The music front proceeds as usual. The only interesting tidbit is that everyone in band has tapped the reed seats on our chanters with a 12-24 tap. The screw threads allow for extremely precise adjustments to tuning. Why didn't someone think of this a decade (or more) ago?

I'll probably also be using a tap soon to make my own end nut for the dirk. I need to find me a length of soft steel or iron, drill it, tap it, and file it into a castle shape. I've marked out the brass for the endplate, but it'll require something better than a Dremel tool to cut, I think. I also cut and shaped the brass for the chape on the end of the scabbard (to replace the one I lost at Marietta Mansion), but I think I'll redo it. It's going to be hard to solder. And how do you solder brass anyway? I'm waiting on a woodburning tool to go forward with the handle, and it should arrive in a couple of days. The hot-knife tool on a soldering iron didn't get nearly hot enough to score the wood. But the dirk should easily be done before Ligonier.

I've also finally begun making my short waistcoat, for wear with the belted plaid. The biggest hurdle was making sure the tartan pattern on the front and back pieces was symmetric! I found that I had to pin it every few inches in either axis to make sure the top and bottom fabric lined up. Once this was done, it went very quickly. I have the front and back, and their lining, already cut out. All that's left are the pocket interiors and flaps, and the interfacing. I have an enormous amount of this particular fabric left. I'll probably make another longer waistcoat (for wear with a philabeg), detatchable sleeves (for both), and a tailored philabeg out of this fabric. Making the pockets looks a bit easier than I'd thought; it's the buttonholes that scare me. But fellow reenactor Gerry has a buttonholing machine, I'll probably use that to simplify things. I think there's a really good chance I'll have the waistcoat done by Ligonier too. If all goes well, I'll be doing my shortcoat this winter, in time for the Christmas Walk, and then I can give Gerry back the waistcoat and coat I've been borrowing for a year and a half!