Thread by @moreleavespls

In the spirit of learning from our mistakes, I want to share my experiences of pretending to be a medieval scribe and #makingmedievalink with @sarajcharles and #BeingHuman2020 (spoiler alert, it went wrong, I am not a master scribe, and I totally want to make more ink!)

First step: smash the 20g of oak galls with a hammer. Nearest to a newspaper I could find to wrap them up was a Thomas the Tank Engine magazine. The pages are not robust and after the first few holes there were oak galls flying around the kitchen #makingmedievalink

Soaked the galls in 200ml of boiled/cooled water in a jam jar and gave it a stir. Definitely smells of tea, specifically rooibos tea! In retrospect best not to use a jar with any shape for the galls to catch in. But starting to feel like I know what I’m doing #makingmedievalink

Confidence soaring I put the galls and water on a low boil. More like a medieval chemist than scribe #makingmedievalink

Forget all about it and let the pan boil dry. Plummet down to beginner apprentice scribe in fear of losing my position. Desperately search the garage for 5 small slightly rusty nails, throw them in the pan with more water and start again! #makingmedievalink

Lose my nerve at 60 mins this time and drain the galls through a muslin cloth. Too much liquid but nerves are frayed and I have a meeting starting in half an hour. Squeezing the galls through the muslin cloth is messy and makes me feel better #makingmedievalink

Attempt to weigh out ferrous sulphate at one third weight of liquid, but as I have too much liquid I only have one sixth weight in green crystals. Throw it in anyway and feel medieval again #makingmedievalink

Colour changes from brown to black and I breathe a sigh of relief. Realise that I forgot to put gloves on and have ink all over my fingers #makingmedievalink

Pour in the gum arabic, which is half the weight of the ferrous sulphate. Add slowly and stir continuously to avoid clumping. Apprentice scribe is back in the game #makingmedievalink

Bottle the ink and try out the beautiful quill. Spill ink all over the table. Breath a sigh of relief to find the varnish on the table repels the ink. Realise that the emergency tea towel I grabbed to mop it up does not #makingmedievalink

I am not a master scribe, but I had MASSES of fun. Thank you so much @sarajcharles, I will definitely do it again. I keep laughing at my inky scribal fingers, and am intrigued to find out first hand how long it takes to come off… #makingmedievalink #BeingHuman2020 #somuchfun