Sgian Dubh and great evening

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I'm back from DC, and had a great time at the National Tartan Ball.
The Ritz Carlton is an amazing experience. The only thing they don't do for you while you are there is wipe your butt (and if you called the desk, they might send someone to do that!).

The Scottish evening was great. There were nearly 400 people there. Some from as far as Dundee,Scotland.
My knife was auctioned off at a reasonable amount (I think $250-275) and the winner gave it to his best friend while I was there. Nice Guy!

I will post some photos of the knife and some of the evening:
The table of Scotch Whisky was a gift from the American Distilled Spirits Council to be enjoyed by aficionados of single malts....Salainte!
The knife was nicely displayed with a spot light above it.
Lots of people looking at the items for auction.By the time all were there this hall was too crowded to take a photo in.

Stacy Elliott Apelt, FSA,Scot

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

More of the evening:

The room was HUGE. The photos are of the left side, right side, and the dance band in the center past the dance floor. The scale is hard to get, due to the wide angle of the shot. To get an idea of how big the room and dance floor is, the last photo is of the Pipe Band doing the opening. They are only on the dance floor. There were Highland Dancers (not in photo), dancing the sword dance,on the carpeted area. The pipe band was about 25 pieces,plus the color guard.

Stacy

BTW, that's Judy and me.

 

[indian george]

Nice pic's. Thanks for sharing.:thumbup: But Dude, you have one hair looking crouch in that pic with your Nice Looking Lady. HEHEHEHEHEHE!!!

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

That hairy looking crotch is what we call a "Willy warmer" .It is a bobcat head sporran.
Stacy

 

[fitzo]

Quite a gathering, Stacy! Glad to hear it was a great time.:thumbup: Nice knife, too! Somebody's friend is happy....

 

[Justin.Mercier]

I'm so going to have to send you a "wana pet my sporran?" tshirt Stacy. I've been looking for a nice bever fur sporran or other nice hair on formal one, but dont want to shell out the kind of money they're asking for the things these days just yet >_<

 

[grease-man]

I had to look up what a sporran was, when Stacy called it a "willy warmer". Thanks for the laugh Stacy! I now know what a sporran is, but now I'll never see one again and not think "willy warmer"! Great looking sgian dubh too by the way!

Justin, I could send you a coyote fur, if you wanted to make your own. I'll just have to stop by it's carcas on the way home and cut off a piece. How big of a piece would you need? -Matt-

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Justin, It is not hard t all to make your own heads-on sporran. I made this one from a bobcat pelt,with head attached. It took about one hour. Go on-line (ebay,etc.) and purchase a full pelt with head, properly soft tanned. You want a nice head, and supple hide. (I know,IG, who doesn't want nice head!!!). If you can't figure it out how to make one, or are not handy with that sort of thing, send it to me and I'll sew you up one. I have made over 100 sporrans (I used to sell them at Highland games).
Stacy

 

[indian george]

Justin, It is not hard t all to make your own heads-on sporran. I made this one from a bobcat pelt,with head attached. It took about one hour. Go on-line (ebay,etc.) and purchase a full pelt with head, properly soft tanned. You want a nice head, and supple hide. (I know,IG, who doesn't want nice head!!!). If you can't figure it out how to make one, or are not handy with that sort of thing, send it to me and I'll sew you up one. I have made over 100 sporrans (I used to sell them at Highland games).
Stacy

I heard that!!! I'll post a pic of the part of the canister billet that I made this weekend, that I'll be sending you for the SS tube. HEHEHEHEHEHE!!!

 

[T Blade]

That hairy looking crotch is what we call a "Willy warmer" .It is a bobcat head sporran.
Stacy

Stacy,

My wife and I had a couple of Maine Coon Cats, the male (Merlin) weighted in at 23 to 25 lbs (not fat either). his sister Jezebel was a 17 pounder. When Merlin passed away I wanted to make a sporran out of him, but Linda was totally against it. Merlin would have made a great sporran

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

T Blade
We had a Maine Coon Cat, too. His name was Bobcat. He had a spotted belly, tufts on the ears, and a full mustache. He looked just like a bobcat.He was huge, and weighed 24 pounds, but was as gentle as could be. I used to joke about making a sporran out of him. I got this pelt about a year before he died. I made the sporran about three months before he died. When people say the sporran , and they had heard about Bobcat's passing......well you can figure out what many thought.
Stacy