket weaving and book binding. Together we decided to do archery on Sunday and "the one ring" TTRP on Friday together. Apart from the workshops, we also had to book a hotel for 180€ for the two of us because I hate camping. You could either camp at the festival in a modern or a historical tent but you could not sleep in the castle. It was also a very good choice not to camp there because one week before the event we checked the weather forecast and it woul be cold. Very cold at about 8-17°c daily. Imagine camping at 8°c? I could not. 

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Wir mussten ewig auf die Ankündigung der Kurse warten, aber dann, Ende Juni, war die Anmeldung geöffnet. Wir ergatterten die letzten Plätze für das Herr der Ringe-TTRPG und ich buchte auch noch Kurse in Handspinnerei und Kostümdesign, während Hias Graskorbflechten und Buchbinden belegte. Wir wollten am Sonntag zusammen Bogenschießen machen und am Freitag "der eine Ring" TTRPG spielen. Abgesehen von den Workshops mussten wir auch ein Hotel für 180 € für uns beide buchen, weil ich Camping hasse. Man konnte auf dem Festival entweder in einem modernen oder einem historischen Zelt campen, aber man konnte nicht im Schloss schlafen. Es war auch eine sehr gute Entscheidung, nicht dort zu campen, denn eine Woche vor der Veranstaltung schauten wir uns den Wetterbericht an und es würde kalt werden. Sehr kalt bei etwa 8-17 °C täglich. Ich konnte mir nicht vorstellen bei so kalten Temperaturen draußen zu übernachten. brr. 

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So, back to December when we planned our outfits for the festival. We made a little challenge for ourselves: sew the hobbit costumes only from fabric we already had in our stash. And it worked out pretty well, I sewed a skirt, and apron in January but then...the top was left unfinished. Months passed by and it was not until July that I started sewing the top again but went into another direction with it. I had also planned 2 elf outfits but in the end only managed to do one. In two days. Because I'm lazy. The consequence of my action was that I finished both the hobbit and the elf costume at 5.30 am, the day we were supposed to leave...at 7am. So I got about 15mins of sleep. Not my proudest moment.

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Also zurück zum Dezember, als wir unsere Outfits für das Festival planten. Wir machten eine kleine Challenge: die Hobbitkostüme nur aus Stoff zu nähen, den wir bereits hatten. Und das hat ziemlich gut geklappt. Ich nähte im Januar einen Rock und eine Schürze, aber dann ... blieb das Oberteil unfertig. Monate vergingen und erst im Juli begann ich wieder mit dem Nähen des Oberteils, schlug damit aber eine andere Richtung ein. Ich hatte auch zwei Elfenkostüme geplant, schaffte aber letztendlich nur eines. In zwei Tagen. Weil ich faul bin. Die Konsequenz meines Handels war, dass ich sowohl das Hobbit- als auch das Elfenkostüm um 5:30 Uhr fertig hatte, am Tag unserer Abreise ... um 7 Uhr. Ich habe also nur etwa 15 Minuten geschlafen. Nicht mein stolzester Moment. 

We left Vienna at 7 a.m. and arrived in Reichenau on time at 9:30 a.m. We changed our clothes, and it was time for the festival. The ruins were within walking distance from the parking lot, and I quickly took a picture in front of the sign before we went to the class. It was now time for me to spin. I was a bit confused the first meter and didn't know that you were supposed to pull the material from the top, but then I figured it out and spun meter by meter. That went pretty well. Then I switched to the spinning wheel, and it was a disaster. I seem to like spinning thin threads, and they kept snapping on the spinning wheel. Wow :(. But here is my finished  yarn.

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Um 7 Uhr fuhren wir von Wien los und kamen pünktlich um 9.30 in Reichenau an. Wir zogen uns um und es war Zeit fürs Fest. Die Ruine war fussläufig vom Parkplatz aus zu erreichen und ich machte schnell ein Bild vor dem Schild bevor wir zum Kurs gingen. Für mich war es nun Zeit zu spinnen. Beim ersten Meter war ich noch ein bisschen verwirrt und wusste nicht, dass man das material oben zupfen sollte aber dann hatte ich es kapiert und spinnte meterweise. Das ging dann schon ziemlich gut. Dann bin ich aufs Spinnrad umgestiegen und es war eine katastrophe. Ich spinne anscheinend gerne dünne Fäden und diese sind beim Spinnrad immer wieder gerissen. Wow :(. Aber hier ist mein fertiges Garn. 

I was so cold and for lunch Hias and I decided to get back to the car. It was the only warm place on the festival and we were once again grateful for not camping. We ate our food and then made some pictures. 

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Mir war so kalt, dass Hias und ich zum Mittagessen zurück zum Auto gingen. Es war der einzige warme Ort auf dem Fest und wir waren wieder einmal froh, nicht zelten zu müssen. Wir aßen unser Essen und machten anschließend ein paar Fotos. 

 

Afterwards, it was back to the event and it was time for the lotr ttrpg. The play was...something. The DM was obviously seasoned and had a good story planned but somehow we and especially the problem player, derailed the whole thing. We almost killed a guy we should not have killed at all, went into a secret grave and two players had to turn on the rest of the three (instead of just one) and all in all it was a bit weird. Plus, I did not like the play system. You played with a D12 as standard and HAD to get over 14, with a 12 as the only critical roll and automatic success. Sometimes we were able to add 1D6 up to 3D6 to get over 14. But as expected, we failed so many rolls.

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Danach ging es zurück zum Event und es war Zeit für das Herr der Ringe-TTRPG. Das Spiel war... spannend. Die Spielleiterin war offensichtlich erfahren und hatte eine gute Geschichte geplant, aber irgendwie ist alles aus dem Ruder gelaufen. Natürlich lag es auch an uns aber ich finde, es lag vor allem an dem Problemspieler. Wir hätten fast jemanden getötet, den wir gar nicht hätten töten sollen, sind in ein geheimes Grab gegangen und zwei Spieler mussten sich gegen die anderen drei wenden (statt nur einer) – alles in allem war es etwas seltsam. Außerdem gefiel mir das Spielsystem nicht. Man spielte standardmäßig mit einem W12 und MUSSTE über 14 kommen, wobei eine 12 der einzige kritische Wurf und automatischer Erfolg war. Manchmal konnten wir 1W6 bis 3W6 hinzufügen, um über 14 zu kommen. Aber wie erwartet, haben wir so viele Würfe vermasselt.

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We drove back to the hotel and we were starving! But the hotel restaurant had a pizza day and we could choose our own toppings. It was so good! Too bad I didn't take pictures.

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Wir fuhren zurück zum Hotel und waren total ausgehungert! Aber im Hotelrestaurant gab an dem Tag einen Pizzatag und wir konnten unsere Beläge selbst aussuchen. Es war so lecker! So schade, dass ich keine Fotos gemacht habe.

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My outfit on Friday was Lottie Sufferfrost, a hobbit from the shire. She is a ditzy young hobbit (about 25 years old) who likes to drink mead and eat cheese.

I made the outfit myself except for the blouse and the pocket. I got the pocket at the Renaissance faire in Krumlov and the blouse is a vintage Dirndl blouse. My favourite detail are the hair on my feet. 

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Mein Outfit am Freitag war Lottie Sufferfrost, ein Hobbit aus dem Auenland. Sie ist ein drolliger junger Hobbit (ca. 25 Jahre alt), der gerne Met trinkt und Käse isst.

Ich habe das Outfit bis auf die Bluse und die Tasche selbst gemacht. Die Tasche habe ich auf dem Renaissance-Festival in Krumau gekauft und die Bluse ist eine Vintage-Dirndlbluse. Mein Lieblingsdetail sind die Haare an meinen Füßen. 

The next day began early with a breakfast and then off to the castle and our workshops. I attended a design class and hias was at a basket weaving class. Both were all day classes. In the morning we talked about the design and studied books and after lunch, which consisted of a tiny portion of beef ragout with gnocchi, we drew and coloured the design. The reason I visited the class is because I am not good at designing. Years of cosplay ruined this creativity and all I know is how to recreate. So when I made the design and after the feedback that the skirt looks like Tinkerbell, I did not want to continue :(. I wanted to go for a "Galadriel's all female ceremonial and representational guard in Valinor" but...nah. It didn't. 

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Der nächste Tag begann früh mit einem Frühstück, dann ging es zum Schloss und zu unseren Workshops. Ich besuchte einen Designkurs und er war in einem Korbflechtkurs. Beide Kurse fanden ganztägig statt. Am Morgen sprachen wir über das Design und studierten Bücher, und nach dem Mittagessen, das aus einer kleinen Portion Rindsragout mit Gnocchi bestand, zeichneten und kolorierten wir das Design. Ich besuchte den Kurs, weil ich nicht gut im Designen bin. Jahrelanges Cosplay hat diese Kreativität ruiniert, und ich weiß nur, wie man nachnäht. Als ich also das Design fertig hatte und das Feedback bekam, dass der Rock wie Tinkerbell aussieht, wollte ich nicht weitermachen :(. Ich wollte „Galadriels rein weibliche zeremonielle und repräsentative Garde in Valinor“ machen, aber ... nö. Das hat nicht geklappt.

 

 

Hias wove a grass basket and when I visited him the grass was instantly in my nose and my whole imune system was in panic. Great. Thank you allergies.  

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Hias hat einen Graskorb geflochten und als ich ihn besuchte, hatte ich sofort das Gras in der Nase und mein gesamtes Immunsystem geriet in Panik. Fantastisch. Danke, Allergien.

 

And here is my outfit for the elf I named Airël, Lady in waiting to Lady Arwen. I made the costume in 2014 and wore it for my first Middle-earth festival. (See more here)

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Und hier ist mein Outfit für die Elfe, die ich Airël, Hofdame von Lady Arwen, genannt habe. Ich habe das Kostüm 2014 angefertigt und es bei meinem ersten Mittelerde-Festival getragen. (Mehr dazu hier)  

We wanted to wait for the concert in the evening but it was SO DAMN COLD that I just couldn't wait. I was cold and frustrated and in a bad mood. Therefore we left the festival and went to the hotel restaurant again. Instead of Pizza day, this time, they had burger day! Hooray! The best. So, after a burger and a Kaiserschmarrn, we went to the room and watched Wonder woman while embroidering our costumes. 

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Wir wollten eigentlich auf das Konzert am Abend warten, aber es war SO VERDAMMT KALT, dass ich einfach nicht warten konnte. Mir war kalt, ich war frustriert und schlecht gelaunt. Also verließen wir das Fest und fuhren wieder ins Hotelrestaurant. Statt Pizza-Tag gab es diesmal Burger-Tag! Yuhu! Also gingen wir nach einem Burger und einem Kaiserschmarrn aufs Zimmer und schauten Wonder Woman, während wir unsere Kostüme bestickten. 

Sunday, the last day, had already arrived, and after checking out and having breakfast, or just a glass of tea for me, we drove to the castle for the last time. The weather was still cool, but not as cold as yesterday. We shot a few arrows, and then it was time for lunch. We had brought our own lunch because I was not satisfied with the amount of food. But I still got a piece of cake for dessert. It was still chilly after lunch, though, so we decided to leave earlier.

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Sonntag, der letzte Tag war schon wieder da und nach dem auschecken und einem Frühstück, oder nur einem Glas Tee für mich, fuhren wir das letzte Mal zur Burg. Das Wetter war immer noch kühl aber nicht mehr so kalt wie gestern. Wir schossen ein paar Pfeile und dann war es Zeit fürs Mittagessen. Wir hatten unser Mittagessen selbst mitgebracht, da ich mit der Menge nicht zufrieden war. Zum Nachtisch bekam ich aber noch ein Stück Kuchen Nach dem Essen war es aber immer noch kühl, daher beschlossen wir früher zu fahren. 

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Und hier ist mein Kostüm für heute. Ich habe mir noch keine Geschichte für sie ausgedacht und außerdem ist das Kostüm nicht so geworden, wie ich es wollte, also … na ja. 

And that was the middle-earth festival ~ Und das war das Mittelerdefest!

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Thank you so much! 

All the best, 

Auris Lothol

 

Hello lovelies, 

after a year break, we went to the school of old handcraft congress again. The last one was in 2023, read the post about it here. 

We were glad that the event took place in July as we were freezing cold in November 2023. But our joy didn't last long because when we saw the temperatures the week before, we couldn't believe our eyes. 5°C to 15°C plus rain? That's so cold for July, even for this region. But, we couldn't change it and therefore packed warm clothes, a coat, scarf and blanket. And boy oh boy, did we need them. 

The weather was okay when we left Vienna and it started raining, or rather pouring.

 

It rained so hard when we arrived that we just sat in the car for 10minutes and hoped it would get better soon.  

As for the location, it was a true downgrade from the amazing monastery but I later found out that the monastery as location cost 8000€. And for such a tiny event that was truly too much. Papstin, where the event was held, looked and felt like a big beer tent built right next to a wooden lodge. I was very happy that the classes were held in the wooden lodge because it was freezing cold in the tent. But all of the poor vendors had to stand in the cold for three days, I'm happy I declined the invitation to vend at the event because I would have gotten sick. 

We stayed for the opening speech from the organizer and the mayor of the town. There were maybe 30 people in the room, not a great start to the event.

My partner and I booked classes to attend and while his straw hat class was cancelled, the reason for this will be mentioned later, mine took place as planned. Friday in the afternoon and Saturday in the morning I had medieval embroidery and Sunday in the morning I had fingerloop. Hias switched to Sashiko in the last moment and he really enjoyed it. 

 The medieval embroidery was purely done with silk thread. I came to really hate those slippery bastards. Silk is just a pain in the butt to work with wether it be fabric or thread. But at least my progress looked nice. And in typical medieval fashion, the pattern is just a weird guy with a djin- like body.  

All stitches were made as a split stitch which was an interesting choice.  

We first had to do the outlines and then fill in the motif. The embroidery of the late middle-ages was  big on shading and in depth, which hasn't been in the earlier middle ages and surprisingly enough, wouldn't continue on to later centuries. My instructor thought that it might have been too expensive to have all embroidery this way. But who knows. 

After the congress we drove to our hotel. We stayed at Hotel St. Lambrecht again and the owners recognized us again.  We had this amazing view from our hotel room and I marvelled at the low hanging clouds. 

I continued working on my medieval jin-man in the evening until the light vanished. Eva-Maria, my embroidery teacher, told us that the medieval guilds had very strict rules. Embroiderers were usually male and they were forbidden to embroider when the light is gone. Which means he could stop working in winter around 3-4pm (?) but had to work overtime in summer. Rules that I thought were pretty modern. 

 

We rushed to the location of the congress again Saturday in the morning after breakfast as both of our classes commenced at 9am. Definitely not my time of the day. I wore my rabbit tooth dress as it was super comfy and a warm cardigan. :

 

And that is my whole progress in 7 hours and two days lol. But at least it looks like I'm halfway through? So maybe another 7-10 hours and then I'm done.  

 

In the afternoon Hias and I sat at the lectures and it was icy. We both wore thick cloathing, and I also had a small blanket but it didn't really help. 

Eva-Maria had a lecture about embroidery during the high and late medieval time.  

Then Lydia talked about Reenactment and Living history, and the later on, she also held the stays lecture but only because the lecturer got sick.

I told her jokingly that I already made about 3 or 4 stays and they never turned out good. One was too big, the other too long and the others too tiny. The lacing gap was just too much. Oh well, at least I only hand-sewed two of them. 

I was famished and Hias promised to drive me to mcdonalds afterwards. Look at those amazing low hanging clouds again!

The flowers in the hotel were also super pretty, I just had to take pictures.  

Once again we drove to the congress hall at 9am because my fingerloop class was this early. And once again Eva-Maria way my instructor. This time I wore a newer dress I got this year secondhand. 

The technique of fingerloop reminded me a bit of lace making. My brain had to get used to the loops going from one hand to another and then from finger to finger and sometimes I just stood there for a split second and tried to find out where this loop was supposed to go again. Haha. Fun times. 

But in the end I managed to make three different designs and I was really proud of myself. Nevertheless, it's not really my technique and I think Hias would have thrived much better in the class than I did. At least it was an amazing work out as we had to stand and us our arms to tighten it.  

 

Hias was done with his classes on Satuday and he finished his Sashiko piece: look at his amazing work!

We went around the shops after my class and I bought a cute ring, ordered a new ring from lydia and got a new headband from the Klosterarbeiten shop. 

 The ring is from Wizart and is an amethyst in a copper socket.

 

So, and now to the hardest part of the story. What happened that made us weary to go and even think about cancelling the event entirely?

Nazis, because Austria is Nazi ground zero. Or at least, a publishing company that is on the far right of the spectrum. They were announced to have a booth there but, at least, not to sell their Nazi trash, only old handcraft books. You see, they are one of the only small publishing companies willing to produce a small number of books in the niche of old handcrafts. One artist found out and decided to cancel her class and boycott the event. But before she could send out word explaining why and her side of the story, the organizer sent an email saying it wasn’t as bad because the publishing company wouldn’t actually have a booth there and wouldn’t sell their books. But the can of worms was already open, and in our eyes, she didn’t think it was such a big deal. In my eyes, it was. I do not want to attend an event where Nazi books or books from a far-right publishing company are sold. We later found out they had to sell the books at the event because of a contract with one of the vendors who was there. The contract stated that if they were at the event, they also had to sell the books (if I remember correctly). But that was not the information given to us. So it was a huge mess, but we did learn from it. Now we know the name of the publishing company, and if they have a booth again in 2027, we will not attend.

If you enjoy this blog and want to support it, consider leaving a small donation via PayPal. Every bit helps keep things running and lets me keep creating more content just for you. You can donate by clicking the link below:

Thank you so much! 

All the best, 

Auris Lothol

 

Hi lovelies, 

Today I want to share my experience at Fantasy-Con (organized by Fantasy-Schmiede.at). It’s a convention I’ve been meaning to attend for ages, but it never worked out...until now. hehe.

The convention was held at old WU and I have been there before for my tambour embroidery class and let me tell you, it's a maze. A freaking maze. You have to take the right lift at the correct number and if not, you are just hopelessly lost. This maze was the business university for decades, I wonder how all the students would get to their classes in time?

We arrived a tad bit late as I overslept once again and then took an hour to get ready. At least the location was reachable with only one metro and we were there in a jiffy. 

The entrance hall has a few painting or murals on the wall and we took pictures in front of one. Somehow it reminds me of a beach but if I remember correctly, the picture had nothing to do with a beach. We took quick pictures and then we were ready to face the convention. 

I'm wearing a btssb dress I bought at the B&B after the Vienna Teaparty in 2024. Shoes are from Deichmann and the hat, stocking and blouse are from Aliexpress. 

Tickets were 19€ which was okay but bordering to expensive because as we entered we saw that it was almost...empty. But they had 4 different gaming rooms and I'm pretty sure most of the people were in these rooms to play and try out different games. 

We went to the artist alley and chatted with familiar faces. There was a mix of artists who sold illustration prints, handmade jewelry, woodworking, hats, dice, and more. I was interested in a pair of Sailor Moon earrings but before I bought it, I checked aliexpress because the items were too diverse to be handmade and yup, I found the exact pair of earrings for 5€ instead of 16€. 

I have no problem spending more money if an item is handmade or at least put together by the artist. But reselling mass-produced items at triple the price without transparency? Nah, no thanks.

 

Afterwards we went over to the books and the TTRPGs. There was a Cthulhu pandemic game that we could join so we put our names down but had to wait for half an hour for our session to start. 

While waiting, we stumbled upon Popcircle Austria, another club and faces we knew! They had a cute little single-player card game. My partner and I both gave it a try. He beat it, but I wasn’t so lucky. My first card was an automatic fail, followed by two bad rolls. Total wipeout and fail. 

As for the Cthulhu game, it was fun even though we lost big time. But it's a very strategic game with so many options and we were just unlucky beginners! I'm not mad at all or sad that we lost because we had a lot of fun. 

Hias and I got snacks and a tea as the prices were okay and I watched part of a panel hosted by the Nerd Sisters, who were discussing streaming and gaming.

Eventually, we left and went to a bbq but that's another story.

I actually wanted to show you a short I made but it seems like I forgot to upload it? I'm a bit confused and can't remember if I really did one. Oh well, sorry about that.  

So, off to my rating:

Atmosphere: 1/10 Sorry, the location is just SO bad and there was no effort to decorate anything more fantasy)

Activities: 8/10  I liked the timeslots for games so you could get one and do something else until then. There were also many more games to try out. 

Food: 8/10 They had drinks, cakes, tea, coffee, savory food but only two food booths and no vegan food.

 

If you enjoy this blog and want to support it, consider leaving a small donation via PayPal. Every bit helps keep things running and lets me keep creating more content just for you. You can donate by clicking the link below:

Thank you so much! 

All the best, 

Auris Lothol